Joker actors become Bruce Wayne in stylish new Batman fan art. The villainous Joker has been around almost as long as the heroic Caped Crusader, debuting in Batman #1 in 1940. And in all the years since then, no one has created a nemesis for Batman quite as compelling as The Clown Prince of Crime.
The Joker was of course on-hand when Batman became a TV show in the 1960s, with Cesar Romero holding down the role. And the Joker was there too in 1989 when the first blockbuster Batman movie hit theaters, with Jack Nicholson giving the character big-screen charisma. But perhaps the definitive Joker was created in 2008’s The Dark Knight, thanks to Oscar-winning actor Heath Ledger. After Ledger, Jared Leto took a crack at Joker in the DCEU, with divisive results. Joaquin Phoenix then took the character into the realm of prestige film with Joker, winning his own Oscar for his efforts. This year’s The Batman also included a brief appearance for a new Joker, played by Barry Keoghan.
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Each of the above-mentioned actors certainly brought their own unique spin to the most famous of Batman bad guys. Now thanks to fan artist marcrienzo, fans can imagine them bringing their talents to bear on Joker’s enemy, Bruce Wayne aka Batman. See all the Joker actors – including Gotham’s Cameron Monaghan – as Bruce Wayne in the space below:
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Which Joker Actor Would've Made The Best Bruce Wayne?
Batman fans are of course happy to debate which actor created the best Joker. But this new fan art opens up a different question: which Joker actor would be the best Batman? Going by pure visuals, there’s something to be said for Phoenix, who as a matter of fact was director Darren Aronofsky’s choice to play Bruce Wayne in the canceled Batman: Year One movie. Gotham star Monaghan too has something decidedly Wayne-like about him, at least in the above rendering.
When it comes down to pure acting chops, of course the versatile Ledger would have to be high on the list of Joker actors who could’ve also pulled off Bruce Wayne. Nicholson too has plenty of talent, and the Oscars to prove it, and would have at one time in his career been able to craft a very off-beat Wayne (unfortunately the above Nicholson art actually looks more like Robert Picardo). And “off-beat” doesn’t even begin to describe the kind of Batman that might be created by Keoghan, an actor who seems specially suited to playing menacing and strange characters.
But of all the Joker actors shown in this new fan art, certainly Leto is the most fun to imagine tackling Bruce Wayne. It’s indeed hilarious to think of the method acting antics Leto would engage in while trying to get inside the skin of a billionaire playboy living a double-life as a vigilante superhero. Instead of giving his co-stars rats as gifts, would Leto give them bats? Given the level of weirdness he brought to Joker in Suicide Squad, Leto certainly would have a very unusual and possibly even terrible take on Wayne if he ever tackled the role. For now, it seems Robert Pattinson is in no danger of being replaced as Bruce Wayne in Batman, but who can say what the future holds?