By now, I’m sure you’ve had ample opportunity to feast your eyes on Gotham‘s final version of the Joker. For the most part, we’d been spoiled by various photos from the series finale that’d leaked online, but Fox finally did their part by releasing an official image and teaser trailer featuring Mr. J earlier today.
Of course, there have been reactions on both sides of the aisle due to the producers concocting such a radically different look for the Clown Prince of Crime. Though I’m internally conflicted myself, I understand what they’re going for – and that’s showing what it’d look like if a guy were to fall into a vat of acid.
Doing his part to once again earn his share of digital high-fives from viewers everywhere, actor Cameron Monaghan took to Instagram, this time posting yet another official picture of his Joker. Captioned with “the joke is on you,” the photo seen in the gallery below (which also includes the aforementioned ones) shows the Ace of Knaves getting ready to let loose on Gotham City.
If any compliment can be thrown Monaghan’s way, it’s that he actually managed to pull off playing this character in a third manner. Even though the Joker is still technically Jeremiah Valeska, the performance offered in the finale looks to be as different from Jeremiah as he was from Jerome. And to be honest, Jeremiah circa season 5 didn’t act quite the same as he did in season 4 because he’d lost a few more marbles along the way. That’s just a testament to Monaghan’s ability.
Another observation I’ve made is that the “final” Joker takes influence from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. The aforementioned teaser trailer shows him “awakening” in Arkham Asylum, so it may be fair to assume that he’d be relatively catatonic until seeing the emergence of Batman. I guess we’ll find out for certain when Gotham‘s series finale airs on Thursday, April 25th on Fox.