Tim Curry’s Lost Joker Performance Restored to Batman: The Animated Series Clip

Before Mark Hamill played Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Tim Curry was cast in the role. Recently, recorded dialogue by the actor has surfaced.

Warner Bros.

Batman: The Animated Series is regarded as one of the best Batman projects ever created by Warner Bros. As one of the crowning achievements of their animated DC offerings, the 90s show saw Mark Hamill taking on the long-term role of Joker, but he was not the original actor to bring life to the iconic villain as The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Tim Curry was hired for the part before being replaced by Hamill. Although Curry was never heard as the voice of the Joker, the beloved actor did record dialogue for the show and that was recently released as part of a documentary.

Now one fan has taken that dialogue and edited it into the footage from the show to give an idea of exactly what Curry could have brought to the Batman party. Posting to Twitter, Munson Burner wrote:

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“In a recent Documentary with Batman TAS, they released some of Tim Curry’s Joker Recordings before he was replaced by Mark Hamill. I cleaned up and enhanced his audio recordings a bit while trying to sync it up with better footage.”

Since Batman: The Animated Series originally aired, there have been many other iterations of Gotham’s Clown Prince developed for screen, with actors such as Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix and Jared Leto having created live-action versions and John DiMaggio, Alan Tudyk, Kevin Conroy and more delivering voice over performances, where Tim Curry could have sat in the pantheon of Joker actors is something that will never truly be known.

Related: These Are the Best Tim Curry Movies, Ranked

Joker Will Be Returning To The Big Screen Soon

Warner Bros. Pictures

With a character like the Joker, there is always a new take on the character just around the corner and that is true right now. With the last decade having seen Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix pick up Oscars for playing the role, the next few years will see the character hit the big screen again with Phoenix reprising the role for Joker: Folie A Deux, which will also star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, and will also likely appear in The Batman 2, played by Barry Keoghan.

Of course, the Joker is one character that fans never get sick of seeing reinvented time and time again, and whenever a new Batman comes to the screen, whether it be live-action or animated – there is always a question of how and when he will face-off against his arch-nemesis.

Although Tim Curry’s time as Joker was never realized, there have obviously been plenty of other versions that have been enjoyed over the years, and Curry himself has had many iconic roles of his own that have secured him his place in Hollywood history. All in all, the loss of Curry in Batman: The Animated Series ended up delivering the world Mark Hamill in a role that he has become as well known for as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, and that is something the world really didn’t want to be without.

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