The Clown Prince of Crime will never wreak havoc on Gotham again — at least not through one of his most famous portrayers. Mark Hamill has reiterated that he won’t return to play The Joker so long as Kevin Conroy is not his Batman.
As per a Q & A at Fan EXPO San Francisco, Mark Hamill said his days of voicing The Joker are a thing of the past, telling attendees that he “won’t voice the role unless it’s opposite Kevin Conroy’s Batman.” He added, “Without Batman, crime has no punchline,” quoting the episode “The Man Who Killed Batman” from Batman: The Animated Series, the first time he played The Joker. This doubles down on previous statements Hamill made about reprising The Joker in relation to Conroy. “They would call and say, ‘They want you to do the Joker,’ and my only question was, ‘Is Kevin Batman?’ If they said yes, I would say, ‘I’m in.’ We were like partners. We were like Laurel and Hardy. Without Kevin there, there doesn’t seem to be a Batman for me.’” Hamill most recently voiced the character on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
Mark Hamill worked opposite Kevin Conroy — who sadly passed away last year at just 66 — numerous times, most notably in the aforementioned animated series, 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. While both Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix won Oscars for playing The Joker, to many, Mark Hamill is synonymous with the iconic villain.
The same goes for Kevin Conroy and Batman – sure, there’s always Michael Keaton and Christian Bale and even Adam West but Conroy brought the Caped Crusader into homes like no one else before or since. Fans will get one more new experience of Conroy as Batman when the Rocksteady Studios game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League arrives next February, marking a posthumous – and the final – outing for the beloved voice actor.
Would you still want Mark Hamill to continue voicing The Joker even without Kevin Conroy? Or is this an admirable position he is taking? What is your favorite Hamill performance as the character? Let us know below!