Joker (comics)

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Appearances in other media

In the animated series

Batman: The Animated Series—mainly in the episode "Beware the Creeper" and the spin-off movie '—offers another version of the Joker's history: he is portrayed as a former anonymous hitman for a mob with ties to the Beaumont family, later responsible for the death of Carl Beaumont. As in the 1989 movie, he was not wearing any disguise when he made his fateful attempt to rob the chemical factory. Unlike the movie, no attempt has been made to connect him with the death of Bruce Wayne's parents (although "Jack Napier" has been mentioned as one of the hitman's aliases, and in the episode Dreams in Darkness, Dr. Bartholomew identified him with that name.)

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The Joker's appearances from The New Batman Adventures:

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• "Gotham Holidays"
• "Joker's Millions"
• "Old Wounds"
• "Beware the Creeper"
• "Mad Love"

Mark Hamill is the most famous actor to supply the character's voice, in Batman: The Animated Series and its various spin-offs, including Justice League and '. Hamill also provided the voice for the character in an episode of Birds of Prey.

Related Topics:
Mark Hamill - Spin-off - Justice League

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Most recently, a very different version of the Joker appeared in the new animated series The Batman. No explanation for this Joker's origin has yet been given, but his appearance and costume are decidedly different. He sports a purple and yellow straitjacket, fingerless gloves, bare feet (which are white with green toenails), wild green hair, red eyes, and athletic prowess that clearly mark him as different from his predecessors. However, in the end of the first episode, "The Bat in the Belfry", he vaguely implies that Batman was somewhat responsible for the way he is (which may be similar to his post-Crisis comic book counterpart.) Later in the series, he regressed back to his more traditional garb (but still had wild hair and wore no shoes). Apparently he knows martial arts and is able to spar competently with Batman. The Joker also moves and fights with a monkey-like style, using his feet as dexterously as his hands, and often hangs from the walls and ceilings. (As the series progresses, these abilities do not appear as much.) He is still recognizably the Joker, and he seems to have no motive for his crimes other than enjoying them. He still employs his signature Joker venom in the form of a laughing gas. His voice actor is Kevin Michael Richardson.

Related Topics:
The Batman - Straitjacket - Martial arts - Kevin Michael Richardson

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The Joker also appears in the Static Shock episode, "The Big Leagues". Joker traveled to Dakota, home of Static, to re-circuit a few bang babies for assistance in battling Batman, Robin, and Static Shock. In the end, Static defeated Joker, who was taken back to Arkham Asylum.

Related Topics:
Static Shock - Bang babies

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In television

With the success of the 1960s television series, the character was brought to the forefront along with the rest of the classic rogues gallery. During that period, the Joker (portrayed with zest by actor Cesar Romero) was a persistent but essentially silly character in his 18 appearances (out of 120 episodes) spanning from 1966 until 1968. Incidentally, Romero refused to shave his beloved and rather sizable mustache for the role, resulting in the bizarre sight of makeup smeared over his mustache.

Related Topics:
1960s - Rogues gallery - Cesar Romero - 1966 - 1968

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In movies

The 1989 Batman movie, directed and designed by Tim Burton, offered a somewhat different origin for the Joker, and at the same time made him part of Batman's origin. The Joker's real name in the movie was Jack Napier, a play on the word "jackanapes" and possibly also adapted from the surname of actor Alan Napier, who had played Alfred in the 1966 series. Napier, the narcissistic right-hand man of Boss Carl Grissom, went by the nickname "Ace" and dressed in black, a tie-in with and contrast to his later playing card incarnation. Napier was having an affair with Boss Grissom's moll, Alicia Hunt, prompting a jealous Grissom to set his lieutenant up to be killed by a corrupt police officer named Lt. Eckhardt at Axis Chemicals. However, Grissom's plan goes awry thanks to intervention by both Batman and Commissioner Gordon. After catching a ricocheted bullet in the face, Napier tumbles into a vat of chemicals, but not before killing Eckhardt.

Related Topics:
1989 ''Batman'' movie - Tim Burton - Alan Napier - Alfred - 1966 - Boss Carl Grissom - Nickname - Playing card - Lt. Eckhardt

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Although Napier survives, severed nerves and a botched attempt at reconstructive surgery create an eternal "smile", while reaction to the chemicals dyes his hair and bleaches his skin. Upon seeing his ruined face, Jack's mind snaps and he breaks into manic laughter. Assuming his new identity as the Joker, he kills Grissom in revenge and takes over the gangster's empire, engaging in a violent, chaotic crime spree, the motive being to "outdo" Batman, whom he felt was getting too much press. The Joker also tries to woo Gotham Globe photographer Vicki Vale following Alicia Hunt's suicide. When Bruce Wayne learns about the Joker, Bruce recalls his own past (how his parents were murdered at the hands of Jack Napier) and only then does Bruce realize the Joker was partly responsible for the origin of Batman in the first place. (In the comics as well as the 2005 film Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered by Joe Chill).

Related Topics:
Reconstructive surgery - Vicki Vale - Suicide - 2005 - Batman Begins - Joe Chill

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The future of the Joker in film is in currently in question. A Joker playing card was shown at the end of Batman Begins, where it had been used as a calling card. While interviews with screenwriter David Goyer explained in Premiere magazine that he plans to use the Joker as the main villain for the sequel to Batman Begins, recent reports conflict with this, and that the reference at the end of the film may have been meant to be nothing more than a nod.

Related Topics:
Batman Begins - Calling card - David Goyer - Premiere

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