Mark Hamillmay be well known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, but he has another iconic role under his belt: voicing the Joker inBatman: The Animated Series. Hamill’s performance was completely unpredictable — one minute, he might crack a joke, and then the next commit outright murder. But what really cemented things was his laugh; no one on the planet would have guessed that a sci-fi icon was capable of letting loosesuch a bone-chilling cackle. It’s hard to imagine a world where Hamill’s Joker didn’t go toe-to-toe with thelate, greatKevin Conroy’s Batman, but believe it or not,Hamill wasn’t the first choice to play the Clown Prince of Crime. In fact, when he boarded the series, the Joker already had an actor, and it was another iconic figure,Tim Curry, who ironically had experience playing an evil clown in theITtelevision miniseries. But how exactly did Hamill get the Joker role?
Mark Hamill Won the Joker Role Through a Sheer Stroke of Luck
Batman: The Animated Seriesand the rest of the DC Animated Universe owe its casting choices to veteran voice directorAndrea Romano. Romano opened up about the circumstances that led Hamill to take on the Joker role; he had reached out to the producers to snag a role on the series as he was “a huge fan” of Batman. But Romano also said thatshe was asked to recast the Jokerdue to a new producer stepping in. “It was a series of circumstances that came one upon the other that created this whirlwind that then became Mark Hamill’s Joker…A new producer came on to the series, didn’t care for The Joker we had cast, and asked us to re-cast it,“she told ComicBookMovie.com.
Hamill threw his hat into the ring, and Romano was apparently impressed enough to give him the job. As for Curry,he eventually shed lighton the reason why he was replaced after only doing four episodes of voice work as the Joker. “I did play Joker for a while, but I had bronchitis and they fired me – and hired Mark Hamill. That’s life.” It turns out that one ofBatman: The Animated Series' founding fathers also wasn’t a huge fan of Curry’s performance. In an interviewcelebrating the series' 25th anniversary,longtime producer and series co-creator Bruce Timm was fairly open about the fact that he didn’t click with Curry’s performance.
Tim Curry May Have Been Way Too Terrifying for the Joker
It’s fairly hard to gauge what Curry’s Joker performance was like since recordings of his voice work onBatman: The Animated Seriesare scarce.But if you ask Kevin Conroy, the true tipping point that led to Curry’s departure — and subsequently, Hamill’s casting — was the fact thatCurry was apparently too terrifying as the Joker. “Tim’s Joker was dark and scary. Mark came in and he did a Joker that was dark and funny. So it was just a different take on the Joker,” Conroy said when discussing Curry’s brief stint as the iconic villain. It makes a fair amount of sense; Curry’s best roles belonged to some truly terrifying figures. Of course, there wasPennywise the ClowninIT, who took great delight in tormenting children. But there was also Darkness in Ridley Scott’sLegend, who looks like Satan incarnate.Batman: The Animated Seriesmay have been able topush some boundaries, but it was still airing on a network and a time slot meant for younger viewers, and the producers probably didn’t want to scare away their potential audience.
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Mark Hamill Came To Define the Joker Outside ‘Batman: The Animated Series’
Hamill would continue to voice the Joker in other animated series and movies, most notablyBatman: Mask of the PhantasmandBatman Beyond: Return of the Joker. He’d even briefly lend his voice to the short-livedBirds of Preyseries, quite literally bringing the Joker to life. But two projects stand out the most: The animated adaptation ofBatman: The Killing Jokeand theBatman: Arkhamgames. Both projects reunite Hamill with Kevin Conroy, but also let him bring new dimensions to the character, asThe Killing Jokerecounts the Joker’s origin, while theArkhamgames explore his legacy. Hamill would voice the Joker one last time in the finale to the animatedJustice League: Crisis on Infinite Earthstrilogy,effectively closing out the DC Animated Universein the process. While fans may wonder whatBatman: The Animated Serieswould be like with Curry at the helm, Hamill made the Joker a truly formidable foe with his performance.
Batman: The Animated Series
The Dark Knight battles crime in Gotham City with occasional help from Robin and Batgirl.
