Jack Nicholson's Joker is about to make a surprise return to the superhero scene, according to a new DC announcement. While Nicholson's Joker is far from the only live-action adaptation of the character, it has become one of the most iconic. The three-time Academy Award winner played the Clown Prince of Crime in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, taking on Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader in an epic battle for Gotham.
While Nicholson's version of the character has become one of the most celebrated in comic book movie history, he has not been seen or heard from much since the time around the original Batman film came out. However, that is all about to change with the release of TT Games' LEGO: Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.
A new TikTok from the official Batman account revealed that Nicholson's Joker (specifically his dressed-down alter ego Jack Napier) will appear in the game in some capacity.
Nicholson's Joker character is specifically called out in the new video, with the narrator positing, "Wait 'til you get a load of him," a fun play on the Joker's iconic "Wait till they get a load of me" line from the 1989 Batman film.
This marks the first on-screen appearance for Nicholson's Joker character in a mainline DC project in over 30 years, with the last coming in 1990 with the release of the Batman arcade game developed and released by Atari.
Outside of the original Tim Burton Batman film, Nicholson's Joker has not exactly had the most prolific career on-screen. He made appearances in a few other video game adaptations of the first Batman movie, was referenced in a newspaper in The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths Arrowverse crossover event, and (bizarrely) can be seen for a split second during 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy.
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is set to release on consoles and PC sometime in 2026. The new bat-based adventure from the developers TT Games is set to be the ultimate tribute to the Dark Knight. Telling an original story that is an amalgam of dozens of Batman's most iconic moments from film, TV, and comics, the new game will allow players to follow the Caped Crusader from his earliest origins all the way through to hanging up the cowl.
In The Direct's preview of the game, our very own Lauren Rouse called the game a "must-play for fans of any age," praising its smooth combat, exciting open world, and numerous tributes to moments from the Bat's nearly hundred-year history.
Will Fans Ever See Jack Nicholson's Joker Again?
It has been nearly 40 years since Jack Nicholson's last on-screen appearance as the Joker, making it seem like a near impossibility that he would ever come back. However, that is not necessarily the case.
Fans may have also thought Michael Keaton suiting up as Batman again would never happen, yet it did. Anything is possible in this era of comic book movie storytelling. And with oft-celebrated filmmaker and noted comic fan James Gunn now at the helm of DC Studios, perhaps now is the time.
If Nicholson's Joker were ever to make his grand on-screen return, it would likely either have to be an entirely new canon, like the newly launched DCU, or a part of some extra-dimensional multiverse event.
Back in 2022, fellow former Joker Jared Leto teased that he would love to "get all of the cinematic Jokers [together]" for something of a DC-themed Spider-Verse film. While that may seem like a pipedream at this point, nothing is out of the question, it seems, for Gunn and the DC Studios team.
Maybe, an animated 'Into the Bat-Verse' movie could work with Jokers from across the character's storied history coming together to take on the Dark Knight.
For now, though, the closest fans will get to more Nicholson as the iconic DC Comics character appears to be in the upcoming LEGO Batman game.
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