The Evolution of The Joker (Animated)
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Time to put on a happy face. From the campy to the creepy, we're going through the notable live-action appearances of the Clown Prince Of Crime!
warning: spoilers ahead!In the 1960's TV series Batman, the Joker wears a pink suit and a green dress shirt. His face is pale, with a painted smile, wild green hair and visible mustache. This Joker is a master of many disguises – and a world-class surfer – but mainly, he’s a prankster, often foiled by the dynamic duo.
In the 1989 Batman film, mob enforcer Jack Napier falls into a vat of chemicals and his surgery is botched, leaving him with pale skin and an elongated smile. He wears a purple striped suit, a matching trench-coat and fedora, and dons red lipstick and dyed green hair. He also sports comfortable nightwear, a mime-inspired get-up, and a more eccentric outfit with plaid pants, plus an occasional silk beret – and he sometimes uses concealer and dresses in normal clothing. After it’s revealed in a flashback scene that he shot Bruce Wayne's parents, this Joker is roped up and falls to his demise.
The Dark Knight (2008)'s Joker initially wears civilian clothing and a clown mask, but more often wears a blue dress shirt, green vest, pinstriped pants and a purple trench-coat. His mouth scars are jagged, his make-up is messy and his hair is unkempt. He goes incognito in police attire as well as a nurse’s uniform, complete with a brunette wig. Although he recounts multiple origin stories, he’s really just an anarchist that ultimately gets hung up to dry.
In Suicide Squad (2016), the DCEU features a pale Joker plastered with tattoos, slicked green hair and silver grills. He wears a variety of tuxedos and suits, as well a straight jacket, Police Riot gear, and a scaly purple trench-coat complete with excessive jewelery. Though he’s a hardened criminal, this Joker spends most of the film longing for his girlfriend.
The TV series Gotham (2014-2019) features Jerome, a psychopath that is easily taken down, only for his fan-base to resurrect him. His face is initially absent but is later put back on. His most notable outfits consist of a red circus-inspired tuxedo as well as a beige suit with plaid pants. Sadly, Jerome is not able to beat death a second time and is once more defeated.
But his twin, Jeremiah – after being sprayed with laughing venom – takes his place. The effect of the chemicals causes him to become pale, dress flamboyantly and go insane. And finally, after taking a dunk in acid, he is heavily deformed, leaving only strands of hair on his head, at which point he wears Gotham's most Joker-y outfit yet – but due to licensing issues, neither Jeremiah nor Jerome are officially recognized as the Joker... so, moving on.
In 2019's Joker, Arthur Fleck first dons a frumpy plaid costume, puffy green wig and clown makeup with red and blue accents for his working clown attire. After shooting three wealthy bullies, he incidentally starts a clown uprising. He then sports a green dress shirt and a red suit, dyes his hair dark green, and slightly alters his makeup, looking sharp enough to meet his talk-show hero. Also, this Joker may be Thomas Wayne's secret love child, or maybe that’s just another one of Arthur Fleck’s delusions.
But the best Joker may arguably be Mark Hamill’s Animated Series version… or, maybe the 4cm tall Lego Joker from The Lego Batman Movie (2017).
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