Top 10 Best Actors that Portrayed the Joker in the Batman Franchise

He's chaotic, theatrical, terrifying, and weirdly charismatic, and somehow no two versions are ever quite the same. The Joker is the kind of role that chews up the scenery and then laughs maniacally while doing it. You've seen him as a painted-up mobster, a tragic loner, a giggling cartoon menace, and an unhinged force of nature. Each actor who's taken on Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime has brought something uniquely twisted to the table.

Some leaned hard into the comic book lunacy, while others pulled the character straight into psychological horror. A few wore prosthetics and sinister smiles. Others, just pure madness in the eyes. What makes this list so fun and honestly a little chaotic in its own right is figuring out which version truly nailed it. Was it the creepy laugh? The unpredictability? The complete lack of a moral compass wrapped in showmanship?

The Top Ten

  1. Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

    Ledger gets the edge over Hamill to me. He played Joker so perfectly that I really don't think anyone will perfect a villain like he did with Joker. He made Joker seem believable and completely insane on the big screen.

    Joker was thought of as some insane clown before The Dark Knight. Now you think of him as just an insane dude. He's a huge reason why The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the best superhero movie ever made.

    The way I see it, there are two ways you can be the best Joker: animated and live-action. Hamill is clearly the former, and Ledger, the latter.

    If these two had switched places in their versions, neither would have held up. They both made their own versions of the character and completely owned those versions.

  2. Mark Hamill (Batman: The Animated Series)

    The fact that Heath Ledger is number one shows how uneducated people are about Batman. Ledger didn't play Joker. He played some insane guy with white makeup, that's all. He didn't act anything like the traditional Joker everyone loved.

    Hamill is the Joker. When you imagine the Joker, you hear Hamill. Any educated Batman fan will say Hamill is Joker, not Ledger.

    As compelling as Ledger was, no actor brought the character to the screen quite as well as Mark. And he did it with just his voice! Admittedly, superior writing and flawless animation design aided him, but still, that voice. No voice has captured a character with such finesse in history except for maybe his father, James Earl Jones.

  3. Jack Nicholson (Batman, 1989)

    John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker whose career has spanned over 60 years. He is known for his wide range of roles, including satirical comedies, romantic dramas, and portrayals of antiheroes and psychopathic characters. In many of his films, Nicholson plays... read more

    He is the most comic-accurate representation of the Joker yet, so you have to give him credit for sticking true to the comics.

    No one even came close to portraying the Joker like Jack did. Outstanding performance!

    He is the best Joker, while Heath is second place.

  4. Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)

    Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor and producer born on October 28, 1974, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Coming from a family of performers, he began his acting career as a child with appearances in various television shows and films.... read more

    We're not disrespecting him. Actually, he is overrated. He did a good portrayal of The Joker. He gave us the mysterious Joker, but licking his lips repetitively and talking like he broke his throat is just too much.

    People say that he locked himself away and prepared for the role. It's a good thing, but they use it to show how dedicated Heath was for a role, and that is just stupid. Keep in mind that Joaquin lost weight, studied different laughs, and acted his role. Yet he managed to pull off a better performance than that overrated lip-licker.

    Best Joker in my opinion. I don't understand why Jerome is in front of this guy. Jerome isn't even the Joker anyway.

  5. Cameron Monaghan (Gotham, TV series)

    This guy is the best Joker in both forms (SPOILER ALERT). He portrays the psychotic and crime boss styles in such an amazing way. He honestly made me love the Joker. I don't think I've seen anyone more dedicated to their roles.

    Plus, his performance is littered with cool references to other stories like The Killing Joke and The New 52. He even has his own cult that is probably an accurate reflection of the Gotham fanbase without Nygmobblepot.

    His relationship with Bruce is also the best way to present the Batman-Joker relationship. He doesn't just see him as a roadblock like some iterations (ahem*Nicholson*ahem). Fox can say what they want, but Cameron (at least as Jeremiah) has definitely earned and will go down in the hearts of fans as a true Joker.

  6. Cesar Romero (Batman, TV series)

    He was awesome. He was the first Joker, and he inspired future versions of the character. The Joker messing around with art was first used in an episode of the 1960s show, not the 1989 film.

    Also, Heath Ledger's Joker laugh sounds similar to Cesar Romero's laugh.

  7. John DiMaggio (Batman: Under the Red Hood)

    John William DiMaggio (born September 4, 1968) is an American actor and voice actor known for his distinctive gruff voice. He is best recognized for voicing Bender in the animated television series Futurama, Jake the Dog in Adventure Time, and Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War video game series. DiMaggio... read more

  8. Kevin Michael Richardson (The New Batman Adventures)

    Kevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor known for portraying a wide range of characters in animated series and video games. Recognized for his deep voice, he has played numerous roles since the early 1990s, frequently voicing villains. He received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations... read more

    His voice was great, but the concept of Joker looks terrible.

  9. Jared Leto (Suicide Squad)

    I really loved his Joker. I hate how they basically cut him out of the movie. He deserved way more screen time. Also, Catwoman should have been in this movie. I LOVE Harley Quinn, but it was basically her movie. Katana got like two lines.

    Leto is too punk and tattooed to really be the Joker. He doesn't have the look of Nicholson, the personality of Ledger, or the voice of Hamill to really relate to the Joker.

    He seems just like some street gang leader who likes pink and green.

    He seems pretty good, but it's hard to judge since he was only in the movie for 12 minutes.

  10. Michael Emerson (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns)

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Richard Epcar (Injustice: Gods Among Us)

  12. ?

    Tony Hale (Batman Ninja)

    13. The Contenders

  13. Zach Galifianakis (The Lego Batman Movie)

  14. Anthony Ingruber (Batman: The Telltale Series)

    Until I played this game, I thought there couldn't be a better Joker than Hamill or Ledger. I was so wrong. Jon Doe is definitely my favorite Joker.

    Despite being one of the very few Jokers that can actually care for someone and all the good things he has done, his mental illness was shown so realistically that he gave me the creeps every time he appeared.

    Also, seeing him work together with Batman was pure gold!

    Seriously? Why isn't this guy ranked higher? Did anyone on this list even play the game? It's one of the best portrayals of the Joker ever. You actually pity the Joker!

  15. Troy Baker (Batman: Arkham Origins)

    Troy Baker is an American voice actor and musician. He is known for portraying lead characters in numerous video games, including Joel Miller in The Last of Us and Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite. Baker is also a musician and released the solo album Sitting in the Fire in 2014.

    He is very good. When I first heard him in Assault on Arkham, I thought he was Hamill. He also did a great job in Arkham Origins.

    I think that he did great in Arkham Origins.

    Yep, he was the greatest Joker of all time.

  16. Jeff Bennett (Batman: The Brave and the Bold)

    Jeffrey Glenn Bennett is an American voice actor and singer. His notable voice roles include Johnny Bravo in the television series of the same name and Petrie in The Land Before Time films and television series. He has also voiced characters in numerous other animated series and films.

  17. Brent Spiner (Young Justice)

    He was good. I hope he plays the Joker again.

  18. Lennie Weinrib (The New Adventures of Batman)

    I love his voice. Really underrated.

  19. Larry Storch (Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, 1968)

  20. Frank Welker (The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians)

    Franklin Wendell Welker is an American voice actor best known for his role as Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise, which began in 1969. He has also provided the voice of Scooby-Doo since 2002. In addition, he is recognized for voicing Megatron in the Transformers franchise and for voicing and performing... read more

    One of, if not the best, voice-over actors ever!

  21. Rene Requiestas (Alyas Batman en Robin)

    A really underrated, hilarious Joker.

  22. John Kassir (Batman: Arkham Origins)

    He is an amazingly underrated Joker, and I just don't know why.

  23. Alan Tudyk (Harley Quinn)

    Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for playing Hoban "Wash" Washburne in the science fiction series Firefly and its film continuation, Serenity. Tudyk also portrayed Alpha in the television series Dollhouse and Tucker McGee in the horror-comedy film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil... read more

  24. Michael McKean (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns)

  25. Curtis Armstrong (OnStar Batman commercials)

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