The Joker has featured prominently in the entire Batman Arkham series, and he's a big part of what made the games so beloved by fans. For the third game, Arkham Origins, there was a slight change to the Joker, however.
The villain had previously been played by the iconic Mark Hamill, who'd lent his voice to the character for years. In Arkham Origins, Hamill was replaced by Troy Baker, who fans might best know as the voice of Joel in The Last of Us.
It's certainly a bit jarring for anyone going from Arkham City to Origins, and it begs the question of why it happened in the first place.
Mark Hamill and His Time as the Joker
Mark Hamill has been playing the Joker in Batman content for a long time, ever since Batman: The Animated Series started in 1992. Although he hasn't been the only actor since then, he's easily one of the most popular. There are a few reasons Hamill may have not returned for Arkham Origins, but one is the clearest.
In May 2012, IGN interviewed Hamill about returning in the sequel to Arkham Asylum, which would later be Arkham City. During the interview Hamill said,
This will be my last, there's no question about that. But it's the last hurrah.
That sentiment wouldn't exactly last as Hamill did indeed return years later to play the Joker in other projects, including Arkham Knight and Arkham VR. However, at the time Hamill was clearly in the headspace of wanting to go out on a high note with the character, which inevitably factored into him not playing the character in Arkham Origins.
To top all of this off, Arkham Origins moved from Rocksteady to be developed by WB Games Montreal. Although official numbers were never released, the budget for Arkham Origins was likely smaller than the past two games, especially considering it was more of a prequel spinoff than a sequel to Arkham Origins.
Hamill also wasn't the only actor replaced, as Kevin Conroy didn't return to play Batman. Instead, Roger Craig Smith, the voice of Ezio in Assassin's Creed 2, took on the mantle. WB Games Montreal noted in an interview with NAG Magazine that they wanted to go with a younger actor to portray Batman, due to him being significantly younger in Arkham Origins.
While WB has never given an "official" reason for why Hamill didn't portray Joker in Arkham Origins, all these reasons combined into a new actor stepping into the iconic role. Baker would go on to voice Joker multiple other times, including in Batman Unlimited.