Rank Every Joker From Worst To Best

[Fincher]

Best to worst:

Nicholson
Ledger
Romero (from the movie)
Arkham City Joker
What I saw of Hamill in Return of the Joker
Leto

I haven't seen Joker yet.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Best to worst:

Nicholson
Ledger
Romero (from the movie)
Arkham City Joker
What I saw of Hamill in Return of the Joker
Leto

I haven't seen Joker yet.

As much as I think Ledger's performance is one of the best acting jobs not just in CBMs, but all movies, there's a case to be made that Nicholson's Joker is the most comic-accurate. The modern incarnations of Joker haven't dealt with the clown motif like Batman '89 did. For all the talk of the film being dated, it should be noted that it managed to show Joker's unique use of stylized weaponry and bizarrely whimsical criminality without descending into goofiness like the old Batman TV series. That's a difficult tightrope to walk, but Burton & Nicholson pulled it off.

 

[Zorro]

Jack Nicholson
Joaquin Phoenix
Heath Ledger
Cesar Romero
Jared Leto

 

[hellblazer103]

As much as I think Ledger's performance is one of the best acting jobs not just in CBMs, but all movies, there's a case to be made that Nicholson's Joker is the most comic-accurate.

Except he's not.

Not beyond the superficial elements, anyway.

Like, he was certainly a great Joker, but there was no real connection with him and Batman . They happened to wanna plow the same woman and mostly saw each other as nuisances getting in each other's way for the majority of the film, right up until the third act, where all of a sudden it's personal, because Batman needs an excuse to kill him (which he normally doesn't do in comics) because he just then realized he killed his parents (also didn't happen in the comics) and because the film needed to wrap up the story, so in typical movie fashion, the villain must die by the end. Gone is the longevity of Batman and Joker's relationship.

It was definitely accurate in the vat of chemicals falling, the purple suit, the gag weapons etc., But like I said, that's all superficial/surface-level stuff. It fails to really capture the essence of the character and his relationship with Batman, something TDK absolutely NAILED 100% and I still don't see how anyone could say otherwise.

And at least the Phoenix movie does attempt to establish a deeper connection between the two characters who would become Batman and Joker beyond the typical film rivalry in some fashion .

Idk, to each their own, that's just how I've seen it for a while personally.

 

[Another_Fool]

For me its:

1. Ledger
2. Phoenix
3. Hamill (Objectively speaking Nicholson should be over Hamill I suppose, but Hamill oozed the character in tone and voice.)
4. Nicholson
5. Romero

 

[Batmannerism]

1. Ledger. No question, mesmerizing, menacing and mercurial. He's legitimately scary and interesting at the same time. Well written, perfect characterization and wonderfully acted. No one will ever top this performance IMO.

2. Hamill. Versatile, has done a ridiculous Joker and a really nasty evil Joker and everything in between.

3. Nicholson. Given the tone of the film he nailed it. He took a lot of risks with the character, given his status as a reasonably serious actor and they all paid off.

The others are hard to rank because they have very different faults and virtues.

Romero - had terrible material to work with but made it fun.

Phoenix - flying in the face of popular opinion, I didn't like the characterization at all once he .I found him infantile, whiny and just irritating. The only reason I'll see the sequel is to see Batman beat the crap out of him.

Leto .... I applaud him and the studio for trying something different and new. However his " tattoed gangsta pimp" Joker was a complete failure on every level. Definitely the worst Joker so far.

 

[TheScarecrow]

1. Ledger
2. Phoenix
3. Nicholson
4. Hamill
5. Romero
6. Leto

 

[Gothamsknight]

Oh yeah. More so than Nicholson (whose Joker I thought was entertaining) for sure.

I watched TDK the other night. The disappearing pencil trick and that whole scene in general was just, I don't know quite what the word is....brilliant? Shocking? Ledger just absolutely killed it. You saw him get impatient and annoyed, ultra threatening, and a complete distain for anyone's (including his own) safety.

I know I'm replying to a super old Post but I completely agree! It's absolutely brilliant in every sense of the word. Ledgers performance as the Joker is quite simply legendary and nobody has been able to touch it at all. It's terrifying and mesmerizing in every sense, and I don't see anybody topping that any time soon. Perfection.