Mark Hamill's Joker Retirement

[BatmAngelus]

Not long ago, Mark Hamill tweeted the following message, announcing his retirement from the role of the Joker, with Arkham City being his last performance in the role:

Hello/Goodbye Joker! I've enjoyed every minute behind the wheel of the Crown Prince's crazy car- I'm going to miss him more than I can say!!

https://twitter.com/#!/HamillHimself/status/126561371197419520
Hamill has been wanting to direct a movie adaptation of his comic The Black Pearl for a long time, so I imagine that he wants a break from acting gigs so that he can bring his dream project to life, as well as direct more films.  While I love his Joker voice, I can't blame him for wanting to try out new things.

More recently, Hamill stated that he'd come back to voice the Joker if WB did an animated adaptation of The Killing Joke:

I'd come back for THAT! Spread the word! Campaign for #TheKillingJoke!! RT: @Cha_Luz #DC lets see #TheKillingJoke Mark said hed voice Joker

https://twitter.com/#!/HamillHimself/status/128336011200708608
I'd be interested to hear Hamill's take on the material.  There's a great recording going around of a Hamill impersonator doing one of the monologues from the ending (and it's been put to Lego and 3D animation in a couple separate videos on YouTube), but I'd be curious to hear the man himself pull it off.  Even more, I'd be interested in hearing how he'd voice the pre-Joker scenes as the failed comedian, since the Jack Napier character stayed silent throughout Mask of the Phantasm. 
Can you imagine him doing the scene where the character snaps and lets out a Joker laugh after seeing his appearance for the first time?  It'd be bonechilling, if the animation were done right.

[Silver Nemesis]

Hamill has been wanting to direct a movie adaptation of his comic The Black Pearl for a long time, so I imagine that he wants a break from acting gigs so that he can bring his dream project to life, as well as direct more films.

I remember seeing an interview with Hamill back in 2007 where he said he was about to start filming The Black Pearl in London. But nothing's come of it since. Not long after that I bought a second hand copy of The Black Pearl comic. I remember thinking it was pretty good and might make an interesting movie. Especially in 2007, as it was around that time Batman Begins and the Heroes TV show were establishing a market for 'realistic' super hero properties.
But since then the Kick Ass comic and movie have come out, and they basically explored the same concept as The Black Pearl. So at this stage, The Black Pearl movie might be a bit superfluous. But if it's Hamill's dream project then I hope he's able to do it. I saw Comic Book: The Movie and thought he showed promise as a director.

Can you imagine him doing the scene where the character snaps and lets out a Joker laugh after seeing his appearance for the first time?  It'd be bonechilling, if the animation were done right.

Hamill's retired from playing the Joker a few times now. I think he's only interested in resuming the role if the project offers him the scope to do something he hasn't done before and go out on a high note. I can hardly imagine a bigger swan song than Arkham City, but a high quality Killing Joke adaptation might just do it.

Last week I watched the John Carpenter/Tobe Hooper portmanteau film Body Bags (1993). In the final story of the anthology, Mark Hamill plays a baseball player whose wife is expecting their first child. Early in the story he loses his eye in a car accident and has to receive a new one via transplant. Of course it turns out his new eye came from a mass murdering psychotic (where else?) and Hamill begins a slow descent into madness. Much to his wife's horror, he starts manifesting personality traits of his new eye's former owner. The whole thing reminded me a little of Killing Joke. It'd be fascinating to see a Batman movie where he undergoes a similar descent, changing from an ordinary man into the demented clown prince of crime. If anyone is going to star in a Killing Joke movie, it should be Hamill.

[Bobthegoon89]

Very sad to hear this. You gotta give him credit. Almost 20 years him and Kevin Conroy. Is Richard Moll in Arkham City as Two-Face? Haven't even played the game yet even though I own it.

I can't watch any animated Batman post Kevin Conroy. Batman Year One's animation was pretty painful without him. I'm excited to hear what Peter Weller's gonna do for Dark Knight Returns. Hope it's a lot better.

[KeatonisBatman]

Did you guys listen to the "Fat Man on Batman" smodcast with Hamill?  He specifically said he wanted to "retire" by doing an animated version of The Killing Joke and that it's possible that it could happen.

[Paul (ral)]

If the material is good, I doubt he would ever pass it up if he felt he could bring something to it.

[The Dark Knight]

I think the best thing to do with anything is the following.

Don't ever say you are retired. Just stop doing that activity and move on.

If you ever come back to it, it's not going against your past statement. Musicians for example do that all the time. "Oh guys, you know when I said it was the last tour ever? I changed my mind."

John Lennon handled it the right way. He went away from the scene for 5 years to raise his child, and came back when he was ready. When he felt like he had something else to offer.

Just because Mark may or may not voice The Joker for a long period of time doesn't mean he won't again.