Matthew Needham Confirms Backstory Change for Joker in Batman Caped Crusader

The Joker is Batman’s most iconic villain. Any actor stepping into the role faces decades of comics history and performances from predecessors. Cesar Romero played a cackling clown in the 1966 Batman show, while Jack Nicholson made the Joker a terrifying gangster in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. Mark Hamill became the defining version of the character for a generation on Batman: The Animated Series. Heath Ledger then portrayed the villain as a twisted avatar of chaos. Now, a new interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime has arrived.

House of the Dragon star Matthew Needham takes on the role in Batman: Caped Crusader season 2, and he feels the pressure.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Batman: Caped Crusader season 2.

“People adore this character, as they should,” Needham tells Polygon. “I didn’t want people to think we were taking him for granted or being silly or stupid with him. I really hoped that people would see that everything we were doing was with great respect. But it was a real big swing, and it’s not what people expect when it comes to the Joker.”

Prime Video’s spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series reinvents many members of Batman’s rogue’s gallery, including the Penguin, Mad Hatter, and the Riddler. The new spin on the Joker is far calmer and more calculating than usual. He spends most of season 2 lurking in the background, observing Batman and manipulating Gotham’s underworld. When he finally terrorizes Gotham with chemical weapons, he proves to be a mental and physical match for the Dark Knight. Rather than maniacal, this Joker stays in control as he pushes Batman toward his most violent tendencies.

Polygon asked Needham about his approach to the character and his relationship with the Dark Knight.

Is the Joker from Europe?

The most surprising element of Needham’s Joker is his voice. The villain speaks with a German-inflected accent and a flat affect. Those choices came from the audition materials, which specified that the Joker should be European and humorless.

“It was their creation, and I just gave my version of it,” Needham tells Polygon. “I have ideas where he’s from, but I think part of the power of the Joker is that his origins are unknown. Leaving it purposely vague is more impactful than locating it down to one specific origin.”

Needham drew inspiration from Tony Beckley’s performance in Fred Walton’s 1979 thriller When a Stranger Calls.

“It’s about this woman who receives really threatening phone calls from this really quiet, softly spoken stranger,” Needham says. “That always stuck with me — how scary he was, and how unsettling and threatening a quiet voice can be, rather than a loud one.”

What does Joker want from Batman?

The Joker and Batman are often interconnected. The Joker commits crimes to get Batman’s attention, trying to corrupt him or his allies. Caped Crusader leans into that dynamic, with the Joker referring to Batman as a brother.

“These two people complement each other in very, very dark ways,” Needham says. “Our producers were saying that they’re two broken mirrors, and one’s trying to fix himself and the other isn’t. Joker’s trying to get Batman to reveal himself, to evolve to his final form. The Joker thinks of himself as an evolved human, a supreme being trying to get another supreme being to evolve.”

Needham builds a backstory for his characters. While he kept details private, he discovered that Caped Crusader executive producer and screenwriter Geoffrey Thorne shared the same ideas about the Joker’s origins when they spoke at San Diego Comic-Con.

“Batman and the Joker are more similar than you think,” Needham says.

Would he like to see Harley Quinn and Joker work together?

Harley Quinn debuted in a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series as the Joker’s partner in crime, but Caped Crusader separates the two characters. Dr. Harleen Quinzel, played by Jamie Chung, is a psychiatrist who dresses in costume to punish Gotham’s elite and teams up with Batman in season 2.

“Harley Quinn was originally brought in as almost a plus one of Joker, but it’s really clear that the character is strong enough and vibrant enough to stand on her own, and she can occupy her own universe,” Needham says. “She doesn’t need to be paired with a Joker. I would only love it selfishly, because it would be great to spend time with such a brilliant character.”

Who’s worse: Larys Strong or The Joker?

Needham broke out playing the schemer Larys Strong in House of the Dragon. He awaits the scripts for the HBO show’s fourth and final season, which is expected to begin production next year. While Larys caused numerous deaths, including those of his father and older brother, Needham views the Joker as entirely different.

“I think of Larys as like a wounded animal in the wild, doing everything he can to not get eaten by the bigger animals,” Needham said. “He tortures, he manipulates, and he kills, but that’s just the game, right? Them’s the rules. Joker’s just the devil, basically. Larys is a product of his environment, and the Joker is the environment. He’s this force of nature. To me, they’re two very different characters.”

Batman: Caped Crusader is streaming now on Prime Video.

Source: Polygon