Michael Emerson Will Play The Joker

For the past few weeks we have been seeing teasers for The Dark Knight Returns, a two part direct-to-DVD animated adaptation of the Frank Miller mini-series. I haven’t read the series yet but I am still excited for these movies. All the Batman animated movies I have seen have been pretty awesome. One thing that is giving me pause is the cast for the Batman and the Joker. The two best people to ever voice these roles are Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, respectively. This time around Batman will be voiced by Peter Weller, probably better known as RoboCop. I’ve heard some of him as Batman and it isn’t bad. But I cannot even imagine what the person they chose for the Joker will sound like.

Michael Emerson, better known as Benjamin Linus from Lost, has been chosen as the voice of the Joker for the film(s). I’m not sure which part he’s going to be in. It is a bit of change for Emerson, who’s roles haven’t exactly been on the same level of insanity as the Joker. But apparently he’s all for the craziness.

“It’s freeing because of the largeness of it,” Emerson told TV Guide, “When he laughs, there’s nothing subdued about it. When he screams in rage, there’s nothing controlled about it. The amp is turned to 11 at all times.”

The Dark Knight Rises Part 1 will be available on DVD, Blu-ray, digital download and On Demand on Sept. 25th, while Part 2 comes out in early 2013.