The Joker is considered by many to be the greatest villain with respect to not only Batman, but all of DC, or even the superhero industry. Some even go to the length of calling him the most iconic villain in all of fiction. He is a villain so legendary, that his maniacal laugh and twisted sense of humor are instantly recognizable.
Among many names that have taken the role of The Joker, Mark Hamill remains the most surprising one. The good guy of the Galaxy Far, Far Away has been voicing Batman’s biggest enemy for many years now. While he might now be known as the Voice of Joker, he wasn’t the first choice for the role at the time.
Mark Hamill Replaced Tim Curry For The Role Of Joker In Batman: The Animated Series
While there are many great live-action Joker, Mark Hamill is the undisputed king when it comes to animation. He started voicing the character in 1992 and since then has voiced it in classic movies and TV shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Batman: The Killing Joke, and more.
However, he was not the original actor selected for the role. Before Hamill, British Actor Tim Curry had been chosen for the role. The Joker is mostly compared to Stephen King’s Pennywise, who Curry had portrayed in It (1990).
Despite such a great role in his resume, Curry was eventually replaced from the role, and Mark Hamill was brought in. After the news of the recast, the Star Wars actor had himself volunteered to be a part of the new show, as revealed by the casting director Andrea Romano to ComicBookMovie.
“The problem was, we’d already made six or seven episodes which meant that whoever was going to get the job as the replacement voice was going to have to ADR and match the timing of the previous actor.
Simultaneously, just before this, Mark’s agent had reached out and said, ‘Mark is an enormous comic book fans [sic], a huge fan of Batman, and would love to be part of the series. So, I brought him in as a guest and he did a great job, telling all sorts of fabulous stories to everybody in the room and was wonderful in the role.”
“The auditions for The Joker replacement came up, we gave [Hamill] a shot, and he was stunning! Absolutely remarkable. His timing was right on, he came up with this terrifying voice and an iconic laugh and I think that’s the voice everybody hears when they think of The Joker. Even when they’re seeing on camera performances, they can’t help but reference Mark Hamill in their minds.”
Hamill’s interview for the role was so good that the directors could do nothing but cast him for the role. He eventually started voicing the maniac and the rest is history.
Why Was Tim Curry Removed As The Joker?
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While fans are glad that Mark Hamill eventually got the role, the question is why was Tim Curry removed in the first place. Having done Pennywise, he was the frontrunner to play Joker, but he was replaced midway through the production.
Not much had been revealed about this change for more than two decades. However, at a Fan’s Expo a few years ago, Curry told ScreenGeek the reason he was replaced by the producers, and the reason was pretty sad.
“Back when the Batman Animated series was being made, there was very minimal news on your involvement that you were originally cast as the Joker before Mark Hamill took over.” – Asked the ScreenGeek representative
“I did play Joker for a while, but I had bronchitis and they fired me – and hired Mark Hamill.”, Tim Curry responded.
Batman: The Animated Series can be streamed on Max.
