Mark Hamill says ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ crew thought he’d been fired

While Mark Hamill is best known for playing Luke Skywalker, he’s almost as famous for voicing the Joker in various media for almost thirty years. Beginning with Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s iconic 1992 cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, he’s been the go-to voice for the Clown Prince of Crime across DC’s animated features, most recently popping in Justice League Action and the Lego DC Super-Villains video game.

Now, he’s referenced an amusing moment while making Batman: The Animated Series, in which a crew member worried he’d been fired. When asked by a fan to recall a funny or strange story from making the show, Hamill responded:

‘Legends of the Dark Knight’ is an episode of The New Batman Adventures, showing children recounting their very different interpretations of Batman, each drawn from various comic books. The most well-known is the short animated take on Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (which would later get the full animated treatment by Warner Bros), an animated version of the 1966 Batman show, and a take on the golden era of the hero with Dick Sprang inspired art.

This is Spinal Tap and Better Call Saul actor Michael McKean makes for a great take on a classic Joker, though not even he could ever really threaten Hamill’s dominance of the role in the 90s. That’s perhaps proven by the sound crew being so concerned that Hamill wasn’t doing the voice they decided to set their minds at ease by calling him to check.

Batman: The Animated Series will be returning as an audio drama in 2022, while animator Bruce Timm is working on Batman: Caped Crusader, which takes clear visual clues from the 90s show. Let’s hope Hamill is along for the ride on both of them.