Despite a long and successful career, it would seem that John Malkovich missed his calling to play the iconic Batman villain, The Joker.
During an interesting collaboration with photographer Sandro Miller, the sixty-five-year-old actor was set up as a number of characters. Some are rather bizarre and make a viewer question their sanity while others make us lament at what may have been. The most striking of these, however, was the image of the actor as the Jack Nicholson version of the Batman villain, The Joker.
The image in question shows the actor in that striking makeup that Jack Nicholson had covering his face in the 1989 Tim Burton film, Batman. In addition, he wears the character’s hat and shows off a number of facial expressions that make one want to laugh and/or scream in terror. You can see the full images of John Malkovich in all of their bizarre glory below:
John Malkovich as Jack Nicholson as The Joker. pic.twitter.com/4Amhl2sgL4
— Daniel Benneworth-Gray (@gray) December 20, 2018
From the look of things, we may have been deprived of one heck of a Joker.
Despite an extensive career that goes as far back as the late 70s, John Malkovich has only been in three comic book films. He portrayed the mentally unhinged Marvin in RED and RED 2 as well as the villainous Quentin Turnbull in the 2010 adaptation of Jonah Hex. Strangely, however, he has not been in any of the main films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Worlds Of DC. And once again, it seems like we are all the poorer for it.
What do you all make of this image? Would you have like to see John Malkovich portray The Joker? Did DC do the right thing in their casting of previous actors? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
The iconic Batman villain will next appear in the film Joker. Here is a plot synopsis for the upcoming film:
“Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.
Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
Joker will be released in theaters on October 4, 2019.
