From the not always clear past, Joker is portrayed on the big screen as a sadistic psychopath, but of great charisma. He is also a man with knowledge (chemical, computer, to name just a few) which is out of the ordinary. A creative and crazy man, the Joker represents absolute evil in cinema, the genius who is fighting to bring darkness instead of light into the world. This kind of character, however hateful, can only have a certain charm.
The Joker has always represented one of the characters coming from a comic book that is able to intrigue even those who have never been especially fond of the subject. This is because the character has become so deeply rooted in mass pop culture that he is immediately recognizable by anyone, as proven by the fact that, statistically, the vast majority of audiences who visited the theaters to watch Suicide Squad went to enjoy Jared Leto’s interpretation.
However, the Joker has had many faces over the years, and not just on paper, but also in movies and TV series. Therefore, this begs the question: what are the best versions of the character? We are going to explore in this ranking all the audiovisual interpretations of the Joker, to decide which one has been the most convincing. We remind you that, as always, like every ranking, this is strictly personal and we invite you to share yours in the comments section.
Following years of more classic representations, Nolan decided to offer the public a more realistic Joker. Therefore, the idea of the Joker falling into the tank of chemicals which drove him crazy disappeared and he became a brilliantly insane man, intent on spreading chaos, with a make-up face and dyed hair, unlike Nicholson’s, who had to apply blush to his face to have the appearance of an ordinary person.
Ledger, who won a belated Oscar for this extraordinary performance, portrayed the character so well that he became iconic, succeeding in rooting him deeply in the collective imagination. The concept of a Joker, out of control, who, according to tradition, would become the evil counterpart of Batman, was perfect and still the public appreciates him, as one of the best versions of the character between movies, series and print media.
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It was not only the actor’s histrionic performance that ruled the day, but also an inspired script, making memorable almost all the phrases and monologues of the Joker, whose concept design was created by drawing inspiration from real-life characters, like the diabolical Charles Manson, from whom Ledger took the tongue twitch.
