Mark Hamill will be voicing a classic SpongeBob SquarePants character in The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants, and his tease of this character sounds like a replacement for one of his most iconic characters. While Mark Hamill is undoubtedly most known for his performance as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, he has since become a prolific voice actor. While he has been in all kinds of mᴀssive animated franchises, Hamill’s role in The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants is one of his most significant yet.

The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants is an upcoming movie based on Nickelodeon’s immensely popular animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants. This will be the fourth theatrically released feature film in the franchise, with it following up on 2020’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. The film will follow SpongeBob as he heads to the underworld and faces off against an iconic SpongeBob SquarePants villain.

Mark Hamill’s The Flying Dutchman Gives Him A Terrifying New Kids’ Franchise Villain After Ending His Tenure Voicing The Joker

He Is Taking Over The SpongeBob Role

Screen Rant is at CinemaCon 2025, where the upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants was discussed during Paramount’s panel. Mark Hamill will be voicing the film’s villain, the Flying Dutchman, with him taking over the role from Brian Doyle-Murray. While at CinemaCon 2025, Hamill discussed his time playing the character, saying this:

“I actually did an episode of SpongeBob in the fifth season, and I did such a great job they asked me back 18 years later…And if I do my job correctly, every child in America will hate my guts.”

This isn’t the first time that Mark Hamill has taken over an iconic green villain in an animated series, as he previously did so with Joker. Mark Hamill began voicing Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, with him giving a fan-favorite performance. While Mark Hamill is retired from playing Joker, he has appeared in all kinds of Batman media, although he wasn’t the first actor to play the character.

SpongBob’s The Flying Dutchman Gives Mark Hamill A Similar Challenge To Voicing Batman’s Joker

He Has To Make The Character His Own While Honoring The Previous Actors

Taking over the role of the Flying Dutchman in The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants actually gives Mark Hamill a similar challenge to voicing Joker in the Batman franchise. With the Flying Dutchman, Hamill has to balance making the character his own while also honoring the legacy of the character’s previous voice actor, Brian Doyle-Murray.

Hamill already did this with the Joker, although his role in Batman: The Animated Series made this feat even more challenging. In Batman, Mark Hamill had to make Joker his own while also honoring several previous Joker actors, such as Jack Nicholson and César Romero. However, Hamill ended up doing a fantastic job in Batman: The Animated Series, and he will surely do another fantastic job in The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants.