Mark Hamill Confirmed for Animated BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE

"Madness is the emergency exit.  You can just step outside, and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened.  You can lock them away…forever."
-- The Joker, Batman: The Killing Joke

Batfans can rest easy.  Collider has confirmed previous rumors that Mark Hamill will reprise his arguably greatest role of The Joker for the upcoming animated adaptation of DC Comics' Batman: The Killing Joke.

On July 17th, Hamill posted on his official Twitter account that he hoped to voice the character for the adaptation, but according to Collider, "sources reached out to us and confirmed that Hamill has already recorded his voice acting for the film."

Hamill, 63, debuted as The Joker in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series, and continued voicing the character with the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Static Shock, Justice League, the live-action TV series Birds of Prey, and several videogames.

Created in 1988 by writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland, Batman: The Killing Joke is a one-shot graphic novel that provides an origin for The Joker as a failed stand-up comedian who agrees to aid a gang of criminals and is thwarted by the superhero Batman before being disfigured.  In the process, he is driven insane and adopts his supervillain persona. The story is also notable for The Joker shooting and paralyzing Barbara Gordon, which forced her to give up her Batgirl identity and later adopt the new alias Oracle.

Batman: The Killing Joke is expected to arrive on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital video sometime in 2016.