When it comes to evolving with the times, this iconic villain doesn't joke around. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re discussing six decades of film and television interpretations of Batman’s arch nemesis.
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00:00And honestly, I think we could all use a good laugh, so please welcome Joker."
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're discussing six decades of film and television interpretations
00:11of Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker.
00:14And here we go.
00:18The Setup
00:19Tacky suits and grin aside, DC's Joker is a dark standard among supervillains.
00:24The lore of Batman's arch nemesis has undergone many makeovers in many forms of media.
00:30The only constant is a deranged criminal mastermind with a morbid sense of humor.
00:39But the public's sense of him has been affected by his on-screen presence more than anything.
00:44The Joker debuted in the first issue of the Batman comics.
00:47We were introduced to a disturbed vigilante dressed like a bat as our hero, alongside
00:51a colorful clown as his villain.
01:03Inspired by the mutilated lead in the film The Man Who Laughs, the clown prince of crime
01:07was deliberately designed around contradictions.
01:10This helped set a tone in superhero lore that is subversive now, never mind 1940.
01:16If Batman is to be done justice in other media, so too must the Joker.
01:301960s Warm-Up Acts
01:32Batman first hit the screen in a 1943 film serial.
01:36But the Joker wouldn't be adapted until 1966.
01:40He made up for lost time as a recurring villain on ABC's Batman, starring Adam West as the
01:45not-so-dark knight.
01:55The camp classic was an ideal platform for the eccentric crime boss.
01:59Sure veteran heartthrob Cesar Romero's refusal to shave his mustache was a flaw in the character
02:03design.
02:04Otherwise, the startling makeup and wardrobe effectively brought Joker to life.
02:09The show was a hit, as was the theatrical film released shortly after its premiere.
02:15Romero's tongue-in-cheek menace alone was a pop culture phenomenon.
02:21Voice actor Ted Knight brought that flamboyance to the Joker's 1968 animation debut on The
02:26Adventures of Batman.
02:35The villain would keep TV audiences laughing for years to come.
02:391970s and 80s Light on Laughs
02:43By the 1970s, a generation of readers had grown up with a Joker characterized in compliance
02:49with the Comics Code Authority.
02:51The homicidal madness of the 40s was toned down to elaborate pranks and heists.
03:04That kind of villainy seemed cemented in other media by the Joker's family-friendly
03:08TV work in the 60s, then by small animated roles in the subsequent decade.
03:13Legendary voice actor Frank Welker later brought the Joker into the 80s on the short-lived
03:17series The Superpower's Team, Galactic Guardians.
03:27The seldom-seen supervillain was a cartoon in every sense of the word through this era.
03:32Then, in 1989, things changed forever.
03:391989, Dancing with the Devil
03:42Leave it to Tim Burton to reconcile Batman's pulpy screen brand with its dark roots.
03:47His mega-hit 1989 film inspired future adaptations to take the property more seriously.
03:53And the great Jack Nicholson showed how to take a comical psycho seriously.
04:05His Joker began as Jack Napier, a gangster deformed and driven mad after falling into
04:11a chemical vat.
04:12He then takes over the Gotham City underworld with criminal mischief.
04:22This Joker was genuinely scary, a formidable match for Batman to a fault.
04:27Many felt that his screen time and characterization eclipsed Bruce Wayne's.
04:32Even more controversial was the big reveal that Napier was the hood who murdered Wayne's
04:36parents.
04:45Burton's Batman may not have been the perfect narrative for fans, but Nicholson was the
04:49perfect Joker.
04:50He was showered with award nominations, which was rare for an actor in a superhero movie.
04:55Indeed, the Golden Globe nod was for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
05:00Nicholson's Joker was humorous, but hardly anything to laugh about.
05:04There was no going back from this dark image.
05:091990s to 2000s, Dark Comedy
05:19After Nicholson, the Joker became more prevalent in animated shows and features that finally
05:24respected his edginess.
05:26This renaissance really began with the acclaimed Batman the Animated Series, which ran on Fox
05:31Kids from 92 to 95.
05:44Movie star Mark Hamill made a stunning turn to the dark side in a variation of the Jack
05:48Napier arc, reprising the role in spinoffs, movies, and video games.
05:53His blood-curdling voice work became synonymous with the Joker.
05:56Even when Roger Stoneburner played him on the WB's live-action Birds of Prey, Hamill
06:01dubbed the voice.
06:08Of course, Kevin Michael Richardson made an impression in the 2004 to 2008 series The
06:13Batman.
06:14His Joker struck a more dominating figure with more frantic mannerisms.
06:24It was a pretty dramatic departure to still be faithful to the character's darkness.
06:28And yet nothing could prepare us for his big comeback to the big screen.
06:352008, Why So Serious?
06:38Christopher Nolan blew audiences away with the gritty Batman Begins.
06:43Fans could not wait to see Bruce Wayne meet his match in the sequel.
06:46Well, much of the hype was hushed when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker.
06:51Americans mostly recognized the Australian matinee idol for the teen rom-com 10 Things
06:55I Hate About You and the art drama Brokeback Mountain.
07:05Ledger certainly had the chops, and we don't mean his Joker's distinctive Glasgow smile.
07:10He ultimately put fans' fears to rest.
07:132008's The Dark Knight was immediately hailed as a landmark in superhero cinema.
07:18Joker earned particular attention as an enigmatic terrorist, whose anarchist philosophies drove
07:23the film's complex social commentary.
07:34This made him a major figure in not only pop culture, but academic studies of politics,
07:39psychopathy, and characterization in art.
07:41Ledger's spectacular performance was equally groundbreaking.
07:56His best-supporting actor win marked the first time a superhero film won in a major category
08:01at the Academy Awards.
08:02Sadly, it was a solemn occasion.
08:05Shortly before the film's release, Ledger died of a medication overdose at age 28.
08:10But besides many other incredible roles, he's remembered for one of the defining acting
08:14performances of a generation.
08:202010's Trying Out New Material
08:25The Dark Knight brought prestige to the Joker's brand.
08:29More importantly for Warner Bros., the film confirmed its value and flexibility.
08:40They presented Joker in many different incarnations throughout the 2010s.
08:45Most were animated, with Mark Hamill returning to the role in 2016's Batman the Killing
08:49Joke.
09:00One of the boldest interpretations was on the Fox series Gotham, in which Cameron Monaghan
09:04portrays two Jokers as twins Jerome and Jeremy Valeska.
09:08Unfortunately, the characters' highly anticipated entry into the DC Extended Universe may have
09:13gone too far.
09:202016's Suicide Squad introduced the Joker as a volatile gangster with tattoos and a
09:28silver grill.
09:29It was hoped that rock star and renowned method actor Jared Leto could make it work.
09:34But he mostly made headlines for on-set antics that threw the legitimacy of method acting
09:38under scrutiny.
09:49The performance itself polarized audiences, though Mr. J was barely in the movie.
09:54The backlash was so great that he was merely alluded to in subsequent DCEU films.
10:05For all his multimedia salience this decade, the Joker needed a return to legitimacy.
10:15Writer-director Todd Phillips found an unlikely departure from comedy in a certain comedian.
10:222019's Joker was an R-rated drama about Arthur Fleck's rise to villainy from poverty and
10:27mental illness.
10:35It was a radical concept, not just for the DC property, but for mainstream Hollywood.
10:40And it was swarmed with controversy for its morally ambiguous depiction of a disturbed
10:44man's violent revolution.
10:46Many theaters even enacted policies to vet moviegoers.
10:50This was in response to the 2012 deadly mass shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight
10:54Rises in Aurora, Colorado.
10:56The shooter was dressed as the Joker.
11:07The film Joker commented on such senseless tragedies.
11:10Though set in the 1980s, it was an uncompromising confrontation with the apathy and violence
11:15of modern society.
11:17At least the prestigious Joaquin Phoenix was universally praised.
11:29Among his many accolades was the Academy Award for Best Actor.
11:33This made Joker the second character ever to win two Oscars, the first being Vito Corleone
11:39of the first two Godfather films.
11:41That is a testament to the elevated artistry of this Scorsesean psychological thriller.
11:46As shocking as its critical acclaim was, a global box office gross of over one billion
11:51dollars challenged the idea of a comic book blockbuster.
11:54Phillips and Phoenix pushed boundaries further with the 2024 musical sequel Joker, Fully
11:59Adieu.
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12:242020s, The Last Laugh
12:28It seems audiences prefer their Jokers dark.
12:31Even Jared Leto's dreary reinterpretation in Zack Snyder's 2021 cut of Justice League
12:36was considered an improvement over the DCEU's take.
12:49The internet also had much to say about a small cameo in 2022's The Batman.
12:54Revered Irish actor Barry Keoghan is slated to return as a disfigured serial killer in
12:58a 2026 sequel.
13:00Until then, official screen interpretations of the Joker are not expected to lighten up.
13:06As for the unofficial, Vera Drew won underground praise as writer, director, and star of The
13:11People's Joker.
13:24This unauthorized parody follows the aspiring clown as a trans woman seeking recognition
13:29in a dystopian society.
13:31In a triumph against studio red tape, Drew's semi-autobiographical comedy was released
13:36in 2024 to assert that there's no fitting this jack in a box.
13:41Movies and shows have turned the Joker from a pulpy trickster into a popular antithesis
13:45of the status quo.
13:46Like his principle in comedy and as a supervillain, it's all about subverting expectations.
14:01He may have even had the last laugh in public discourse.
14:06Perception of Bruce Wayne's multimedia brand hasn't changed much since the 1940s.
14:11Meanwhile, his arch-nemesis has regularly transformed on the screen as a pop icon, comic
14:17relief, a political symbol, and more.
14:28Though not all adaptations of the Joker have been successful, they've made him bigger
14:32than comic fans could have imagined.
14:35How do you feel about the on-screen evolution of the Joker and Batman through the years?
14:39Laugh it up in the comments.