Rank Every Joker From Worst To Best

[Mani-Man]

I dont really wanna do a ranking because they all put their own twist on the character and not one of them is particular the best or the worst.

But i favor Mark Hamill the most, he was the joker that fits my "perfect" image the best.
He could be funny, sinister, goofy, deranged, angry, sad and so on.
Of course that is mostly due to the scripts he got, but still.

 

[COCOS]

the whole sequence with phoenix on the talk show, is so phenomenal ,he deserve the second spot behind ledger, until he make a sequel where he's the full joker, and be better than ledger, cause he can

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Live action and animation:

1. Ledger
2. Hamill
3. Phoenix
4. Baker
5. Emerson
6. Dimaggo
7. Nicholson
8. Romero
9. Galifianakis
10. Leto
11. Richardson

 

[Slade W]

Even though he is popular, I found Nicholson to be too over-the-top and cringe-inducing.

 

[Mutant 77]

I love all 5 Jokers. To death.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

1.) Mark Hamill
2.) Jack Nicholson

3.) Heath Ledger
4.) Cesar Romero
5.) Joaquin Phoenix

6.) And the rest... although Leto may not even deserve a spot on the list.

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

Only including theatrical released films:
6. Leto
5. Romero
4. Nicholson
3. Phoenix
2. Hamill
1. Ledger

 

[lime]

1. Heath Ledger
2. Joaquin Phoenix
3. Jack Nicholson
4. Mark Hamill

...all the rest.

 

[Schlosser85]

I'm not going to put Mark Hamill in the same category with the live-action performances because they're different mediums with different demands.

Out of the ones I have seen:

Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix are both terrific, IMO. Strictly speaking of which is "the best Joker" is a bit of an unfair comparison because Ledger gets to play The Joker for a whole movie's worth while Phoenix's is a slow burn who builds into a fledgling Joker over the course of the movie, but performance-wise, they're far and away the best two in live-action, IMO.

Cameron Monaghan was actually a pretty good fledgling Joker on Gotham, though hamstrung by some of his goofball material like the whole twin thing and them making him look like an eighty-year-old man for some reason when he finally becomes "The Joker".

I never really cared for Jack Nicholson's Joker that much. To me it mostly feels like Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson prancing around in makeup, more than it feels like The Joker. Plus "my" Joker is too anarchic to really be a mob boss or that kind of thing.

Which is one of my many problems with Jared Leto's Joker, who is at the bottom of the heap and doesn't even act like The Joker, he acts like some lame-ass try-hard poser gangbanger. He doesn't even act insane, he acts like some straight-up gangster hanging out in nightclubs with his girl toy. Not The Joker.

 

[TheGuy]

Ledger's laugh has a satanic quality unequaled in live-action IMO. His laugh is a mixture of feeling amused and enjoying the mayhem he causes. Phoenix has more room for his laughs, but they sound coming from a man with some illness, not a criminal mastermind.

 

[Schlosser85]

Well among Joker versions I'd say Ledger's Joker is slightly less insane and slightly more just straight-up diabolical and evil.

I kind of get the impression he almost plays up this craaaazy persona on purpose sometimes, more than he necessarily actually is. Like for example in the interrogation room conversations with Gordon and Batman, he's pretty subdued and lucid.

 

[Captain Tired]

1. Phoenix
2. Nicholson
3. Hamill
4. Ledger
5. Romero
6. Leto

 

[The Joker]

Well among Joker versions I'd say Ledger's Joker is slightly less insane and slightly more just straight-up diabolical and evil.

I kind of get the impression he almost plays up this craaaazy persona on purpose sometimes, more than he necessarily actually is. Like for example in the interrogation room conversations with Gordon and Batman, he's pretty subdued and lucid.

But that's the Joker. There are times when he can be lucid. They are the times which can be the most scary because you're waiting for him to kick off and do something. You know something is going to happen. Like in that whole Police HQ sequence, when the looney thug with the bomb in his chest in thrown in the cell with Joker and his men, and he is complaining that he doesn't feel well, we get this great shot of Joker making a little wicked grin when he says that.

Also considering the situation where he wanted to be caught and this was all part of his plan, it made sense that he was sitting back and just calmly playing with his toys. Of course it didn't stop him from letting rip and taunting and laughing at Batman when he revealed the sting in the tail about having Rachel, too.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Lowest ranking first I'll go for Leto.

Kevin Michael Richardson voiced my favorite version of the joker.

Ledger, Nicholson, and Hamill are all equally awesome for different reasons, and I'll list John DiMaggio with this crowd.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Oof. Gonna split up live action from animated. It's just a personal thing its not you...

1. Ledger - obvious. His energy and design and attitude are all palpable. He's instantly iconic.
2. Phoenix - the depth was breathtaking. I'll never look at the character the same.
3. Nicholson - still amazing. He's a great actor with a great handle on the character. Particularly 30 years ago.
4. Romero - um... he fit the scene well.
5. Leto - Oof.

I think over time we are understanding the character better. And Leto is included in that. Can't learn without mistakes. Yes, Joker can have interpretations but it doesn't mean certain routes for established characters are good. Gangster joker is a lot of fun. But man, alive. That one is off the wall.

1. Hamill - so fantastic. A voice ill never forget from my head. So perfect.
2. The rest. Not to say they are all bad. But other than dimaggio and maybe one or two more, I can't say many really stick out.

Thing is it takes something completely different to actually physically embody the joker. Something I don't think Hamill has in him. Although id give him the chance if he wanted to try on a CW show id for sure watch it. In an arc like Killing Joke would be really cool.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Jack Nicholson
Cesar Romero

Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck and Heathcliff Ledger's bombing dude are tied.

Cameron Monaghan's had too many fakeouts.
Leto's had the vat of chemicals bath, but was an edgelord embarrassment.

 

[Guts]

In no particular order.
Jack Nicholson
Mark Hamill
Jared Leto
Mathew Modine
Heath Ledger
Cesar Romero
Joaquin Phoenix.

 

[Doc Samson]

After watching B'89 again, Jack's laugh doesn't get much credit. Well he doesn't in general, it's easy to say he's just Jack being Jack. This idea that he wasn't menacing I always found weird, he does plenty of $%&*ed up things in this movie and the fact that he's always enjoying himself makes it more so.

But his laugh is right under Hamill's to me, for that creepy, eerily joyous and sadistic tone. It's not so much scary but a laugh as if he's actually finding this funny.

The Buzzer scene is still a top 3 Joker scene, right along with TDK interrogation and The Murray Show. The bad jokes only he's finding funny, talking to Antoine's corpse, the laugh, manipulating his "number one" guy, it's pure Joker for my tastes anyhow.

"You're a vicious bastard Rotelli...

...I'm glad you're dead!"

 

[theMan-Bat]

It's ironic that when Tim Burton's Batman '89 and Batman Returns were released they were considered "too dark and too scary for kids" and yet ever since Christopher Nolan's were released, the Burton Batman films have been considered "light and campy" - and if only they were considered light and campy in the '90s then Warners co-chairman Terry Semel and Bob Daly wouldn't have decided Tim Burton was too dark for Batman and too scary for kids and wouldn't have replaced him with Joel Schumacher to make a light and campy version of Batman.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

It's ironic that when Tim Burton's Batman '89 and Batman Returns were released they were considered "too dark and too scary for kids" and yet ever since Christopher Nolan's were released, the Burton Batman films have been considered "light and campy" - and if only they were considered light and campy in the '90s then Warners co-chairman Terry Semel and Bob Daly wouldn't have decided Tim Burton was too dark for Batman and too scary for kids and wouldn't have replaced him with Joel Schumacher to make a light and campy version of Batman.

Good assessment

 

[Pennywise]

Ledger
Phoenix
Nicholson
Romero
Leto from what little I’ve seen. Bleh!

 

[WhoMani]

I'm going with live action:
Ledger
Phoenix
Monaghan (I haven't seen Gotham season 3, 4 and 5)
Nicholson
Leto

I haven't seen much of Romero as the Joker.

 

[Slade W]

After having finally seeing Joker, I rank them as follows:

Ledger=Phoenix
Hamill
Emerson

I think I might actually prefer Phoenix to Ledger, which I never thought would happen as I didn't think Ledger would ever be usurped, but it should be noted that Phoenix had an advantage as the whole movie was about him. I cannot say for sure now as the movie is still assimilating in my mind.

 

[Mutant 77]

Live Action:

1- Ledger
2- Nicholson
3- Phoenix
4- Romero
5- Monaghan
6- Leto (still a great Joker)
7- Roger Stoneburner

 

[Deck Rickard]

I'm only going to go with the live action ones since I don't watch much animation.

1. Ledger
2. Phoenix
3. Nicholson
4. Romero

HUGE DROPOFF

5. Leto
6. The Gotham guy, who looks like the illegitimate son of Captain Spaulding and the Crypt Keeper