Jokers Throughout the Years

Michael Emerson (The Dark Knight Returns in 2013), John DiMaggio (Batman: Under the Red Hood in 2010), Kevin Michael Richardson (The Batman in 2004) and Brent Spiner (Young Justice in 2010) all brought their wild and weird best to the gig. However, the unhinged look and unique physicality required of this role are just too important to ignore here -- with a few exceptions to come.

Romero delivered pure camp in the role, with white face paint slathered over his mustache and a penchant for creating chaos in Gotham City, often while singing! Though his take informed so many of the Jokers that followed, it's now so far removed from the darker and grittier foe we know today that they might as well be completely different characters.

When bringing the Dark Knight to the big screen for the first time, director Tim Burton tapped Nicholson, a seasoned Oscar winner, to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight. His Jester of Genocide chews up the scenery with a twisted sense of pleasure and just a touch of Jack Torrance in The Shining. As it were, his gleefully demented crimes were just a taste of things to come.

Hamill rises above the medium, having provided the Ace of Knaves his distinctive cackle for so many years -- starting with The Animated Series in the early '90s before Arkham Asylum and, most recently, Batman: The Killing Joke in 2016 -- that he has become synonymous with the role, without having ever appeared onscreen. Here's how beloved Hamill's Joker is: During an appearance at 2016's Star Wars Celebration, it wasn't a Luke Skywalker reference that had fans losing their minds -- it was witnessing Hamill laughing as the Joker, live in person.

Ledger, the late movie star of films like 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain, was nowhere to be seen in The Dark Knight. He'd transformed, giving moviegoers a mesmerizing villain the likes of which had not been seen before, and earning himself a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Ledger and director Christopher Nolan offered a character as anarchistic as he was brilliant, as utterly captivating as he was terrifying. As much as it chills us to say, he put a smile on our faces.

In a film about bad guys -- a hitman, a psychopathic psychiatrist, a crocodile humanoid -- Leto's Joker remains a deadly wild card and the most dangerous criminal in the mix. This incarnation is hip yet animalistic, grounded yet nightmarish. Leto and director David Ayer took elements from the comics and amped up the octane. Still, you'll likely end up wondering why he was in the movie at all.

From his unforgettable laugh to his sinewy, unrecognizable frame, Phoenix crafted a '70s-tinged Joker with a quiet menace and heartbreaking vulnerability. There's dimensions here, both light and dark, that have never been a part of the character's story onscreen until now. With a glint in his eye and some grandiose dance moves, Phoenix delivered a wholly unnerving take on the endearing madman -- one that won't soon be forgotten.

Joker: Folie à Deux promises show-stopping performances by both Joaquin Phoenix, who is reprising his Oscar-winning performance as Joker, and Lady Gaga, who portrays Harley Quinn. 

The sequel will hit theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.