Mark Hamill says he’s done playing the Joker
He won’t voice the role unless it’s opposite Kevin Conroy’s Batman. According to Hamill, Conroy — who often portrayed Batman opposite Hamill’s Joker — was a true partner, noting that he often wouldn’t work on a project as the Joker unless Conroy was playing Batman in it.
“They would call and say, ‘They want you to do the Joker,’ and my only question was, ‘Is Kevin Batman?’ If they said yes, I would say, ‘I’m in.’ We were like partners. We were like Laurel and Hardy. Without Kevin there, there doesn’t seem to be a Batman for me,” explained Hamill.
Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and Cesar Romero, they were all great Jokers. But in our opinion, the GOAT when it comes to portrayals of the Clown Prince of Crime is none other than Mark Hamill. For over thirty years, Hamill has lent his voice to the Joker, since the first season of Batman: The Animated Series. In the subsequent decades, we’ve heard his signature cackle in countless other animated films and video games.
However, it seems his days as “Mister J” are now officially over. And the reason why is simple. The Batman to his Joker is no longer with us, as Kevin Conroy passed away last year. Here’s what Mark Hamill had told Empire Magazine (via ScreenRant) about retiring his Joker for good:
They would call and say, ‘They want you to do the Joker,’ and my only question was, ‘Is Kevin [Conroy] Batman?’ If they said yes, I would say, ‘I’m in.’ We were like partners. We were like Laurel and Hardy. Without Kevin there, there doesn’t seem to be a Batman for me.”
Hamill and Conroy have acted opposite one another as Batman and Joker in a ton of different projects, most notably in the iconic Batman: The Animated Series, as well as the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, 2016’s Batman: The Killing Joke, and in Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham series of video games.
Conroy’s last role as Batman will come in the upcoming Rocksteady game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
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