Ever since Mr Jack Nicholson waltzed into Gotham City’s Flugelheim Museum to Prince’s “Partyman”, gassed its patrons and proceeded to deface the priceless works of art on display – save Mr Francis Bacon’s “Figure With Meat”, naturally – no other movie supervillain has come close to reaching the levels of psychosis, complexity and pure entertainment value that the Joker, aka the Clown Prince of Crime has enjoyed. (Not even Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr Freeze.) And with Mr Joaquin Phoenix taking on the role in the new solo film, Joker, it’s safe to say our favourite sociopathic clown will remain an intriguing villain for the ages.

First introduced in the debut issue of the Batman comic book in 1940, the Dark Knight’s arch nemesis was supposed to die following that original appearance. Thankfully, he was resurrected later on. And sure, while he was a unique, psychopathic criminal mastermind with a sick sense of humour from the outset, it wasn’t until he reached the silver screen that wider audiences could truly appreciate the complexity of this character.

His deranged personality is, without doubt, what makes the Jester of Genocide so alluring to actors. Why else would the character require the services of Hollywood’s elite? While Mr Nicholson’s portrayal of the character oozed charm, danger and sheer, outlandish lunacy in equal measure, when Mr Heath Ledger took on the role for The Dark Knight, the big screen Joker was finally able to reach the same emotional depths as the tragic character we find in Batman: The Killing Joke, Mr Alan Moore’s seminal 1988 graphic novel.

The build-up – and aftermath – of Mr Ledger’s performance as the Joker is well documented. Isolating himself in a hotel room for over a month to get into the mindset of the character, he wrote down thoughts from the Joker’s perspective (things that were funny included Aids and geniuses sustaining brain damage), experimented with the now iconic voice and maniacal laugh, and studied source material given to him by director Mr Christopher Nolan. Mr Ledger died while The Dark Knight was in the editing stage, but the result of his diligent preparation was an incendiary, Oscar-winning performance – a truly terrifying villain that battered down its comic-book cage to rival Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, or Mr Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa.

Arguably, Mr Ledger’s interpretation of the Joker is the last word on the matter. Especially when we consider Mr Jared Leto – another Oscar winner – who alienated moviegoers with his gangsta-inspired take on the Ace of Knaves in Suicide Squad, silver-capped teeth, tattoos and all. Despite going method – preparing for the role by sending Ms Margot Robbie a rat and staying in character throughout the shoot – his Joker was unconvincing, “pure Ledger-lite, a heavy dose of antic wickedness ungrounded by anything deeper or more intriguing”, as Mr Christopher Orr wrote for The Atlantic.

This is just a blip in the cinematic Joker’s journey, however. With Mr Todd Phillips directing Mr Joaquin Phoenix in Joker – in which Mr Phoenix plays struggling comedian Arthur Fleck in a new, Taxi Driver-inspired origin story – the supervillain looks set to regain all the raw, emotional power that made him so compelling to watch in the first place. And perhaps, as the critics are already suggesting, Mr Phoenix will win his first Oscar in the process.