Why are DC so serious?
The Joker is Batman’s ultimate nemesis, and he has been portrayed on-screen almost as much as Bats himself has. The most famous two performances are of course the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight Returns, and Jack Nicholson in 1989’s Batman. However many hardcore Bat-fans would argue that Mark Hamill is actually the defining version, having voiced The Joker in both the classic 1990s animated series, and several of the Arkham video games. This writer’s personal favourite is actually the wonderfully cheesy Joker from the 1966 Adam West TV, where he was played with glee with Spanish-American lothario Cesar Romero. We also can’t forget – try as we might – Jared Leto ruffling a few feathers with his turn in Suicide Squad. Also, Zach Galifianakis voiced him in The Lego Batman Movie. And Joaquin Phoenix is set to play him in the Martin Scorsese-produced Joker origin movie that may or may not happen.
That is a lot of Jokers.
Yet another Joker has actually just been introduced – in Gotham, the Bruce Wayne origin TV series that is currently in its fourth season. Well, sort of. To fully explain the situation would go into proper spoilers, but basically Cameron Monaghan plays a character called Jerome Valeska. There is a *lot* more to it than that, but we’ll leave it there in case you’re currently binging the show on Netflix. But basically, he has white skin, bright red lips and a ‘Glasgow Smile’ – he is to all intents and purposes the Joker, but he’s not called The Joker.
And the reason is pretty interesting. Monaghan tweeted a few cool make-up test shots, and revealed the reasoning behind it:
https://twitter.com/cameronmonaghan/status/995422386437570560
Pure green was off-limits to us (as well as the name “Joker”), a decision from high-up as they wanted to reserve these for films. A decision which ultimately I respect. They did not want to dilute the very lucrative brand. It allowed for creativity on our end.
It would seem that there are so many Jokers running around on the big screen, that they don’t want any more on TV lessening the impact of the character. Which, to be honest, is a good idea. The Joker is might to be Batman’s scariest foe. Make his appearance mean something.
