In the DC universe, no villain has been more adored, loved and intrigued by fans more than The Joker. The insane man, who owns crime in Gotham, has bested and brought pain to Batman more times than Superman has saved Lois Lane, with the most notable being killing the dark knight’s sidekick, Robin (The Jason Todd version), with a very big smile on his face as usual.
His purple suit, white powder and red lipstick fool people into thinking he is just a crazy clown, but he is more than that. He is The Joker, a criminal mastermind with a genius-level intellect that rivals Batman. Let’s take a dive into his crazy and look at the evolution of the insane villain in movies.
The Joker first laughed his way onto the big screen in 1966’s Batman with Caeser Romero playing the purple suit-wearing psychotic killer. His performance as The Joker really set the standard for all the other actors who played the role.
After Romero’s wonderful portrayal, Jack Nicholson got a chance to play the character in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and by everything right in Gotham city, he did right by the character by turning things in Gotham upside down. His performance was so good, he got a Golden Globe nomination for it. A nomination he rightly deserved.
In 2008, the late Heath Ledger took the mantle passed down by Nicholson with his run as the maniac in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 The Dark Knight. Heath’s performance as The Joker is arguably the best performance so far, as everyone in a weird way resonated with and even began rooting for The Joker to be victorious at the end of the movie (which in a way, he was). Heath portrayed The Joker as an utter psychotic killer with no morals whatsoever, who was ready to kill everyone in the world except The Batman because he wanted to prove that Batman and other people are just as crazy and maniacally depressed as he was. Heath was rewarded with an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award for his performance (which, sadly, he received after his death).
Eight years after Ledger’s unrivalled performance, Jared Leto became the new Joker in Suicide Squad. Although he had a small role to play in the movie, Jared became cinema’s first “Hip and Fly” Joker with grills in his teeth, chains on his neck, and a lot of tattoos on his body. His performance as the clown prince of crime was taken in a new direction and although fans were downcasted with the movie as a whole, a lot of fans were pleased with Jared’s portrayal of the character – even though Heath Ledger still takes the number one spot and may continue to do so for a very long time.
So who was/is your best Joker? let us know your ranking from worst to best in the comment section below.
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