Still, Batman co-creator Bob Kane wanted Nicholson, as did the original producer on the project, Michael Uslan (who grabbed up the movie rights for Batman back in 1979). In fact, Williams claimed WB used him as a bargaining chip to get Nicholson’s price down-which must have been substantial since Jack was paid $6 million for playing the Joker (and this is 1988 money, folks), plus a hefty backend on not only Batman but its direct sequels. There were many names who circled the role of the Joker in the run up to Nicholson’s casting, including Brad Dourif (purportedly Burton’s preferred choice), Tim Curry, David Bowie, Willem Dafoe, and most famously Robin Williams. Presumably, casting everyone’s favorite choice for the role went a long way to giving Burton some latitude. For its time, Batman was an ambitious blockbuster spectacle, and even today has a unique individual identity thanks to its director, making it an aberration in its then-nascent genre. The most perfect casting imaginable to the Boomer generation this side of Harrison Ford as President James Badass, Jack Nicholson was famously tapped for the Joker in Tim Burton’s dark reimagining of the Batman mythos. Batman and Robin eventually rehydrate the diplomats, but end up mixing personalities and bodies-nobody notices. They do this by dehydrating them into colorful piles of dust. The two fiends have convinced most of Batman’s rogues, including the Riddler and Catwoman, to join forces with them in order to kidnap the world’s leaders at the United World Organization’s Security Council (read: UN). Within the context of the film, Romero’s Joker appears to be on equal footing with Burgess Meredith’s Penguin. Superhero Savings start today at PUMA with up to 50% OFF Select Justice League styles with code: PUMAXJL Valid 4/7 – 4/10 Comic purists would say such over-the-top shenanigans were most inspired by the artwork of Dick Sprang, for Romero’s Joker was surely a live-action cartoon. More a harmless grifter with a clown fetish than a true menace to Gotham City, on both the Batman TV series and its movie spin-off, Romero oozed a childlike sense of mischief. However, his Joker was a fairly pitch perfect adaptation of the Golden/Silver Age of comicdom’s purple suited huckster. He was renowned for his dance routines with Carmen Miranda in 1940s diversions like Week-End in Havana (1941), at least until he volunteered for the Coast Guard in 1942-he’d go on to serve in the Second World War at both the Battle of Tinian and Saipan during 1944.Īs the Joker, Romero maintained his Latin lover moustache even in the white makeup, apparently insisting that no amount of cackling would impede his trademark appearance. Or, more kind-heartedly, he played Shirley Temple’s wise London neighbor who hailed from India in The Little Princess (1939). Getting his start in the early ‘30s, Romero often played exotic supporting roles, such as his villainous turn in 1934’s original The Thin Man. Yep, Batman: The Movie may have been originally conceived by William Dozier as a way to pique interest in a coming TV series, but due to financial reluctance at 20th Century Fox to pay for the whole production, Bat-fans weren’t able to get their Bat-fix at Bat-theaters until after the first Bat-season was complete in 1966. While the Caped Crusader made the jump to the big screen (in a fashion) with serials during the 1940s, the Joker didn’t follow from the printed asylum until he had already appeared on TV. So join us now as we revisit all the times the Joker got the last laugh after the movie house lights went out. In both print and celluloid, the Joker has left an unforgettable imprint on pop culture that’s as grotesque as a mouthful of Smilex. Perhaps that is why each return to the big screen is heralded as much as any caped or cowled superhero. He’s a comic icon that was himself borne from the haunting visions of cinema’s earliest glories, as Bill Finger was in part inspired to co-create the supervillain after watching Conrad Veidt’s eerie transformation in the 1928 Expressionist classic, The Man Who Laughs. The Joker is a character historically infamous for his theatricality he’s a scion of chaos, the maestro of malevolence, and a twisty yin to Batman’s straight-laced yang. For that reason, it’s no surprise we are on the verge of getting our first solo Joker movie, this time starring Joaquin Phoenix in a completely original concept from director Todd Phillips and producer Martin Scorseese. that the Clown Prince of Crime is their most bankable screen villain, and not even anemic reviews could keep audiences away. That 2015 movie once again reminded Warner Bros. Whether or not you liked Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad, you can’t argue with a $746 million in worldwide box office.
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