Mark Hamill praises Jared Leto's portrayal of the Joker in the DC Extended Universe. Mostly known for his prolific work in the Star Wars saga as Luke Skywalker, Hamill has also been attached to several other roles in the past, but arguably his second most iconic gig to date is voicing the Clown Prince of Crime. His work as the DC supervillain started almost three decades ago in the series Batman: The Animated Series, opposite Kevin Conroy's take on the Batman. Since then, the 65-year-old has continued to reprise the role in many later spinoff series, video games, and films.

Leto, on the other hand, is the latest from the slew of actors who have inhabited the famed antagonist, only debuting during last year's Suicide Squad from David Ayer. There was huge pressure on the actor's part coming in to take over the role, especially after Heath Ledger's critically-acclaimed iteration of the character in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight almost 10 years ago. But people were still optimistic given his ability to morph himself in a role as seen in his previous movies. Unfortunately, his portrayal was met with mixed reviews from fans who felt like his take on it was all bark and no bite.

Despite this, Hamill has nothing but good words for Leto's portrayal of the Joker. Recently, a fan seemingly threw shade on Leto's performance by insinuating that he should watch Hamill's work on the same character on Twitter with which Hamill gracefully replied. This gained the actor applaud from his followers for respecting other people's work, especially for a common property that both he and Leto have had the privilege to play out on the big and small screen.

Like all great actors @JaredLeto made the part his own! #Respect— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) September 23, 2017

In retrospect, it was a bit unfair to easily dismiss Leto's performance as the Joker when we have only ever seen him in one film where he was even barely in it. At one point, even he was surprised at how small his part was in the film that it could pass up as just a glorified cameo, when in fact, he was very prominent in the marketing campaign for the movie. If anything, we should at least give him the opportunity to fully strut his stuff before we pass final judgement on his performance as it is no secret that he does have some serious acting chops.

Hamill's days of playing the Clown Prince of Crime may be over, at least right now, but the actor has been busy dusting off his Jedi robe as he is set to return to the "galaxy far far away" by the end of this year to reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Leto, on the other hand, despite reports of a DCEU-separate Joker origins story without him is still expected to reprise his current DC role in several upcoming films including  the Joker/Harley spin-off opposite Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, from directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love), as well as, another appearance in the fast-tracked Suicide Squad sequel and Gotham City Sirens

MORE: Jared Leto Reacts To Joker Origin Movie

Source: Mark Hamill

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