For many Batman fans, there is one actor who should have by now been cast as Joker but has never managed to land a role as Gotham’s Clown Prince of Crime. That actor is Willem Dafoe, and it seems that the Spider-Man: No Way Home star is as interested in playing the character now as he ever has been. While appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Dafoe discussed his idea for playing the character, which is one that he has “floated” before. He said:

"I floated an idea a while ago, but it didn't quite happen. I thought it would be cool for me to play an imposter, like slipstreaming his thing."

The root of this idea came back in March 2022, when Dafoe pitched his idea while speaking to GQ. At the time, Dafoe was considering what it would be like to play a “fake” Joker alongside Joaquin Phoenix’s take on the character, allowing a whole new dynamic for the character. He said at the time:

"There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker Imposter. So it would be possible to have not duelling Jokers but someone that says to be the Joker that isn't the Joker... if you had Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did."

Of course, in the world of DC Comics there have been multiple iterations of the Joker, including the 2020 story Batman: Three Jokers, which as the title suggests saw the Joker actually turning out to be three different men. There are certainly many ways that Dafoe could play a version of Joker, and if James Gunn has any sense then he would try his hardest to find a project that requires Dafoe to become the iconic comic book villain and give fans everything they want.

Related: Barry Keoghan Says Heath Ledger Was the Best Joker, and Following in His Footsteps is Intimidating

Are There Too Many Jokers For Willem Dafoe To Take On The Role?

jokers
Warner Bros.

When it comes to any of the biggest characters in comic book history, there is always a question of when people start to get bored with the same characters turning up time and time again. After so many versions of the Joker being adapted for screen, including the current roster of Barry Keoghan and Joaquin Phoenix, who come hot on the heels of Cameron Monaghan, Jared Leto and Heath Ledger as some of the most recent versions of the unstable villain, is there still room for more?

The simple answer to that is yes. Joker is such a complex character that there are many ways to reinterpret him, and the fact that in 1989 Jack Nicholson became everyone’s favorite Joker, until Heath Ledger then became a completely different version, and then Joaquin Phoenix came along and produces something unlike any other Joker seen on screen, there is nothing to stop Dafoe, or indeed anyone else putting their unique spin on the character.

In the immediate future, Joaquin Phoenix will be back as Arthur Fleck in Joker: Folie à Deux, and Barry Keoghan will get his first real run-out in the role in The Batman: Part II, but there will be many fans not-so-secretly hoping that Dafoe could join that list at some point.