After appearing in the original Star Wars trilogy as Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill’s place in pop culture history seemed secured, but the actor blew audiences’ minds when he voiced the Joker in 1992’s “Batman: The Animated Series.” He has since reprised the role several times in animated movies, TV series, and video games. However, this wasn’t the first DC supervillain he portrayed.
In 1991, Hamill appeared on two episodes of the TV series “The Flash,” as the Trickster. A serial killer whose real name –- or at least, latest alias -– was James Jesse, the Trickster was first seen developing an obsession with private investigator Megan Lockhart (Joyce Hyser). He attempted to turn Megan into his sidekick, dubbing her Prank, but was stopped by the Flash (John Wesley Shipp). Much like his later and more iconic DC role, Hamill’s Trickster had a piercing maniacal laugh.
Hamill returned to the ’90s iteration of “The Flash” in the series finale, “The Trial of the Trickster.” This time, a toy shop owner and obsessive fan of the Trickster, Zoey Clark (Corinne Bohrer) willingly adopted the identity of Prank to help the Trickster escape trial. The Trickster then went on to brainwash the Flash, attempting to destroy his reputation, until the Flash eventually broke free of this control.
Mark Hamill returned as the Trickster in The CW’s The Flash
Hamill reprised his original Trickster role on numerous occasions, voicing him in the animated series “Justice League Unlimited” and “Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?” and the video game “Lego DC Super-Villains.” He reprised the in live-action on The CW’s “The Flash,” which debuted in 2014. Starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, “The Flash” featured several callbacks to its 1990 predecessor. Chief among these was the casting of John Wesley Shipp who, over the course of the series’ multiverse-spanning run, appeared as Barry Allen’s father, DC’s original Flash Jay Garrick, and as the Barry Allen of the 1990s series. Hamill was one of the few other stars from the original series to return on 2014’s “The Flash.”
In the episode “Tricksters,” the Trickster of The CW’s “The Flash” was introduced as a terrorist now serving a life sentence in Iron Heights prison. Images from the original “The Flash” were used to depict the Trickster in his youth. The series saw Barry and Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) turn to Jesse for help in tracking down a new copycat Trickster -– later revealed to be Jesse’s son.
“The Flash” concluded with its ninth season in 2023. That same year, Hamill announced he would no longer be voicing the Joker following the death of Kevin Conroy, who had played Batman opposite Hamill’s Joker, suggesting that Hamill’s time playing any and all DC supervillains has come to and end.