Mark Hamill, most famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy has stated that he is ending one of his most revered roles in voice acting, the Joker. Hamill, who started performing the roll in the Emmy award-winning Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 discussed with IGN his reluctance to return to the role for the original Arkham from Rocksteady Studios and even more so for its sequel.
“This will be my last, there’s no question about that,” he said. “But it’s the last hurrah.”
He discussed his return to the role, describing his feeling that he had already felt that he had “left the role on a high note” after the conclusion of the animated series, "But they said, 'We got Paul Dini,' who was my favorite ever Joker writer, 'and Kevin Conroy,' who I love. This was a real reunion and a very pleasant experience. So of course I relented, but I had no idea it would have the impact it did."
Apparently the sequel has him in a flutter, as he was incredibly reluctant to sign on for the second game; that was until Rocksteady informed him of what is in store for the Joker. Unfortunately, he cannot reveal any details at this time as he is “sworn to secrecy” over the character.
The success of the first game was of welcome surprise to many, and it seems like the next game is going to be good enough, as demonstrated by Hamill coming back on board.
Is this the last joke for the Joker? Probably not, but it is the last time Hamill will be voicing the role in any serious capacity.
5 Comments
May 28, 2010
Guys. "Roll?" Really? Are you that hard up for editors? I'll gladly take the job if it will stop awful mistakes like this from happening again.
May 28, 2010
It's fixed. Even editor-bot James is human.
May 28, 2010
Mistakes happen Harvey. But if you really need an extra job I heard theres an opening for a Joker voice actor.
May 29, 2010
Hamill IS the Joker, easily the best Joker ever (Heath Ledger was good, but the true voice of the Joker will always be Mark Hamill's). I hope he changes his mind, any media that needs a voiceover for the Joker should be done by him.
May 29, 2010
Part of me is sad to hear this, due to my fandom of the DC Animated Universe, but if he feels like Batman AA 2 is going out on top, so be it. We'll have to wait and see what that means for Joker in this game universe.