The Joker
Image taken from wikipedia.org
The Joker has become one if the most famous villians of all time. His first appearance in the Batman comics instantly made him a recognizable archenemy for Batman. The idea for creator Bob Kane was to create the ultimate enemy. Kane took the idea of man in a clown costume with no remorse for human life and got to work making a villian who has withstood the test of time. In the early comics, the Joker was a crazed psychopath who loved to play deadly tricks on people and creat chaos in Gotham City. Later on, writers in the 1980s created a much darker version of this character. This version saw the Joker as a truly evil person whose only goal in life was to kill and create as much turmoil as possible.
He has been interpreted on the screen three times. In the 1960s campy Batman series, he was played by Ceasar Romero. This version saw the Joker as a comic-relief villian who always was one step behind Batman and Robin. Almost thirty years later, Tim Burton reinvented the Batman saga. He case Jack Nicholson in the lead role. This film created a new backstory which has become the most well-known by fans. In this version, the Joker’s real name is Jack Napier. He is mobster who works for one of the biggest mafia families in Gotham City. In his youth, he murdered billionare business man Thomas Wayne and his wife. The only child of the couple was left as an orphan and had to cope with losing those closest to him by the hands of a murderer.
The most critically-acclaimed version of the Joker was in 2008. Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker in the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight. This film garnered almost universal praise. Many claimed Ledger should win an Oscar for his role. This version saw the Joker as the example of ultimate evil that cannot be stopped. He is always one step ahead of Batman. His philosophy on life is that if you upset the established order, then all there is is chaos.
Why…So…Serious?
