DC’s new Batman movie Joker casting follows a decades-old franchise rule that bodes well for the upcoming release. Most iterations of the Dark Knight come with their own version of his most iconic nemesis, and that’s especially true when it comes to Batman’s forays into the world of TV and film.

The majority of on-screen Batman appearances have featured the Joker alongside them, who is often equally famous to fans – like, for example, Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker, who are inherently intertwined from their shared appearances. Going into 2025, a new Joker casting is very close to its film debut, and follows a key trend for the character.

DC’s New Joker Casting Continues An Actor Trend That Has Paid Off For Years

The annals of on-screen Joker history are set to welcome a new actor into the fold, as Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires will see Omar Chaparro play the role of the Crown Prince of Crime.

Chaparro has played a wide range of acting roles over the years, being perhaps most recognizable for his appearance in Detective Pikachu as Sebastian, the owner of the fighting arena the protagonists enter.

Much as Detective Pikachu was comedic in nature, the majority of roles that Chaparro has taken on over the years are either comedies in nature or otherwise show off his comedic talents. While his Joker – known as Yoka in Aztec Batman – looks to be a more serious role in some ways, this casting follows a solid DC trend.

Historically, though the Joker is generally looking more to cause chaos than to actually make people laugh with comedy, the character has been played by actors with comedic talents and comedic history, with this being true of just about every single Joker casting since the earliest days of the villain on-screen, thanks to actors like Cesar Romero and Larry Storch.

Ultimately, this has been shown to pay off time and time again with these castings, proving that Batman’s nemesis ideally works best when played by someone with comedy experience – even if the point of the character is generally that the villain has a warped sense of humor versus being a more conventional comedian in these stories.

Why The Joker Works Best With An Actor Who Can Nail Comedy & Horror

The Joker’s sense of humor is crucial in the majority of his best and most famous on-screen appearances – leaving audiences in suspense as to whether the villain will do something terrible, or whether he’s setting up for an actually harmless joke. With this in mind, it makes sense that many selected to play the Joker have a history with comedy.

Inversely, framing Joker’s worst deeds as a result of his twisted sense of humor makes him feel all the more unpredictable, and yet all the more engaging to audiences – especially if this idea is delivered by an actor who’s able to make the character still on some levels actually funny, as actors like Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill have proven.

With Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires only weeks away from release now, how DC’s new Batman movie Joker will draw from these prior iterations of the villain is close to being revealed. However, given this Joker casting trend, Omar Chaparro’s take on the villain seems to follow in some major and promising footsteps.