How to Beat the Art Museum Level for Joker in Lego Batman

Every Version Of The Joker Ranked From Worst To Best

Warner Bros

The Joker is unquestionably one of the greatest villains in the history of comic books. Every bit Batman'due south arch-nemesis, he's been terrorizing Gotham City since his debut in 1940, with crimes ranging from bank robberies to an try to be the beginning human to commit murder on the moon, and all the way to widespread devastation that'southward left an unabridged city turned into grinning zombies hell-aptitude on destruction—and befitting a character that bully, his popularity hasn't just been bars to comics.

Unfortunately, while the Joker's greatness has resulted in some genuinely not bad performances, the character's rail record outside the comics hasn't exactly been spotless. With over a dozen major appearances in TV, movies, and video games, the varied interpretations of the Clown Prince of Criminal offence have bandage a pretty broad net from amazing to terrible, and we've taken the time to rank them all from worst to best.

Want to encounter which ane reigns supreme and which ones but can't cut information technology? Read on!

27. The Batman 2021 Joker (Barry Keoghan)

Warner Bros.

The most recent live-action Joker to appear on the big screen (thus far) was played past esteemed actor Barry Keoghan ("The Green Knight") in the Matt Reeves-directed "The Batman." This version of the Clown Prince of Crime showed up for one quick scene at the cease of the film, to give Paul Dano's grieving Riddler some friendly encouragement afterwards Robert Pattinson's Batman thwarted his sick-divers "flooding Gotham" plan. There was also an narratively pointless "Silence of the Lambs"-mode scene, that was deleted but eventually surfaced online.

Unfortunately, if we have to rank all the alive-action Jokers against each other, Keoghan's version will take to be at the lesser of the list. His performance is lethargic and subdued in a manner that seems unfitting for what'southward commonly a very flamboyant grapheme, to the point that Keoghan seemed almost embarrassed to practice the iconic laugh. Say what yous will well-nigh Jared Leto'due south Instagram-chic Joker (and go alee, information technology'southward very bad), but at least Leto had free energy – badly placed and cringe-worthy energy, merely free energy nonetheless.

To be clear, this is not to disparage Keoghan as a performer. He was nifty as the creepy antagonist in "Killing of a Sacred Deer," and was a highlight in the otherwise mediocre "Eternals" film. The Joker but seems outside his depth. It'due south also not bang-up that we're continuing the troubling trend of equating physical deformity with evil, a trope best left to the past.

26. Scooby Doo Joker (Larry Storch)

Hanna-Barbera

Despite coming in near final on our listing, the version of the Joker that appeared on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" isn't unforgivably terrible — which is unfortunate in a way, because that would at least be fun to talk almost. This guy is merely flat-out tedious, to the point of being functionally indistinguishable from whatsoever other weirdo who dressed up as a monster to false a haunting before ultimately being defeated by a gang of meddling kids. And that might be an even bigger trouble.

Information technology'due south one matter to be taken downward past Batman — that'southward like a supervillain badge of honour — merely the Joker and the Penguin remain two of the only bad guys who somehow managed to not scare Scooby-Doo, a character who's literally defined by being afraid of everything. They end up doing the opposite, planning to frighten the gang and ending up enticing Scooby to chase them with the sight of delicious bones. The but way that could've been a worse program is if they'd dressed up every bit improbably huge sandwiches.

The devastating failure on display hither only cements the bottom-of-the-butt position that this version of theJoker earned. The only matter that'south actually worth mentioning well-nigh him is that he was played past veteran comedian and actor Larry Storch, and let's be real here: that's only really interesting if you lot're the kind of person who likes to get into some hardcore trivia about the bandage of "F-Troop."

25. The New Adventures Of Batman Joker (Lennie Weinrib)

Warner Bros.

If yous ever want to develop a whole new appreciation for "Batman: The Animated Series," take some time to head back to 1977 for "The New Batman Adventures" and its roster of cardboard plots and extremely off-model character designs. Seriously, reversing the colors on Robin's logo is one affair, merely the Riddler showing upward in a hot pink costume and Catwoman wandering around wearing a yellow shirt with a lion on it like she just got back from a third-grade field trip to the zoo? It'southward crude stuff, friends.

Amazingly, the Joker managed to escape that particular flaw in the show, but "he looks a lot similar he does in the comics" is about the merely good thing y'all can say almost him. His major accomplishment during the bear witness's entire 16-episode run was losing an election for President of Criminals when the Penguin invented a mind-altering substance chosen "crime slime."

Put aside for a moment the fact that holding an ballot for the President of Criminal offense is a genuinely amazing concept, and that the Joker announces his candidacy by driving through a wall and literally throwing effectually fistfuls of cash, and consider this: if you tin't win an election against the Penguin, what are you fifty-fifty doing?

24. Son of Batman Joker (Dee Bradley Bakery)

Warner Bros.

In all honesty, we only included Dee Bradley Bakery's turn every bit the Joker on this list in lodge to be as thorough equally we can. That's not to knock the guy, but every bit the Joker'southward appearance in "Son of Batman" is limited to appearing as a shadow on a wall and letting out one (1) laugh—exactly 8 "ha"s, for those of yous keeping rail—nosotros don't really accept a whole lot to go along.

23. Super Friends Joker (Frank Welker)

Warner Bros.

The "Super Friends" saga ran for eight years under diverse titles, simply thanks to some rights issues with "The New Adventures of Batman," the Joker just e'er appeared in one case, in 1985'due south "The Wild Cards." That in itself isn't a bad thing, since a lot of corking villains are best used sparingly, but the trouble is that the Joker is barely fifty-fifty involved in the plot.

Instead, the premise of the episode involves Darkseid — the all-powerful space god whose all-encompassing evil generally manifested itself as giving banking concern robbers the ability to rob banks more efficiently — forming the playing card-themed Royal Flush Gang, with the Joker bearded as Ace. Once again, information technology's not a bad plan, merely if your story calls for a chalk-white villain named afterwards a playing card to dress up as a different chalk-white villain named after a playing carte, possibly things are getting a little needlessly complicated.

On the other hand, it did result in a pretty fantastic action figure.

22. Immature Justice Joker (Brent Spiner)

Warner Bros.

You know those nerdy t-shirts where someone just drew, like, Finn and Jake from "Adventure Fourth dimension" riding around in the DeLorean from "Dorsum to the Future" or whatever? The "Immature Justice" version of the Joker feels a lot like that, but stretched out into a grapheme who menaces a agglomeration of teenage superheroes for a solid 22 minutes. He's the Joker, but he looks like David Tennant equally the Doctor and is voiced by Brent Spiner from "Star Expedition: The Next Generation."

On paper, that's not a terrible thought, and to its credit, "Young Justice" had some pretty good luck with its celebrity stunt-casting—Danny Trejo equally Blight is probably the best thing that prove ever did—but the end consequence is that he's overshadowed by ... well, past at least 9 other versions of the character.

21. LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Steve Blum)

Hither's the weird thing about Steve Blum'south functioning as the Joker: information technology'south really only hither on a technicality. That's not a knock against Blum as an actor — he's i of those extremely prolific voice actors who'south been in pretty much anything yous can imagine, including serving every bit the voice of Wolverine in most a dozen projects — just rather has a lot to do with how those games used to be structured.

See, the original gag with the storylines of the LEGO games is that since they were adapting incredibly pop franchises like "Star Wars," "Harry Potter," and "Indiana Jones," the developers figured anybody playing the games already knew the story. That gave them the freedom to present their versions as a slapstick pantomime version, with all the dialogue that players already knew past middle replaced with incomprehensible muttering and the occasional wordless reaction.

"LEGO Batman," on the other hand, was the first time the franchise had dipped its toe into an original story, only they kept the pantomime stylings for the outset outing. As a result, Blum lent his voice to both Batman and the Joker (along with a handful of other characters), but didn't air current upwards doing much more than a few grunts and a peal or ii of maniacal laughter in the function.

20. The Dark Knight Returns Joker (Michael Emerson)

Warner Dwelling Video

To say the role of the Joker in an blithe version of Frank Miller's classic "The Nighttime Knight Returns" presented a challenge is putting things pretty mildly. Non only were the cast and crew presented with the task of adapting a story that many readers considered to be the definitive Batman tale, only the Joker himself spends the story moving from nearly catatonic in the absence of his eternal sparring partner to a massive killing spree broadcast alive on television, designed for the sole purpose of luring Batman into a last confrontation.

More almost any other have on the graphic symbol, this i required range, and in the absenteeism of the platonic candidate—Cesar Romero would've fabricated the perfect back-from-retirement Joker, but unfortunately died in 1994 — "Person of Interest" star Michael Emerson got the job. He does some interesting things with the part, simply it doesn't quite hang together as well as it should. His flat, disaffected commitment in the early parts of his arc, playing opposite Conan O'Brien as a talk evidence host, doesn't actually come off as a person who doesn't care about the lives of the people around him, who's going to murder all of them to reach the one person who does matter.

It'southward only at the end of the pic, when the Joker is fighting Batman for one last time, reveling in his ain death, that Emerson's acting reaches a fever pitch that truly serves the story.

19. LEGO Batman: The Motion picture - DC Super-Heroes Unite (Christopher Corey Smith)

Warner Bros

If you enjoyed the big-screen LEGO Batman picture show, then we have adept news and bad news. The practiced news is that at that place's already a second LEGO Batman movie you can watch — and in fact, it'southward been available on home video since 2013! Simply here's the bad news: it's really just an expanded accommodation of the storyline from the "LEGO Batman 2" video game.

Really, though, that's only bad news if yous've already played the game. If you lot haven't, the bodily storyline is actually fun, with the Joker and Lex Luthor teaming up to terrorize Gotham City with a light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation beam that tin can deconstruct anything made of black LEGO bricks, like, say, everything that Batman owns. The vocalism interim is solid, likewise, particularly since Clancy Brown reprises his "Superman: The Animated Serial" and "Justice League Unlimited" role every bit the definitive vocalisation of Lex Luthor.

Christopher Corey Smith, who also played the Joker in the second and third "LEGO Batman" video games in one case they'd moved to a fully-voiced story way, is really but turning in a pretty standard riff on Marker Hamill's Joker. Information technology's perfectly good and highly enjoyable, just once again, information technology's not quite the original.

18. DC Super Friends Short Joker (John Kassir)

Warner Bros

When you're hiring someone to play the Joker, it stands to reason that two of the about important qualifications are going to exist a morbid humor and an insanely creepy laugh. If that's the case, y'all could do a hell of a lot worse than just going out and getting the guy who played the Cryptkeeper on "Tales From the Crypt." And that, boils and ghouls, is exactly what happened in 2010, when John Kassir lent his voice to a series of shorts packaged with Fisher-Cost'southward line of "Super Friends" toys.

It's a pretty obscure entry in the chiliad Joker canon, but it'southward also a solid performance. He doesn't recycle his Cryptkeeper vox in the way you lot'd await — something that makes sense since the Joker'due south song cords aren't quite every bit rotted away equally the Keeper'southward—simply that mocking howl of laughter is unmistakable, and works really well.

Information technology'southward definitely an interesting choice, though, especially when you consider the audience. Since "Super Friends" was directed at kindergarteners, throwing information technology back to an HBO horror anthology from 1989, similar recycling audio effects and music from the original "Super Friends," seems like it was designed to entertain the folks who fabricated it a little more than the kids.

17. DC Super Friends Joker (Lloyd Floyd)

Warner Bros

On one hand, Lloyd Floyd'southward accept on the Joker scores a lot of points just by happening in a cartoon in 2015 and non simply being someone doing their best impression of Hamill. On the other hand, information technology'due south as well not a very distinctive performance. It's not that it's bad, it's but that it'southward the first voice y'all'd think of if yous were given the concept of a bank-robbing clown: a lilliputian flake manic, a fiddling bit menacing, shrieking his way through crimes and getaways.

Merely on the tertiary hand, the Joker we're given in "DC Super Friends" is actually actually great, if only because of how much he clearly hates working with the Riddler. Floyd's audible centre-rolling and his grumpy "make me laugh, not think" as the 2 gimmick crooks make their getaway adds a high signal to the performance that elevates information technology just higher up the standard.

And on a fourth, far less relevant manus, "Lloyd Floyd" is a pretty amazing name, and that's gotta be worth something.

16. Suicide Squad Joker (Jared Leto)

Warner Bros

If you lot can get past the design that starts with a tattoo of the discussion "damaged" on his forehead and just spirals out from in that location until he looks similar he should be performing alongside Dark Lotus at this twelvemonth's Gathering of the Juggalos, and you can get past all the stories of Jared Leto going Method and sending his co-stars live rats, dead pigs, and used condoms, what you're left with is ... well, not much of annihilation, really.

For all the hype surrounding Leto's appearance as the Joker in "Suicide Team," it pretty much amounted to about ten minutes of screentime that were mostly there for Harley Quinn's origin story.

fifteen. Arkham: Origins Joker (Troy Baker)

WB Games Montréal

When "Arkham City" was announced as Mark Hamill'south final outing equally the Joker, in that location was a pretty big problem. As Batman'south arch-nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime was definitely going to exist in the side by side game, which told the story of an run across much before in Batman'due south career. Thus, the part of the Joker fell to Troy Baker, and the problem here is obvious: he pretty much merely did a dead-on impression of Hamill'due south Joker for the entire game.

To be fair, he actually does a really good job of information technology, and the sequence of the game that explores Joker's origins and his thoughts on Batman is absolutely the high signal of the game. Even the fact that information technology takes the Joker's seduction of Harley Quinn, a process that took months in the comics, and compresses it downwards to most 15 minutes works incredibly well with the ramped-upwardly style of the "Arkham" games. A lot of that comes from the writing, but you lot can chalk upward a skillful amount up to Baker and Harley Quinn actress Tara Strong, who do dandy with the textile.

At copy is never going to shell the original. But hey, this is the role that allowed Baker, who also starred in the "Lego Batman" and "Telltale Batman" games, to exist the just actor to play Batman and the Joker in major roles.

14. Gotham's Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan)

Pull a fast one on

In the first episode of "Gotham," there's a scene when Edward Nygma shows up and just inexplicably starts talking about riddles, a wink to the audience so big that information technology's pretty piece of cake to mistake it for a TV show having a total-on stroke, simply nosotros don't think anyone ever expected it to get to the level that we saw with Jerome Valeska.

Jerome is the ultimate case of "Gotham" wanting to take its block and eat information technology, too. The people backside the bear witness clearly know that they can't really have the Joker show upwardly years earlier Bruce Wayne becomes Batman on business relationship of his origin story being and then tightly intertwined, and then they just went ahead and created a guy who isn't technically the Joker, just is definitely a maniacal supervillain with a permanent rictus grin who dresses as a circus clown and wants to sow anarchy wherever he tin can. They fifty-fifty drib him into stories that elevator heavily from comics like "Expiry of the Family" and "The Killing Joke"— the merely divergence is that this guy doesn't desire to kill Batman. He only really, actually wants to kill some rich 12-year-old named Bruce Wayne.

But as weird as that might exist, it's undeniable that Cameron Monaghan's performance is as well ridiculously compelling. The more than y'all discover out nearly him, the more you want to watch just to see how far they're willing to go — and considering that they were willing to go as far as to take Li'l Bruce just directly up punch his face off, it definitely made for some pretty wild tv.

13. Arkham Serial Joker (Mark Hamill)

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Kickoff things first: the "Arkham" franchise has produced some of the best video games in recent retention, and without question the best Batman games ever. Unfortunately, fifty-fifty though they got the legendary Marker Hamill to do the vocalisation for three out of four — more on him in a minute — they also ended upward giving u.s. a Joker who has what might be the single stupidest principal plan in the character's 75-year history.

Seriously, just stop for ane minute and recall about what he's upward to in the first game: This is a scheming madman who non just stages a total-on takeover of Arkham Asylum, but also arranges the shutdown of Blackgate Penitentiary and then he tin can stock the madhouse with a seemingly endless array of armed thugs prepare to practise his behest. It'south an intricate and constructive program, and goes exactly right, herding Batman through a series of increasingly challenging obstacles to push him to his limits and keeping him exactly where the Joker wants him while he prepares for his ultimate masterstroke.

And then he decides that the best fashion to cap off this program is to turn himself into a behemothic drug monster and get into a fistfight with a guy who'southward washed nothing but crush the living hell out of giant monster people for the past, oh, ten hours or so. The only matter dumber than that is that Batman has to beat him past exploding his own fist with plastic explosives, because apparently that'south how the people who make those games call up punching works.

12. The Batman animated Joker (Kevin Michael Richardson)

Warner Bros.

To put it mildly, the grapheme redesigns on "The Batman" were pretty divisive for fans, merely in all fairness, the show'southward producers were given one of the least enviable tasks in animation. Not merely did they have to build their early episodes around stories that incorporated the "Batwave" gimmick of the accompanying toy line, they also had to labor in the shadow of "Batman: The Animated Series." Not only was that show lauded as being the best take on Batman and his villains, it was hailed as one of the best cartoons of all time. Trying to follow that is a pretty monumental task.

It make sense, then, that for Batman'south most iconic foe, graphic symbol designer Jeff Matsuda would try to become every bit far as possible from Bruce Timm's slick, minimalist design — and it makes just equally much sense that a skilful number of fans would admittedly hate it on sight. The dreadlock-style hair and a spiral-patterned straitjacket with plenty of tricks upwards its literal sleeves experience similar the complete opposite of the tailored conform and string tie that came right earlier it, and while there'southward still a debate among fans as to whether or non it was actually whatsoever good, it'south commonly remembered equally a pretty big misstep.

That'southward a shame, too, because that version of the Joker is actually in some pretty good stories that, while not equally far afield from previous takes, certainly worked with a different tone. "The Laughing Bat," for example, involves the Joker taking a turn as a vigilante and and then dosing Batman with Joker Venom so that he has a "villain" to fight, and that'southward a pretty brilliant setup.

eleven. LEGO DC Comics Super-Heroes: Justice League - Gotham City Breakout Joker (Jason Spisak)

Warner Home Video

Like Batman himself, the Joker can take many forms. He can be a sinister, smiling murderer with a triple-digit body count, a comedy-obsessed bank robber, and sometimes—sometimes—he tin exist a criminal and then delightfully manipulative that he can bring downwardly an entire metropolis armed only with a spoon.

That's what this installment of the frequently-overlooked "LEGO DC Comics Super-Heroes" series introduces to the mythos: Spoony, the Joker's new sidekick (not coincidentally also voiced past Jason Spisak). Sure, he might only await like a sharpened spoon that the Joker used to dig his way out of Arkham Asylum, a structure that could really use a adept once-over from the building inspector, but he's been blessed with the uncanny ability to reflect Superman's heat vision and bust that madhouse wide open.

Believe it or not, Joker schemes that are actually funny are pretty rare these days, and when the plot in this straight-to-video project was combined with Spisak'due south smarmy, mocking voice, it concluded upwardly being genuinely hilarious.

ten. Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Joker (Jeff Bergman)

Warner Bros

While "Batman: Render of the Caped Crusaders" saw the very welcome render of Adam Due west, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar to the roles of Batman, Robin, and Catwoman, the residuum of the main cast was given the pretty unenviable task of not just playing villains, but specific version of villains that were identified with actors who had unfortunately died years before.

For Jeff Bergman, that meant playing Cesar Romero playing the Joker, an undoubtedly tough spot that involved non merely the performance itself, simply trying to figure out how much of an impression you can practise earlier the whole thing turns ghoulish. He does the task wonderfully, full of over-the-summit trills and rolled Rs that feel more than similar a tribute to the original performance than a fleck of theatrical tomb raiding.

9. Gotham's Jeremiah Valeska (Cameron Monaghan)

Trick

From twenty-four hours one, "Gotham" has been a show that wanted to have its cake and eat it too, and there's no character who embodies that spirit more Jeremiah Valeska. In a show that spent years being a Batman prove without Batman, where the Riddler wasn't the Riddler notwithstanding and the Penguin wasn't the Penguin all the same, just all of the weirdest elements of the franchise like the Order of St. Dumas and Professor Pyg are all present and accounted for, he's the closest nosotros got to the Joker, and he nevertheless doesn't quite make it.

Non but is he a double fakeout — the twin brother of the guy that nosotros thought was going to be the Joker earlier he died, who then got dunked in chemicals and took a liking to purple suits — he also comes as close as yous tin peradventure become to beingness the Joker without actually stepping across the end line. Fifty-fifty in the series finale, he steadfastly refuses to pay off the setup, instead referring to himself by every J-name in the book except the one we want.

And as frustrating every bit it is, that'south as well kind of great. There'south a deliberate goofiness to the way he dances around information technology — like telling Ecco, who sounds and looks exactly similar Harley Quinn, that "at that place will never be one similar y'all" — that's genuinely mannerly and fun. He'south the kind of graphic symbol that makes you wish the entire series had been this bonkers from the beginning.

8. Batman: The Brave and the Bold Joker (Jeff Bennett)

Drawing Network

"Batman: The Dauntless and the Bold" was another show that had to react to the long-lasting legacy of "Batman: The Blithe Series," hitting the modest screen shortly later the finale of "Justice League Unlimited" brought an end to the DC Animated Universe. The solution that show hit upon, though, was to take the entire aesthetic in a different direction rather than but the character designs.

Rather than doing a series so dark it had to be drawn on black paper, BatB focused on loftier gamble in lighter, and occasionally even comedic, stories that drew their inspiration from the comics of the Silver Age. The Joker, and then, bore a strong resemblance to the work of legendary Batman artist Dick Sprang.

While he was rarely the focus of the stories, though, the Joker (and voice actor Jeff Bennett) really got the take a chance to smoothen in a two-part episode that focused on an alternate Earth where heroes and villains swapped roles. On that planet, where Owlman led the ruthless offense syndicate, the Red Hood survived his trip into a vat of chemicals and became the last hero standing — and a solid ally for Batman.

vii. Joker 2019 (Joaquin Phoenix)

Warner Bros

Y'all really accept to requite it to Joaquin Phoenix for his functioning in the title role of 2019's "Joker": he commits to the office. Arthur Bit is legitimately hard to watch, in a very deliberate and intentional way. The grating of his compulsive laughter, the body horror shots of his emaciated figure and spindly limbs, the disturbing oedipal relationship with his mother, and the off-putting weirdo vibe that he gives out go along the audience at a altitude, even as we watch him go through a seemingly countless string of concrete and emotional beatdowns that, past all rights, should put us on his side. The shift from the pathetic Fleck to the twisted conviction and bravado of Joker do a more than solid job with the transformation that the unabridged picture show is built around.

Unfortunately, that performance is in a movie that doesn't deserve it. No thing how compelling y'all find Phoenix'southward performance, it's nearly impossible to hear a line similar "I used to think my life was a tragedy, but it'southward actually a comedy" and not roll your optics. Even worse, the movie attempts to walk the fine line of being sympathetic to Chip and horrified by him, and instead winds up trampling all over it with a pair of clown shoes. There'due south only i murder in the motion picture that'southward not presented as being at to the lowest degree partially defensible, and while the one that isn't is meant to be a harrowing turning indicate, the film's way more interested in presenting the states with the ones where we're told that hey, this mass murderer might accept a point, actually.

The worst sin of "Joker," though, is that it strips all of the mystery abroad from the character. That's what sets Joker apart from other supervillains and makes him every bit compelling and scary as he is. With Arthur Flake, we get a meticulously detailed study about his childhood abuse, miserable adulthood, and even the process of how he got his name, explained a couple of times in case you missed it. That's all stuff that might be necessary for a nuanced character piece that's not supposed to be a superhero movie about an established character, but this picture literally has the hereafter Batman in it.

6. Batman '89 Joker (Jack Nicholson)

Warner Bros.

Jack Nicholson's functioning as the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" movie is pretty fantastic on almost every level. He's certainly the best part of the movie, with Nicholson'southward already-creepy grin accentuated by caked on makeup and some truly amazing fashion choices. Every wait he sports is spot-on, and the scene in which he knocks out everyone in an art museum then rolls in with his crew so he can destroy some paintings while diggings a Prince song near himself on a boombox might be the virtually baller thing a supervillain has e'er washed—information technology really gets beyond the idea that he's more into this whole "destroy Gotham City" matter for the fun of it.

The only real problem is Jack Napier, and not just because of the laborious pun on "Jack-a-Nape."

The Joker'southward origin story has gone through as many different takes as the character himself, but i of the central moments is that in that location'south some sort of modify when he gets dumped into a vat of acid and comes out looking like a murder clown. In "Batman" '89, though, at that place's no real alter — Napier fifty-fifty carries around a deck of cards equally his trademark. It doesn't break the character in the manner that, say, making him the guy who killed Batman's parents does, but it certainly makes him a whole lot less interesting.

5. Batman: Under the Red Hood (John DiMaggio)

Warner Home Video

Even if you don't recognize his proper noun, you're about certainly familiar with John DiMaggio from his roles as Bough on "Futurama," Jake the Domestic dog on "Adventure Time," Aquaman on "Batman: The Dauntless and the Bold," and a couple dozen other high-contour voice acting gigs on beloved Boob tube shows. In 2010, he landed the office of the Joker in "Under the Red Hood," an adaptation of Judd Winick and Doug Mahnke's comic book story in which Batman'due south long-dead sidekick, Jason Todd, returned to life.

DiMaggio is unquestionably the standout of the cast, giving the Joker a gravelly, vaudevillian patter that veers away from Mark Hamill while preserving what works best almost Hamill'due south portrayal. This is a Joker who delivers every line as though it's really a joke, giving you the sense of someone who genuinely thinks that beating someone to death with a crowbar is hilarious. It's an incredibly creepy take that underlines why the Joker'due south so frightening, and why it'south understandable that most of the other characters desire him dead.

It might be overshadowed by other versions of the Joker, simply it's definitely solid, and even if DiMaggio isn't on the acme of this listing, he absolutely ranks as the best Aquaman of all time.

four. Batman '66 Joker (Cesar Romero)

20th Television

Pretty much everything near Cesar Romero'due south portrayal of the Joker on the 1966 "Batman" Idiot box show is swell, from the manner he attacks every scene with manic, scenery-chewing glee to the way he twists his painted-on grinning into a disappointed scowl when he'due south inevitably defeated, and all the way down to the fact that Romero refused to shave his mustache for the part, instead caking on the clown makeup and leaving information technology completely visible in every episode. In that location's a panache and even a trivial menace to the function that makes him ane of the show'southward nearly memorable characters.

Unfortunately, almost every other major villain on the show was better. Characters like the Penguin — legendarily the favorite of the writers, who ever had a script prepared for when Burgess Meredith was in town — Catwoman and even Male monarch Tut were involved in improve stories that did far more to play up their gimmicks. He's so generic, in fact, that the Joker once starred in an episode that was originally meant to feature a new villain chosen the One-Armed Bandit, only to exist hastily rewritten at the concluding minute, leaving the Joker with an inexplicable one-episode fascination with slot machines.

Ironically, it'southward fair to say that the modern portrayal of the Joker, with his blend of terrifying sadism and unpredictable laughter, has a lot more in common with Frank Gorshin's portrayal of the Riddler than it does with Romero'due south. That doesn't make him bad, but it definitely means he's not the best.

three. LEGO Batman Movie Joker (Zach Galifianakis)

Warner Bros.

It'southward one thing to go an actual stand-up comedian to play the Joker in a movie where you're going for laughs. That's been done before — going all the way back to Larry Storch, who ended up beingness pretty painfully unfunny in the role, albeit through no fault of his own. It's another matter to come up upwardly with a new design that uses blocky minimalism to still go across its own visual twists on the character, similar jagged teeth and a smile that looks like it was drawn on with a crayon, a weird little twist that actually works.

Even the thought of the Joker grabbing up the greatest villains of other dimensions to give Gotham City a existent problem is something that makes a lot of sense when you put it in the context of the universe nosotros're shown in "The LEGO Film." What makes this version of the Joker really great, though, is how the movie treats his grapheme and his enmity with Batman.

Of all the Joker's appearances beyond movies and Tv, who would've expected that the i that actually went into whether his motivation stemmed from a twisted sort of love would be the one based on building block toys for tiny children? And nonetheless here we are, in a world where that'due south non just acknowledged in this pic, but serves as the driving forcefulness for the entire plot.

2. The Dark Knight Joker (Heath Ledger)

Warner Bros

Information technology's been long enough since "The Nighttime Knight" came out that we've all been through the massive moving ridge of initial hype, the inevitable backlash, and the eye-rolling at the people who are somehow still dressing upwards as the Joker for Halloween and hissing out a "why then serious." Here's the thing nigh Heath Ledger's Academy Award-winning performance as the Joker, though: it really is that practiced.

The Joker of "The Dark Knight" is both terrifying and genuinely funny, but more than that, he'southward got an air of mystery that's almost impossible for a character so well-known to cultivate. Virtually everything he says in the picture show is a lie, whether he's delivering origin stories that contradict each other, asking for literal piles of money he's only going to fire, or assuring other characters he doesn't have a plan while enacting a scheme that'due south complex and built on clockwork precision.

Ledger's Joker has already become 1 of the most influential movie villains in recent retention, simply the elements that might fall curt with other characters work perfectly for a homo who exists for the sole purpose of fierce down the order and control Batman has tried to hard to wrest from chaos.

1. Batman: The Blithe Series/DC Animated Universe Joker (Mark Hamill)

Warner Bros

When you lot get right down to information technology, "Batman: The Animated Serial" did everything right. The slick, stylish accept on the Caped Crusader boiled everything downward to essentials, and no character—save for Batman himself—benefitted every bit much as the Joker.

With stories like "Joker's Favor," "Almost Got 'Im," and "The Laughing Fish," the Joker of "B:TAS" was frightening and funny, with a sweeping theatricality that came direct from Marker Hamill's amazing turn providing his voice. And if that wasn't enough, this is the version of the Joker that led directly to the cosmos of a foil, Harley Quinn, who would become on to be one of DC's most popular characters.

Despite a bit of inconsistent animation that plagued the first few seasons, the "Blithe Series" Joker was—and remains—the definitive version of the character.

hornerachargeturry.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.looper.com/61086/every-version-joker-ranked-worst-best/

Share this post