27 years ago today, Batman: The Animated Series launched on Fox Kids, beginning a run of 85 episodes that many still regard as one of the finest takes on the Dark Knight. Mark Hamill, who voiced the Joker on the series, and in many other adaptations, marked the occasion with a tribute to the animated show on his Twitter account, where he acknowledged the effect the part had on his career, which at the time combined Star Wars fame with steady theater work and character acting.
Hamill commented as so:
“I went to Broadway in search of challenging character roles, only to find one of the most rewarding & enduring of them all in this series. Without #BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, my career would have no punchline.”
The tweet has certainly prompted a strong response, coming at the same time as Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, who’ll be returning to the character in the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” this year, also paying tribute to the impact of the series:
“27 years ago today Batman: The Animated Series premiered. Thank you Bruce Timm, Eric Rodomski, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett , Andrea Romano & everyone at WB animation for allowing me to be a part of this incredible ride. And thank you to the amazing fans, you are all incredible.”
Of course, we’d love to see Hamill reprise his Joker role in the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” something that Kevin Conroy is certainly keen on, while we already have a good idea of how Hamill could look in the event. In the meantime, his relationship to Star Wars is still going strong and we’ve had some suggestions from our sources of how he’ll factor into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series should be a good reminder though, if one were needed, to revisit Hamill’s turns as the Joker on the show, which he also extended to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman Beyond and the animated Justice League, to name just a few of his extensive versions of the character.