Joker in other media


The Joker, the archenemy of the fictional superhero Batman, has appeared in various media. WorldCat records over 250 productions featuring the Joker as a subject, including films, television series, books, and video games. Live-action films featuring the character are typically the most successful.
The Joker has been portrayed by Cesar Romero in the 1966 film Batman; Jack Nicholson in the 1989 film Batman; Heath Ledger in the 2008 film The Dark Knight; Jared Leto in the 2016 film Suicide Squad; and Joaquin Phoenix in the 2019 solo origin story film 'Joker'. For their portrayals, Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Phoenix won the Academy Award for Best Actor, making the Joker one of only two motion picture characters played by two actors to be awarded an Oscar for both portrayals. Over the years, various actors have provided the character's voice in television, animated, motion comic, and video game form. Mark Hamill is often credited as the iconic voice of the Joker.

Live-action

Television

''Adventures of Superman''

At the Daily Planet's news stand, the Joker's face could be seen on the cover of a Batman comic book in the Adventures of Superman episodes Mystery in Wax and Crime Wave.
Batman and Robin are also on the cover of that comic.

''Batman'' (1966–1968 TV series)

portrayed the Joker in the 1960s Batman television series. Romero refused to shave his distinctive mustache for the role, so it was partially visible beneath the white face makeup applied. This version of the Joker is based on the character in the 1960s comics, who is more of an elaborate prankster than a psychopathic murderer.

Batman OnStar commercials (2000–2002)

The Joker was played by Curtis Armstrong in one of the six Batman OnStar commercials that ran from 2000 to 2002.

''Birds of Prey'' (2002–2003 TV series)

The Joker makes a cameo appearance in an episode of 2002–2003 series Birds of Prey, portrayed by Roger Stoneburner and voiced by Mark Hamill.

''Gotham'' (2014–2019)

A lineage that explored the mythology of the Joker was explored throughout Gotham, a television series exploring the beginnings of the Batman lore before the emergence of caped vigilantes. Believing that the Joker shouldn't precede Batman, showrunner Bruno Heller initially didn't want to use the character, but later decided to "scratch the surface" of his origin because "this is America — nobody wants to wait." Jerome Valeska, the mentally unhinged son of a nymphomaniac circus performer, was introduced as an homage to the Joker in an episode of the first season, portrayed by Cameron Monaghan. While Monaghan wasn't comfortable drawing from the previous live-action actors who had played the Joker, he did take influence from Mark Hamill in his performance, as well as various comic books featuring the supervillain. The character was brought back at the start of the second season but was promptly killed off in the third episode, after which various civilians begin imitating him and a voice-over proclaims that his legacy will be "death and madness." Bruno Heller explained in an interview that the intention was to create a deep-rooted mythology for the Joker's backstory, and that he is an inevitable part of Gotham City's history that didn't create himself out of nothing: "There's a tradition in forebears and ancestors of those characters that went into creating them. So, to me, Jerome is genuinely the mother and father of the Joker."
Toward the end of the show's run, the character of Jeremiah was introduced. As with Jerome, Jeremiah was intended to emphasize certain characteristics of the Joker without legitimately being the Joker. Executive producer, John Stephens, stated that Jeremiah too was not the real Joker. After Jeremiah returned with a new identity in the final episode of the show, John Stephens reiterated his original statement about Jeremiah not being the Joker, leaving it ambiguous.

''Powerless'' (2017)

The Joker makes a cameo in the Powerless episode "Wayne or Lose".

''Titans'' (2018)

Joker is shown as one of the several villains murdered by Batman in Trigon's reality.

''Arrowverse''

Joker was confirmed to be part of Arrowverse in the pilot episode of Batwoman. In episode I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury, it was revealed that his real name is Jack Napier. In Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover Clark Kent of Earth 96 mentions Joker of their universe flooding the offices of the Daily Planet with toxin which killed staff members including Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White. In the episode A Narrow Escape, Luke Fox revealed to Kate that Joker was killed by Batman.

Film

''Batman'' (1966)

reprised his role in the 1966 film Batman, in which the Joker is a member of the United Underworld, alongside fellow Gotham City villains the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman.

''Batman'' (1989)

played the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman. The Newsweek review of the film stated that the best scenes are due to the surreal black comedy portrayed in the Joker. In 2003, American Film Institute ranked Nicholson's performance #45 on their list of 50 greatest film villains. Hugo Blick and David U. Hodges play younger versions of the character in flashbacks in Batman and Batman Forever, respectively.
In the film, Jack Napier is the right-hand man of mob boss Carl Grissom prior to his transformation into the Joker. During a confrontation with the vigilante Batman in a chemical factory, Napier's face is wounded by a ricocheting bullet and he falls into a vat of chemical waste, turning his skin white, his hair green and his lips red. A botched attempt at plastic surgery leaves him with a permanent rictus grin. Driven insane by his reflection, the Joker kills Grissom and takes over his syndicate, launching a crime wave designed to "outdo" Batman, who he thinks is getting too much press. The Joker describes himself as "the world's first fully functional homicidal artist" who makes avant-garde "art" by killing people with cosmetics laced with Smylex, which leaves its victims with a grotesque grin similar to his own. Bruce Wayne later recognizes the Joker as the mugger who murdered his parents years before, leading him down the path of becoming a crime-fighter. The Joker massacres Gotham City's 200th-anniversary celebration and kidnaps reporter Vicki Vale to draw Batman out to a climactic battle atop a Gothic cathedral. After telling Batman that they "made each other", the Joker attempts to escape via helicopter, but Batman ties a grappling hook around his leg and attaches it to a stone gargoyle, causing the Joker to fall to his death when the statue breaks loose of its moorings.
Nicholson was to reprise his role in Batman Unchained, the fifth film planned for the series. The Joker was to return as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by the Scarecrow's fear toxin, and Harley Quinn was to appear as his daughter trying to get revenge on Batman for his death. Due to the critical and commercial failure of Batman & Robin, however, this film was cancelled.

''The Dark Knight'' (2008)

played The Joker in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight. Ledger's interpretation of the character – that of a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy" – was specifically influenced by the graphic novels ' and '. In the film, he wears the character's traditional color palette, while his facial appearance includes smeared clown makeup that covers facial scars of a Glasgow smile. This version of the Joker embodies themes of chaos, anarchy, and obsession; he expresses a desire to upset social order through crime and defines himself by his conflict with Batman. The character explores techniques found in Ledger's previous performances, including his clown act in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Brothers Grimm. It also references paintings by artist Francis Bacon, Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange, and various punk rock musicians.
In the film, the Joker is hired by Gotham City's mob bosses to kill Batman and announces that he will kill people every day until Batman takes off his mask in public and surrenders himself to police. During his reign of terror, he kills several people in Gotham, including Bruce Wayne's childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes and scars Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent's face, transforming him into the insane vigilante Two-Face. Batman ultimately defeats him, but the Joker gloats that he has won "the battle for Gotham's soul" by corrupting Dent, and tells Batman that "you and I are destined to do this forever" as he is taken to Arkham Asylum.
The Joker is considered to be Ledger's finest performance; he himself regarded it as his most enjoyable. When the film was released in July 2008, six months after the actor had died from an accidental prescription drug overdose, the performance caused a sensation and received universal acclaim; Ledger was posthumously awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

DC Extended Universe (2013–present)

portrays the Joker in the DC Extended Universe. Originally set to appear in Zack Snyder's , the character was ultimately cut and only referenced in the film.
Jared Leto debuts as the Joker in David Ayer's 2016 film Suicide Squad. In the film, the Joker manipulates psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel into falling in love with him during his time as her patient at Arkham Asylum. He eventually manages to convince her to free him, and he electrocutes her before taking her to the Ace Chemicals plant. She then voluntarily falls into the solution that created her lover, bleaching her skin and completing her transformation into Harley Quinn. At some point, the Joker kills his archenemy Batman's partner, Robin, with Harley's help. She is ultimately apprehended and forced into joining Amanda Waller's government task force composed of captured supervillains. The Joker tortures one of Waller's security officers for the location of the facility where the nano explosives used as leverage over the criminals are manufactured and threatens an A.R.G.U.S. scientist there to disable the bomb implanted in Harley's neck. After commandeering a military helicopter, the Joker and his men rescue Harley during the task force's mission in Midway City. The chopper is shot down, however, and Harley falls out while the Joker seemingly perishes in the explosion, prompting her to rejoin the task force. After the "Suicide Squad" defeat the Enchantress, the Joker, who survived the crash, breaks into Belle Reve Prison with his gang to free Harley from her cell, and the pair reunite as the movie ends. Mark Hamill, the voice of the Joker in various DC projects, said that he "loved" Leto's take on the character. Although many scenes featuring the Joker were omitted from the theatrical release, some of this unused footage did make it into the extended cut. Leto also appeared as the Joker in the music video "Purple Lamborghini", by Skrillex and Rick Ross, from the film's soundtrack.
Despite not making an official appearance, the Joker's existence plays a pivotal part in the film Birds of Prey as a sizable amount of the plot involves Harley trying to cope without being his girlfriend and partner-in-crime. As a result, she is frequently taunted by the citizens and villians of Gotham City about not truly being done with him. When Roman Sionis learns that Harley abandoned the Joker, he decides to kill her knowing that the Joker will not retaliate against him. The Joker appears in animated form in the film's prologue which details Harley's life and separation from him while a scene of Jared Leto from Suicide Squad is used in a flashback sequence. In addition, an uncredited Johnny Goth portrayed the character from the back in a similar flashback scene in which Harley and Joker tattoo a man's face. This was done in this way since as the director felt that the film didn’t need Leto to return for the character to still have a presence.

''Joker'' (2019)

In 2016, Todd Phillips began working on a standalone Joker film, with intent for it to launch a line of films unconnected to the DCEU called DC Black. Development of the film was confirmed in August 2017; Phillips was attached to direct and co-write with Scott Silver, while Martin Scorsese was set to produce. The film, Joker, was released in October 2019.
In Joker, Joaquin Phoenix portrays Arthur Fleck, a party clown and aspiring stand-up comedian who suffers from a mental illness that causes pathological laughter. He lives with his abusive mother Penny in Gotham City in 1981 and idolizes talk show host Murray Franklin. After losing his job for dropping a gun in a children’s hospital, Arthur kills three Wayne Enterprises employees on a train in self defence, starting a city-wide protest. He slowly loses his sanity, killing his mother and the colleague who previously gave him the gun. After being called to appear on Franklin’s show after being mocked on it, Arthur goes on a rant about society abandoning him and kills Franklin on live television. He is arrested, but is rescued by protesters in clown masks, and is celebrated by the protesters as a hero. His actions inspire a protestor to kill Bruce Wayne’s parents, making him indirectly responsible for Batman’s existence. Phoenix was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, making him the second actor to receive an Academy Award for playing the character, following Heath Ledger.

Animation

Television

Filmation

The Joker appears as a recurring villain in the 1968–1969 Filmation series The Adventures of Batman, voiced by Larry Storch. He also appears in five episodes of Filmation's 1977 series The New Adventures of Batman, voiced by Lennie Weinrib.

Hanna-Barbera

Storch reprised his role as the Joker in two crossover episodes of the 1972 series The New Scooby-Doo Movies, in which he teams up with the Penguin and runs afoul of Batman, Robin and the Mystery Inc. gang.
The Joker appears in episode "The Wild Cards", voiced by Frank Welker. He assists Darkseid by disguising himself as Ace, the leader of the Royal Flush Gang. Operating out of a giant house of cards, he recruits four thieves to be the rest of the Royal Flush Gang and leads them in capturing the heroes so that Darkseid's invasion force can attack Earth unimpeded. When Batman frees the captured heroes and they stop the invasion force, an enraged Darkseid hurls Joker through a portal that opens high in the sky. Wonder Woman catches him and he is arrested.

DC animated universe

The Joker appears in various series set within the DC animated universe, voiced by Mark Hamill, who is often credited as the iconic voice of the character because of his wide range of "joyful, gleeful, maniacal, malevolent and evil laughs." The character debuted in '. The show is notable for introducing his sidekick and lover, Harley Quinn, to such popularity that she became a character in the comics. The Joker was also featured in the spin-off film '.
The Joker returned in the follow-up series The New Batman Adventures with a stylistic redesign. His white skin now had a bluish-grey tinge, while his eyes had their sclerae removed, and were replaced by cavernous black spaces with white pupils. His trademark red lips were omitted, focusing more attention on his teeth, and his green hair was darkened. His suit's colors were also changed from purple and orange to purple and green. In the ' crossover episode "World's Finest", the Joker travels to Metropolis and makes a deal with Lex Luthor to kill Superman. In the Justice League episodes "Injustice For All" and "Wild Cards", the Joker joins Luthor's Injustice League and pits the Justice League against the Royal Flush Gang as part of an elaborate ruse, respectively. In "A Better World", a lobotomized Joker is briefly seen in an alternate universe ruled by the Justice Lords. The Joker was later featured in the Static Shock episode "The Big Leagues", in which he starts a crime spree.
The Joker made his final chronological appearance in the direct-to-video feature film ', in which he mysteriously returns to Gotham City 40 years in the future. Flashbacks reveal that before he died, the Joker kidnapped and tortured Robin, turning him into an insane, miniature version of himself dubbed 'Joker Junior', learning Batman's secret identity in the process. The Joker's death was edited and redubbed amid controversy surrounding the Columbine High School massacre; the original version sees Joker Junior shoot the Joker in the heart, whereas the edited version simply sees him push the Joker into damaged cables to be electrocuted out of sight. However, a microchip implanted in Drake's neck was revealed to have possessed a copy of the Joker's consciousness and DNA, allowing him to take over his host until he is defeated by the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, who destroys the microchip and the Joker alongside it.

''The Batman'' (2004–2008)

The Joker appears in The Batman, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version has long dreadlock hair, is barefoot, and initially wore an Arkham Asylum straitjacket before later adopting his signature purple suit. The Joker also appears in the direct-to-video spin-off film The Batman vs. Dracula.

''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' (2008–2011)

The Joker appears in , voiced by Jeff Bennett. His appearance and personality are similar to the Silver Age version drawn by Dick Sprang. His counterpart on a parallel earth is a vigilante known as the Red Hood.

''Young Justice'' (2010–2013, 2019-present)

The Joker appears as a member of the Injustice Gang in Young Justice, voiced by Brent Spiner.

''Teen Titans Go!'' (2013–present)

The Joker makes multiple unspoken appearances in Teen Titans Go!.

''Justice League Action'' (2016–present)

The Joker appears in Justice League Action, with Mark Hamill reprising his role.

''Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?''

The Joker appears in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "What a Night, For a Dark Knight!", voiced again by Hamill. He poses as Man-Bat while using harnesses to make him fly in order to kidnap Alfred Pennyworth and get access to Bruce Wayne's account. When Joker is defeated and unmasked, Daphne does give a positive compliment of his hair.

''Harley Quinn'' (2019)

The Joker appears in the series Harley Quinn, with Alan Tudyk providing the voice. While most of his appearances in animation depict the Joker with a purple tuxedo, this version of the character wears a purple suit. He is also depicted with a partially-shaved head and a strong dislike of raisins; the latter of which is a running gag throughout the series. Joker is also a member of the Legion of Doom, who constantly bullies the lesser members until Harley points out they are more powerful than him and nobody has to listen to him.
In the first episode, he abandons Harley Quinn to be arrested and makes no effort to rescue her from Arkham Asylum. After a year of waiting for him, Harley is broken out by Poison Ivy and gets back together with him, but when he chooses to save Batman instead of her from a "death trap", she finally realizes he does not love her. She violently breaks up with him and decides to become an independent criminal and work her way up to dethrone him as Gotham's greatest criminal. Throughout season one, Joker makes several attempts to get back at Harley for breaking up with him, culminating in taking over Gotham, killing Poison Ivy, and capturing her crew and Batman in the final two episodes of the season. In the season finale, "The Final Joke", Joker captures Harley herself and tried to throw her in acid that would have rendered her "normal". However, a resurrected Poison Ivy saves Harley at the last minute and drops Joker in the acid, though not before he destroys all of Gotham. Despite physically surviving, the acid rendered him sane and caused his skin to return to normal.
In the season two episode "All the Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues", Harley and Ivy find him months later working at a bar with no memory of his past as the Clown Prince of Crime and have Doctor Psycho read his mind to confirm this; which he does. Once they leave however, he momentarily relapses; laughing maniacally after seeing a funny picture of his new girlfriend's kids. In "Dye Hard", Joker was employed at a luxury bar at Wayne Tower before encountering Harley again. She initially refused to have anything to do with him until they are forced to escape together during a hostage situation organized by Doctor Psycho and the Riddler so they could steal a mind control helmet, which the former uses to enslave an army of Parademons Harley previously brought to Gotham. After Joker and Harley escape, she concludes only the Justice League, who had been previously trapped inside a book by the Queen of Fables, can stop Psycho. He mentions having several dreams about his past life, including the book, but he struggles to remember where it is. To jog his memory, Harley reluctantly brings him to Ace Chemicals and tossed him into a vat of acid to turn him back into the Joker. In the following episode, "A Fight Worth Fighting For", Joker remembers entering a relationship with a woman named Bethany, who found him and nursed him back to health six months prior. Under threat of an explosive device Harley put in his head, Joker takes her to Bethany's house to get the book back. However, he enrages Bethany, leading to her throwing it out before it gets taken by a Parademon. While retrieving the book from a Parademon nest, Joker realizes he found true love with Bethany and later reconciles with her; resolving to maintain his relationship with her while resuming his criminal lifestyle.

Film

As Batman's nemesis, the Joker has appeared in several Batman-related video games.

Early appearances (1988–2003)

The Joker's earliest video game appearance was in ' developed by Ocean Software for 8-bit home computers such as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 and by Data East for other platforms such as the Apple II, Commodore Amiga, and PC. The game contains two parts that can be played in any order—the Joker's story or the Penguin's story. The Joker also appears in several games based on the 1989 film, released between 1989–1992, including Batman: The Movie for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum; ' for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy; Batman for the Genesis; and an arcade game, Batman.
Two games were released based on Batman: The Animated Series. The first was the Konami-developed game ' for Game Boy. The second, The Adventures of Batman & Robin, was released for the Super NES as an action adventure platform and for Genesis as a side-scrolling shooter. The only game based on the Batman Beyond franchise, ', was released as a companion to the eponymous film for Game Boy Color, PlayStation and Nintendo 64. ' was released for several platforms, based on The New Batman Adventures and starring its voice cast, including Mark Hamill as the Joker.
The Joker is featured in the platform game ', released for the NES in 1991 and the Genesis in 1992. Other games include ' for Game Boy Color, ' for Game Boy Advance, and ' for GameCube and Xbox. The Joker also makes a cameo in ', released for several platforms.

''Lego''

reprises his role as the Joker in the main trilogy of the ' franchise, while Troy Baker voices a younger version of the character in the prequel Arkham Origins. This depiction of the Joker has received widespread acclaim, as critics have lauded the voice acting and exploration of his rivalry with Batman. The Joker won the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards "Character of the Year" award for his appearance in Arkham City.
The Joker appears as a playable character in ' and its sequel, Injustice 2, developed by NetherRealm Studios, with Richard Epcar reprising the role from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
voices the Joker, initially referred to as "John Doe," in Telltale Games' episodic point-and-click graphic adventure Batman video game series.
The Joker appears in the 2011 theatrical production Batman Live, portrayed by Mark Frost. He masterminds a plot to defeat Batman by uniting several of the superhero's greatest foes, including Harley Quinn, Penguin, Two-Face, Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Scarecrow. The show is an adaptation of the Batman property, drawing inspiration from the 1966 television series, Tim Burton's series of Batman films, and the 1992 animated series, among others.