Mark Hamill Says He Will Miss Voicing The Joker

Arkham City is pretty damn special, so the fact it's out this week is good news. That good news has been tempered with a little sadness, though, as it might be the last time we'll ever hear Mark Hamill lend his voice to The Joker.

Hamill recently tweeted a touching farewell to the Joker, saying that he has "enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Clown Prince's crazy car" and that he will "miss [voicing] him more than I can say!"

While the above tweet reads very much like a farewell, Hamill played it coy a few months back when he seemingly retired from the role - again, over Twitter - only to later step back from the abyss.

[Sneak-Out]

thats a massive spoiler thats joker will Die .. batman is unreleased in Europe

[Pozzle]

Uh...except it's not? Hamill has been saying Arkham City will be his last gig as the Joker for months now. This is just the final farewell.

[Diver]

He said that and then he unsaid it. In a later vid interview he said he never stated he was going to stop voicing the joker. He said he was misunderstood. So now we really don't know.

[Darkfiber]

I also recall him saying that about Arkham Asylum. He'll retire from the Joker, until the next Batman game.

[Commander_TK]

Hamill IS The Joker from The Killing Joke. Great book btw.

[VvKILLAGOOSEvV]

Even though people say these things, in reality, when money is thrown their way, nobody really turns that down...Expect him to voice joker in the future

[ChickeyCantor]

At least just say there is a spoiler in there.
Don't say what the spoiler exactly is so that people can skip it.

Thanks for promoting the spoiler though.../s

[Amiz]

Lol. It doesn't need a spoiler warning if YOU are the one who invented the spoiler. The Joker might still retuurn in future games, just with a different voice actor (like Harley Quinn did)

But if the Joker really does die at the end of Arkham City, thanks for ruining it for us who haven't played the game yet! You didn't need to post that in the comments section!

[saladthieves]

This is not a spoiler that joker will die. Mark Hamill had previously said that this would be the last time he would be voicing joker. This was before even Arkham City was announced.

That in turn caused Rocksteady to develop the game towards this situation.

This guy is a legend though. I remember hearing his voice as the Joker in the Batman animated series...I was like 5 years old...amazing memories.

[Jdash24]

Then don't retire!

[grailly]

it might just be so they'll pay him more for the next game, as it became a big money-making franchise

[Bleucrunch]

I love his voice as the Joker...he will be missed...Just Heath Ledger...Gosh I don't know who will be able to top that performance...but they also said that about Jack when played the Joker.

[ZombieAssassin]

Jack>Ledger

All Ledger did for the movie was smack his lips together repeatedly and because he died everyone game him praise...not saying his performance was terrible because it wasn't but it's no where near as good as people make it out to be.

[RufustheKing]

I think what makes HL joker better is what could have been. There was a rumour a while back that the joker was supposed to be in TDKR just as CM scarecrow was in TDK. He was a great actor and what could have been will start a legend and legends are always more than the real life figure.

[Saladfax]

@Zombie

The pure physicality of Ledger's Joker is a pretty amazing success. The most obvious piece of it, yeah, was him licking his lips and whatnot, but there were about a hundred more subtleties in his body movements and language which really defined the role.

This isn't a case of misplaced praise. He did an excellent job.

[Bleucrunch]

I would have to respectfully disagree with you on that....did you watch the Dark Knight?? It was a classic performance by Ledger....didn't know he had that in him...Just like Jim Carey as the Riddler in Batman forever...I think he played that damn near perfectly.

[EternalMesh]

Sorry but that's simply not true.

The Joker character fit Jacks style of performance. It wasn't much of a stretch for him. OK he laughed and smiled a bit more, but it's still very much Jack Nicholson. It was good for the world Tim Burton crafted but that's probably the only place it would fit. And that movie doesn't hold up all that well.

Now Heath never played a role like the Joker before. The Joker didn't fit his acting style, he became the Joker. I can still barely recognize him as Heath aside from a few scenes. It was everything about him. The voice, his walk, the licking of the lips, everything.

I like my Joker as a psychotic serial killer in clown make up with a Sadistic, dark sense of humor. Not one that dances around laughs, and listens to Prince. There are plenty of different styles of joker, even in the comics. There's definitely a place for both styles. I think you're making out Jack to be more than he is in the role (not that he was bad, I like Jackie boy), and you should def watch the Dark Knight again. Even the scene with no make up, Heath still looked terrifying.

Mark Hamill is a close second for Joker in my opinion. Always loved his performance. Very close second.

Ledger>Hamill>Nicholson

[Pozzle]

IMO Jack Nicholson had the unfortunate luck of being too old when he was cast as the Joker. He could have been an incredible Joker back in his The Shining days. Hell, he basically played the Joker in that movie anyway! :D

That's not to say he did a bad job in Batman 1989. But I think that movie would have worked better if it had been set later in Batman and the Joker's lives, as opposed to it being their first ever meeting.

[Baka-akaB]

meh , Jack played a rather campy joker . And hardly any better than the joker done by hamill and others in the cartoons released so far .

jack's just fit the movie . I'd say the Heath ledger was easily better , as it packed both the serious treath that the joker constitute and some of the fun .
Nicholson's is way too fun and charming imo . Heath's one is more dangerous and do seem cunning , like the original comics version .

Hammill's joker can just as easily be both , according to the story and tone f the cartoons and games

[Pozzle]

Actually, both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger are about as close to the comics book version as each other, since the comic book Joker doesn't really have a set personality. He alternates between being a harmless clown one day, and a sadistic murderer the next.

So one day he might feel like being a Jack Nicholson type of Joker, drawing over museum paintings and listening to Prince's music obnoxiously loudly. The next day he might feel like being a Heath Ledger Joker, blowing up hospitals and sticking pencils in people's eyes.

Though I'd argue that Hamill's Joker is probably the closest you'll find to the Joker of the comics, but I think he's basically meant to be the Joker from The Killing Joke though, so that might explain it. :O

[Getowned]

I agree Hamill's Joker is the all time best and when I think of the Joker I think of Hamill's Joker.

As for the movies I lean slightly to Heath but cause he was more freakie but Jacks joker was good because of the he had the insaneness and comedy side of things.I didn't like how the joker had the long hair on Heaths joker I always thought of the Joker to be more clean cut like a performer Heaths looked more like a bum on the street.

Hammil has it all hes got the laugh,he sounds like hes there to entertainand hes funny(performer),hes vicious,and has lots of gags,and he was completely mad and crazy,and he did thing very unexpectedly.with heath and jack I knew what was going to happen..Now I loved heaths joker but a few things I hated was the lip smacking,he was serious(even tho his motto was "why so serious"),he didn't have the iconic laugh,and he wasn't funny why is he called the joker if he has no jokes.. but he was perfect as the joker in that movie but not the best Joker ever.I'm a HUGE Batman fan and I don't much care for Bale as Batman hes the best Batman yet but he's a Horrible Bruice wayne,and his Batman voice bugs me(Thank god for Kevin Conroy) and he dose not have the face for Batman and most of all hes not muscular enough you would think with 20 years of combat training Batman would be But i still love the movies nit picking a side.

[ZombieAssassin]

Best Joker ever no one will ever replace him, just as no one can replace Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman. I still can't believe they replaced Arleen as the voice for Quinn though she was pretty much the inspiration for the character in the first place.

[SwampCroc]

He has been doing the Joker Voice on select projects since 1992 including games and animated movies..

mask of the phantasm and the Batman beyond: return of the joker... and Arkham Asylum and Arkham City... he was also in one of the series I believe..

but there have been plenty other animated stuff with joker he hasn't done.. he has done certain titles..

so just because he is calling it a quits on the character, doesn't mean the character dies..

Mark Hamill is an actor and actors are known to eventually want to you know change it up a little bit. take on a project that is something new. he probably does miss the role because he does it so well. but, at the same time it probably has ran it's course through his interests.. and now he wants to move on to something else...

so yeah.. I don't know how the game ends.. but I can't justify someone saying "an actor retiring from a role is a spoiler". I totally disagree with that.

[Saladfax]

John DiMaggio did a pretty decent Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood.

He's got a deeper voice, but DiMaggio has crazy versatility, and I'd say he got the role pretty solid. I think I still like Hamill's better, but it proves, to me at least, other actor's can handle it.

[EternalMesh]

That was probably the one thing I didn't like about the movie was Joker's voice. Not crazy enough. I guess it's hard to see an animated Joker and not think Hamill. He's genius.

[Saladfax]

I guess I just found it to be different. I definitely prefer Hamill's Joker, but I also like and respect how talented DiMaggio is in quite a bit of what he does (no, I'm not counting Gears of War).

[SnakeShady]

mARK HAMill

[obliviontime]

Hamill did such an amazing job in Arkham Asylum, he really stole the show. Haven't played AC yet, but I heard it is incredible. Thanks for the voice work man, it will be missed.

[BeOneWithTheGun]

I seriously have aching wrists from playing it. It is that good. The level of detail, the voice acting, the pure atmosphere of the game screams AAA. Before this I was leaning toward Infamous 2 and Portal 2 as my GOTY and not factoring in Skyrim, this would now be it.

[Enigma_2099]

People move on all the time... if it's true, then I'll miss him.

[tarbis]

You may retire for now. But, I'm sure you'll come back for Arkham City 2. hur hur hur... XD

[tiffac008]

Haven't we heard this before? :3

[Scribe81]

Best Joker ever. Could be over-the-top theatrical one minute and insane killer the next all with a smile. Best Joker laugh too. While I'm at it, Kevin Conroy is the best Batman ever and the only one that mastered the change from Bruce Wayne voice to Batman, not like that terrible growl Bale does when he's Batman.

If this is indeed his last work as Joker, Mark Hamill will be missed. My goodness, just thinking about that terrible Joker voice from the Under the Red Hood movie makes me squeemish.

[JoeReno]

I'm almost certain Bale does the growl to try and cover up his lisp, but it doesn't work. Hahaha

[Scribe81]

Hahahahaha . . .as I think of Mark Hamill's Joker laugh.

[Getowned]

I Hate Bales Batman voice too!!! LOL

lol Kevin Conroy is the best Batman and has more hours as Batman then anyone I wish I had his Batman voice as my voice.

Hammil is the best Joker ever period.

[Impaler]

Without the voices from The Animated series, this game would suck honestly. The story would hold up, but those voices are so iconic with us as fans that I feel the game would not have the same amount of awesome and class it does now.

[Scribe81]

Still one of the best animated series ever, and unquestioned as the best comic book animated series ever. Even after watching the Dark Knight, I still think Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the best Batman movie ever made. Bruce Wayne's crushing dilemma of choosing the woman he loves or pursuing the life of the Batman because of a vow he made his murderered parents made the entire storyline so real and so dire for Batman. I still haven't seen it done any better. Dark Knight came close though with his chick getting blown to smitherines, but she was annoying as hell so I was happy to see her die and for some reason I just didn't feel sorry for Christian Bale's Batman in the movie because of it. In Mask of the Phantasm I understood clearly why he becomes the Batman.

That's it, time for a re-run!

[swishersweets20031]

Hamil been doing stuff like this for years. he goes out says he wont do it, the time comes by and he does it. Alot of times in interviews he says he feels sometimes you just want to go out on a big bang because the next one wont be as good. He said the same thing during AA.. and now he says it again in AC.

[meganick]

I will miss him as well. He did a great job voicing The Joker.

[Jdrm03]

hints at batman: gotham city for next gen?

[xVeZx]

money talks luke....youll be back...you can only live off autographs for so long..

[poo342947294792]

mark dawns his jedi robes and tickels clibby b's sac

[Morbius420]

This is the third time I read you talking about Cliffy's sac today...go ahead and admit you wanna suck on it already.

[poo342947294792]

lol salty

[hotrider12]

without hamill or conroy there is noooo batman or joker
just wanna-be replacements.