Tuesday, October 29, 2013

In which the blogger discusses the Joker...

If you're like me, then you like super heroes. You might prefer Marvel heroes, or you might be a DC person. I personally like both, and my favorite character from either of their universes is not a hero, but one of the most iconic villains of all time. That's right, the Joker.
Most people are probably more familiar with the Heath Ledger Version of the Joker, from The Dark Knight. Image Credit

The Joker is one of Batman's oldest adversaries, and has been in comics, TV shows, movies, and video games. He has been played by actors like Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and most importantly, Mark Hamill. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Mark Hamill? Who the heck is Mark Hamill?" Short answer: Luke Skywalker. But what most people don't know about Hamill is that he has been the voice of the Joker in everything that had a voice actor for the Joker. That's why I think of him as the Joker, because he his been involved with it for longer than any other actor to portray the clown prince of crime. And, with the release of the new Batman game(Arkham Origins) I was excited for another great performance by Hamill. But upon encountering Joker for the first time in-game, I was shocked at the sound of his voice, because it wasn't the right voice(Angry nerd rant begins now). It turns out, Hamill wasn't even involved with the project. Some guy named Troy Baker has taken on the role.



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Don't get me wrong, Baker has a dang good Joker voice. But it sounds like just that, an imitation. The game is supposed to be set several years before the other games, and anything else Batman has done, so I can see why they would want to get a younger guy with a younger sounding voice to be their younger Joker, but it just doesn't sound quite right. Don't get me wrong, he sounds good, I've thought that since his killing joke monologue at New York Comic Con, but he's no Mark Hamill. So, I've decided to accept him. I'm going to compare him to Hamill as much as I can, but I'll accept him.

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