How The Joker Still Holds Up as Batman’s Most Important Villain
The Joker, with his infectious smile and penchant for murder, is the clown prince of crime. He wears purple suits and has a love affair with a certain caped crusader. Despite his long reign of terror, this character remains relevant today. What keeps this madman ticking? The answer is that we don’t need a stinking origin.
The Joker is one of the most fascinating characters in comic book filmdom, if not the best. Every iteration gives him a different origin or no origin at all, making him all the more intriguing. Some believe he’s a crime lord who fell into acid, while others think he was a bumbling comedian who had one bad day. Perhaps he’s simply a loner who wants to see the world burn. It’s not for the audience to say. People have their favorite origin/non-origin story and tout it as the best one.
Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker in 1989 was the one most closely associated with comic books. He was initially a bad guy who later fell into a vat of chemicals, driving him insane and causing him to set his sights on Batman. The two had several back-and-forths, exchanged quips, and the Joker met his end at the hands of the bat. The big difference between the comics and the movie is that Batman never kills the Joker. He puts him away, only for him to keep coming back.
Heath Ledger’s Joker, on the other hand, came from nowhere and couldn’t be identified by any means. He seemed poised to show Batman that his entire mode of thinking was wrong. He just wanted chaos to reign and for Batman to crumble under the pressure. He never died, having presumably been put away by Batman. However, he did leave audiences with a very telling quote from The Dark Knight that speaks to all iterations of the character. “I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
There have been other Jokers, including Mark Hamill, Cesar Romero, Roger Stoneburner, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Barry Keoghan. Each brought their unique style, fashion, and laugh to the character, creating a lasting impression that fans either loved or hated. Even the most maligned version of the character, Jared Leto’s in The Suicide Squad, had a distinct style that fit the universe.
In the end, the character’s nebulous qualities make him so appealing to writers, directors, and audiences. He’s the one character that people don’t want to see more of the same. People love to see what a director can do, what kind of makeup and wardrobe will be chosen, and how nuts an actor is prepared to get for the role. We love to hear about actors “going method” for the role of the Joker because it means we’re going to see an unhinged performance.
Despite people clamoring for new characters, plots, and story arcs, one thing remains the same: more Joker. We never tire of him, we never tire of the differences between how he is played, and we don’t care about the situation. It’s such a phenomenon that even Matt Reeves, the director of The Batman, shoehorned the character into his movie for the briefest of post-credit scenes. Even then, it was one of the most talked-about pieces of the film. The actor playing the Joker will get far more applause than whoever plays Batman in Batman: The Broadway Musical. It’s not an opinion, it’s a green-haired, purple-suited, giant-grinning fact.
He’s the clown prince of crime. He’s got an infectious smile. He wears purple suits and has no compunction about murdering innocents.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Joker. A man with nothing to lose and a love affair with a certain caped crusader. But what keeps this crazy ticking? How can he possibly still be relevant today?
Origin? We Don’t Need A Stinking Origin!
The Joker is one of the most interesting characters in all of comic book filmdom. In fact, he might be the best. Nearly every iteration gives him a different origin or no origin at all. It’s like he simply burst on the scene ready-made to wreak havoc on Gotham City.
Some of the most intriguing parts of the character are his inconsistencies. Is he a crime lord that fell into acid? Was he a bumbling comedian who fell into one bad day? Maybe he’s just a loner who wants to see the world burn. It’s not for an audience to say. People seem to pick their favorite origin/non-origin story and tout it as the best one.
Of course, Jack Nicholson’s portrayal in 1989 was the one most closely associated with comic books. To begin with, he’s a bad guy and then falls into a vat of chemicals. It drives him insane and causes him to set his sights on Batman. The two have a few back-and-forths, exchange quips, and he meets his end at the hands of the bat. The big difference between the comics and the movie is that Batman never kills the Joker. He puts him away, only for him to keep coming back.
Heath Ledger’s Joker was a bit different. He came from nowhere, couldn’t be identified by any means, and seemed poised to show Batman that his entire mode of thinking was wrong. He just wanted chaos to reign and for Batman to crumble under the pressure. He never died, having presumably been put away by Batman. However, he did leave audiences with a very telling quote from The Dark Knight that speaks to all iterations of the character. “I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
So Many Jokers!
There have been other Jokers: Mark Hamill, Cesar Romero, Roger Stoneburner, Jared Leto, Joaquin Phoenix, and Barry Keoghan. Each brought their own style, fashion, and laugh to the character. Each has created a lasting impression that fans have either loved or hated.
Even the most maligned version of the character, Jared Leto’s in The Suicide Squadhad a distinct style that fit the universe. It didn’t matter that people liked or disliked him. He was a psychopathic, club-owning, gun-having, violence-loving, scary guy. Sure, he didn’t fit the mold we consider the Joker, but that’s the point! The Joker isn’t a mold. He’s an anomaly. He’s the wildcard. Regardless of his incarnation, you do not want to be within one Gotham of him because, whether you realize it or not, he is most likely cooking up something to make your life hell.
The Joker is the main reason why people can’t figure out why Gotham has any residents. It is a testament to the films and comic books that we all still believe Gotham is a place anyone would still live. He’s a madman with a grudge against a city, a disturbing love for his arch-enemy, and a terrible way of showing both.
The Joker is Everything We Want
In the end, the character’s nebulous qualities make him so appealing to writers, directors, and audiences. He may be the one character that we don’t want to see more of the same. We want to see what a director can do, what kind of makeup and wardrobe will be chosen, and how nuts an actor is prepared to get for the role.
People love that they can build their own narratives around how the character is supposedly so crazy and disturbed that he somehow infects anyone who plays him. He is the Macbeth of superhero characters. You hardly speak his name, and people talk about how just playing the character seems to curse actors.
Look online, and you’ll see list after list of how actors “got into the role” a bit too much or the behavior they exhibited before and during filming. We love to hear about actor’s “going method” for the role of the Joker because it means we’re going to see an unhinged performance.
One of the more interesting pieces to consider is that people are constantly talking about superhero fatigue these days. They are clamoring for new characters, plots, and story arcs. But one thing remains the same: more Joker. We never tire of him, we never tire of the differences between how he is played, and we don’t care about the situation. It’s such a phenomenon that even Matt Reeves, the director of The Batman, shoehorned the character into his movie for the briefest of post-credit scenes. Even then, it was one of the most talked-about pieces of the film. Will Batman meet the Joker? Is it a tease for the next movie? What is his role? Who is playing him? What does he look like?
The Joker is a weird amalgamation of hype and living up to the hype. In nearly every case, he has lived up to his reputation. If they ever create Batman: The Broadway Musical, the actor playing the Joker will get far more applause than whoever plays Batman. It’s not an opinion. It’s a green-haired, purple-suited, giant-grinning fact.
