The Joker's Last Laugh

Mark Hamill mentioned recently that the upcoming sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum will be his final performance as the Joker. Hamill has been providing the voice of the Joker for DC Comics animation and game projects for eighteen years, starting with the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series in 1992.

It's great that Hamill has been given the opportunity to do one last 'hurrah' as the Joker, but I'll be sad to see him go. Hamill and Kevin Conroy (who has been voicing Batman to Hamill's Joker) are my definitive standards for how these iconic characters should sound. Those of you out there who dislike Christian Bale's growly Batman voice should check out Conroy's performance, which has that perfect blend of gravel and fierce masculinity, evoking ideas of noir, opera, and Jack Bauer.

Hamill's Joker voice is brilliant. He captures that whimsical, light-hearted inflection of a man dressed in purple suit, but infuses it with a maniacal insanity that sends chills down your spine every time you hear him laugh. It's the laughter of a homicidal maniac who celebrates his depravity with animated giddiness.

Check out this video of Hamill explaining how he constructed his memorable Joker laugh.

Regardless of how Arkham Asylum 2 turns out, I'll be picking it up on release day just to hear the Joker's laugh one last time.