Batwoman star Nick Creegan, who plays new version of the Joker on the CW series, spoke about the inspiration behind his performance as Marquis Jet in an interview with TheWrap.
The Joker was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, first appearing in Batman #1, 1940. Joker went on to become one of the most enduring characters in all of pop culture, appearing in dozens of movies, video games, comic books and TV shows.
In live-action, actors such as Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Cameron Monaghan, Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix have famously portrayed the clown prince of crime. Some depictions have had more of an impact than others, but each version has something that makes their Joker unique.
Batwoman: Season Three Features Marquis Jet, A New Version Of The Joker
Nick Creegan is the latest actor to play a version of the Joker in live-action, though his character is not the Joker per-say. As a child Marquis Jet was attacked by Joker, buzzed on the head by one of Joker’s deadly devices. This lead to mental challenges, instability, and an inclination towards violence with Marquis, who was the half-brother of Ryan Wilder, AKA Batwoman. In season three of the Batwoman TV series, Marquis has begun his takeover of Gotham and his ascent into the Joker’s throne.
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He may not have the iconic look of the Joker yet, and he may not ever. But one of Creegan’s favorite versions of the Joker was also notorious for his unorthodox character design. Speaking with The Wrap, the Batwoman actor talked about the Jokers which inspired his performance.
It’s funny because I dressed up, on Halloween, I dressed up as Jared Leto’s Joker back in like 2016 or 2015. And the thing that I really liked about his Joker was how different it was than every other rendition, right? He was wearing chains and he had gold teeth. And he was just like this new, edgy, different version of the Joker…I tried to take little elements of Jared Leto’s Joker…but also making sure that I weave in the maniacal laughter and just craze in the eyes that I saw in Heath Ledger or Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. So there’s bits and pieces that I’ve taken from a lot of them, but [I’m] still making it very much [as] original as possible.”
-Nick Creegan
Batwoman Star Nick Creegan Wants His Version Of Joker To Be As Original As Possible
Jared Leto first appeared as Joker in Suicide Squad before briefly reprising his role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Batman promised to kill Joker in ZSJL, and many DC fans wish that Batfleck would make good on his promise before he leaves. Jared Leto’s Joker was the most controversial version to ever grace the silver screen, but at least he found a fan in Nick Creegan.
Marquis Jet plays more like the classic Joker than Leto’s version of the character, who was really just focused on Harley in the DCEU. Marquis spends his criminal days taking Wayne Enterprises over from the Bat-Family, promising to bring smiles to Gotham and testing his followers with an electric buzzer game.
Batwoman Star Nick Creegan Says His Joker Was Inspired By Leto & Phoenix
Nick Creegan also specifically mentions Joaquin Phoenix’s take on the Joker as something that inspired him on Batwoman. His character has a habit of forcing a smile with his fingers, a mannerism obviously lifted from Phoenix’s performance. Joaquin Phoenix also played a new version of Joker, “Arthur Fleck”, in Todd Phillips’ 2019 masterpiece, Joker. Phoenix won an Academy Award for his performance as the DC supervillain, so it’s no surprise that Creegan took note of Fleck while developing Marquis Jet.
Outside of the forced smile, however, there are not many elements of Creegan’s performance that are obviously inspired by Joker. Perhaps new episodes of Batwoman season three will reveal hidden layers to Marquis’ character.
We will learn more about Marquis and witness more of Creegan’s performance as this new Joker when Batwoman returns on Jan 19th, 2022.
What do you think of Marquis Jet? Is that version of the Joker better than Jared Leto’s? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media!
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Source: The Wrap
