Batman: All 10 Joker actors ranked from worst to best

4. Cameron Monaghan

Appeared in: Gotham

While DC was in the midst of deciding whether they wanted The Joker to be portrayed by Jared Leto or Joaquin Phoenix on the big screen, the showrunners of Fox’s Gotham found themselves in a similar situation as they struggled to choose between Cameron Monaghan and, well, Cameron Monaghan.

The young actor recurred throughout the first four seasons of the Batman prequel as Jerome Valeska – the unhinged homicidal maniac that was destined to become The Joker. However, during the fourth season, the writers pulled the rug out from under us by revealing that the character had an artistic (and sane) twin brother who, following a little posthumous interference from Jerome, became the legendary Batman villain instead.

What separated the TV debacle from the ongoing film one, however, was the fact that both Jokers were amazing.

Monaghan’s turn as Jerome brought the most irrational of The Joker’s attributes to life, as the character’s psychotic behavior saw him become obsessed with Bruce Wayne, kill countless people on stage and even reattach his own face with a stapler after it had been cut off.

In contrast, his performance as Jeremiah brought to life some of the more, dare we say it, refined elements of the character, as he calmly sought to redecorate the world in his own image – that is, until a horrible trip to Ace Chemicals resulted in his physical and (further) mental decline.

Monaghan undoubtedly had the benefit of playing a long-running version of the character and thus, he could experiment with different types of Jokers – and it really showed. Where Jerome was boisterous, loud and noisy, Jeremiah was calm, collective and intricate; and yet both of these unique iterations felt so loyal to The Joker.

A masterclass in villainy, anarchy and comic book loyalty, there’s something in Monaghan’s portrayals for every Joker fan – and that makes him one of the greatest actors to ever wear that sinister grin.