Tim Curry Almost Redefined BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES as The Orignal Voice of The Joker

For fans of Batman: The Animated Series, Mark Hamill’s Joker is iconic and many fans concider him to be the best version of the character.

His voice, along with Kevin Conroy as Batman, defined an era, and shaped these characters for generations, and became the gold standard for the Dark Knight and his Clown Prince of Crime.

But what you might not realize is that Hamill wasn’t the first actor cast as the Joker. That honor initially went to Tim Curry, the legendary actor known for his chilling performance as Pennywise in It and his flamboyant turn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So, why didn’t Curry’s Joker make it to air?

When the creators of Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnet, set out to cast their Joker, they knew they needed a voice that balanced menace and unpredictability.

Curry seemed like the perfect fit. Andrea Romano, the series' voice and casting director, recalled in an interview with CBM:

"I loved what Tim Curry was doing. He brought this sinister, imposing tone to the Joker that was really unique."

Curry recorded several episodes as the Joker, including “Christmas with the Joker” and “The Last Laugh,” and his take on the character leaned heavily into the darker, scarier aspects of the role. However, not everyone was on board.

Bruce Timm later explained that while Curry’s performance was undeniably interesting, it wasn’t quite clicking with the team. He told Back Issue:

"I think what Tim was doing was very, very interesting. It didn't seem terribly organic to us. A lot of his line readings were just... they felt almost non-sequitur.

“They were just really weird and quirky but without really any deep meaning behind them. Again, not to knock him, because I'm a huge fan. Still am."

One of the biggest sticking points was Curry’s Joker laugh. According to Timm, it lacked the genuine amusement they wanted. Instead, it came across as “odd” and “unnerving.”

Writer and producer Alan Burnett eventually pushed to recast the role, forcing a tough decision. Romano, who was still an advocate for Curry, brought the actor back several times to tweak his performance, but ultimately, the producers felt they needed a new direction.

Curry’s Joker may have been too dark. Conroy, in an interview prior to his passing, shed light on why Curry’s version didn’t fit the show’s tone:

"[Curry] is a fantastic actor, he's a wonderful actor with a great career, and they replaced him after a couple of episodes because Tim's Joker was dark and scary. Mark came in and he did a Joker that was dark and funny. So it was just a different take on the Joker."

Co-creator Eric Radomski echoed this sentiment in Phil Machi’s Stay 'Tooned! podcast documentary, describing Curry as naturally menacing:

"The dark side was completely second nature to Tim. And almost to the point of y'know like, 'I don't wanna be alone with this guy 'cuz he's really creepy.' [...] It definitely had the menace that we wanted.

“I can't say that we were completely satisfied with it but that had less to do with whether we thought Tim was delivering or we didn't really fully understand what we wanted yet."

Curry himself has offered a more practical explanation for his departure, attributing it to bronchitis. In an interview with ScreenGeek, he told Screen Geek:

"I did play Joker for a while, but I had bronchitis, and they fired me — and hired Mark Hamill. That’s life."

However, Romano’s account suggests Curry’s illness wasn’t the primary factor, as he returned multiple times to rework his performance.

Then fate stepped in with Hamill, already a guest star on the show, was in the right place at the right time. Romano recalled:

"Mark's agent had reached out and said, 'Mark is an enormous comic book fans [sic], a huge fan of Batman, and would love to be part of the series. So, I brought him in as a guest [...] The auditions for The Joker replacement came up, we gave [Hamill] a shot, and he was stunning! Absolutely remarkable."

Hamill brought a new dimension to the Joker, blending dark humor with a manic energy that resonated perfectly with the show’s tone. His laugh alone became the stuff of legend, striking the perfect balance between unsettling and gleeful.

Curry’s Joker wasn’t completely erased from the Batman universe. He later voiced a henchman in “Fear of Victory” and a robot clown in “Be a Clown.”

Clips of his original Joker recordings have surfaced in recent years, revealing a performance that was chilling and perhaps too intense for a Fox Kids cartoon. You can watch his version of the Joker in the video below.

It’s interesting to imagine what Batman: The Animated Series might have been with Curry’s Joker. Ultimately, the decision to recast was the right one. Hamill’s Joker became a cornerstone of the series’ success, and Curry’s departure, while unfortunate, helped solidify one of the greatest animated performances of all time.

What do you think? Could Curry’s Joker have worked?