All DC live-action films starring the Joker, ranked

Batman’s most iconic villain Jokerhas appeared in several DC live-action films, but not every appearance is the same. The Joker’s legacy is almost as extensive as that of his heroic nemesis who first debuted in DC Comics in the 1940s. Batman #1 before becoming a fellow DC mainstay in almost every medium. Joker adaptations have led to iconic performances such as Mark Hamill’s animated version, and his film career has exploded in recent years, with him making seven memorable appearances to date. Joker: Folie à Deux recently added to that legacy with DC Universe promising another version of the Joker to join the stiff competition.

Thanks to his extensive career in media, his character can often seem like one of the most malleable. As his popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, the pressure on successive actors to put their own spin on the character continues to mount, with varying degrees of success. However, the Joker has always been an agent of chaos at his core, as this coupled with his flamboyant wardrobe clashes with his arch rival, Batman. His popularity also allowed the Joker to avoid being defined by his relationship with the Caped Crusader. However, how well the character was developed is always debatable.

7

Barry Keoghan in Batman

Batman’s Joker was almost never shown

Joker played by Barry Keoghan Batman is fleeting and largely inconsequential without a follow-up to compensate for the tease of its appearance. In the final version, he appears as a silhouette who talks to the imprisoned Riddler, whose foiled plot results in a nervous breakdown. Keoghan’s Joker tries to mitigate this from a nearby cell by befriending him by asking him a riddle, implying that the Riddler can return with his help. The deleted scene gives Keoghan’s Joker a larger role in the film. Batmanhowever, giving him a five-minute interaction with the eponymous vigilante.

This deleted scene may be in favor of Keoghan’s Joker, but his role is still too small for him to be considered a serious contender among Joker’s other appearances.. However, his deleted scene provides a promising hint of what’s to come in Matt Reeves’ Batman trilogy, which could be one of the most gruesome interpretations to hit the big screen. His full form is still hard to see, limited to close-ups and blurry images, but his heavily scarred face is clear and could be particularly memorable.

6

Joaquin Phoenix in the movie “Joker: Folie à Deux”

Joker gives up his identity in second appearance

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for Joker: Folie à Deux.

Joker: Folie à Deux marks the final appearance of the Joker on the big screen.Joker“That’s a different question. Joker: Folie à Deux proved incredibly controversial, partly due to the fact that the character seemed to be overweight, culminating in Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck abandoning the mantle he had taken on in Joker before being killed by an Arkham resident who appears to be the real criminal. This creative decision has given rise to some strong opinions about the film that rightfully question whether it was even a Joker film.

No matter what, Fleck’s former Joker still makes several memorable appearances in the film.. Unfortunately, knowing after the finale that the character wasn’t real, it’s hard to view Joaquin Phoenix’s dismantling of the role as anything more than rug-pulling. A more generous view of the situation would suggest that the Joker is a movement rather than a person, which makes Joker: Folie à Deux a creative interpretation of the character that still deserves some praise.

5

Jared Leto in Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Jared Leto’s second chance at the role was fleeting and muted

The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.”Nightmare“sequence at the climax Zack Snyder’s Justice LeagueJared Leto’s Joker looks and feels completely different from his DCEU debut. Suicide Squad. This version of the Joker hones in on his toxic relationship with Batman, with Leto delivering a more subdued and smarter take on the character than before. It’s still worth a look as it walks the line between more sinister depictions of the Joker and the dark, frenetic version first depicted by Leto in Suicide Squad.

While Jared Leto’s dismantling of the Joker runs counter to the same issues with diminished screen time as Barry Keoghan’s character, it benefits from the DCEU’s established legacy. However, this second and final appearance of the DCEU Joker is decidedly more subdued, a trait that isn’t often associated with the Clown Prince of Crime, for obvious reasons. This version of the Joker, while interesting, seems more like a defeated shell of his former self, and for this reason feels a little less attractive than his younger and much more energetic self.

4

Jared Leto in Suicide Squad

Jared Leto’s look was original, but caused controversy

Jared Leto’s debut as the Joker Suicide Squad gave him a few precious minutes of screen time, leaving Leto little opportunity to pursue his off-piste interpretation of the character. Eight years after Heath Ledger’s portrayal took the world by storm, Leto had the unenviable task of creating a performance that was almost the exact opposite. His few scenes in 2015 Suicide Squad he mostly appeared in flashbacks and portrayed him as a flamboyant gang boss with a penchant for sadism, reputation, and power rather than wretched chaos and compromising the famous moral code of his nemesis.

It’s safe to say that Jared Leto’s Joker Suicide Squad is one of the most controversial. One camp supports his fresh take as a sadistic but charismatic contrast to Batman’s surly personality, while the other criticizes his brash character designs and contrived edginess. Leto’s Joker suffered both from lack of development and from debuting in a widely panned film.which begs the question if Leto’s Joker could have changed a little more Suicide Squadcritical condition. At least his few scenes were among Suicide Squadthis is the most interesting thing.

3

Jack Nicholson in Batman

Jack Napier is still an archetypal image

Jack Nicholson set the standard for live-action Joker before Heath Ledger completely turned it on its head. He is unique in that his comic origins are overtly depicted, as well as his unintentional death at the hands of Batman. The air of mystery surrounding most of the sequential images is irrelevant. BatmanJack Napier, whose crimes and characterizations recall the thematic and campy side of the character from the golden and silver ages of comics. Nicholson’s Joker is a simpler comic book villain. and very few replicate his distinctive style.

Despite BatmanJack Napier’s Jack Napier is an organized crime agent rather than a chaotic solo actor, and Nicholson’s Joker is unabashedly theatrical – an impressively visceral take on the character also known as the Clown Prince of Crime. However, he still exudes menace with his flamboyance and the iconic legacy embodied in his ever-present one-liners: “Wait until they call me.” BatmanJoker is one of the most accurate comic and light-hearted interpretations. with an undeniable legacy that remains archetypal to this day.

2

Joaquin Phoenix in the movie “Joker”

Arthur Fleck – a very original interpretation of the origin of the Joker

2019s Joker is ostensibly the origin story of the Joker, whose true identity is Arthur Fleck – a tortured man whose origins as an irreverent criminal were a reaction to his troubled reality. Joker includes the most grounded look at the character yet, as it unabashedly portrays Arthur Fleck as a mentally ill product of circumstance whose disgusting reaction to his mistreatment sparks an entire movement of like-minded people. Joker remains the eponymous villain’s most financially successful film, with box office records for an R-rated film that were only recently broken Deadpool and Wolverine.

Cultural influence Joker impossible to ignore, it’s even controversial due to how the Joker’s influence in the film carries over into real life. Joker – the eponymous villain at his most sympathetic, the overreaction to his pathetic circumstances strikes a chord with many viewers. This subtle take on the Joker may be the loosest adaptation of the original DC Comics character (save for his second appearance), but his reimagining of the Joker’s origins—if he is even a Joker—has become one of the most culturally significant and enduring portrayals to date..

1

Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”

Heath Ledger still retains the crown

Heath Ledger’s Joker remains the most powerful take on the character. Joker from Dark Knight shrouded in mystery, but his motives are both obvious and confusing to rational actors. He is the perfect opposite of Batman. as an agent of pure chaos and pandemonium, bound to no ideal other than desire”Watch the world burnHis MO is Dark Knight is to simply terrorize every aspect of Gotham, from law enforcement to crime lords, and in doing so it becomes Batman’s greatest challenge since Bruce Wayne cannot read the inner workings of his mind.

Ledger’s casting initially sparked backlash and confusion, as the actor’s back catalog didn’t quite fit into Christopher Nolan’s grounded Dark Knight universe. However, his posthumous Oscar win for the character speaks volumes, as he delivered one of the most compelling villains ever to appear on the silver screen, with a terrifyingly frenetic performance that could never be replicated organically. Ledgers Joker this is now the gold standard that will always be hard to beat, although it remains to be seen what the DCU will do with the character.

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