Eschewing the camp tone of the 1960s TV series, Burton referenced the original DC Comics character and strip created by Bob Kane in drawing darker inspiration for his skewed, neo-German Expressionist vision of a foreboding Gotham City and its avenging caped crusader. (Production designer Anton Furst received an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, but tragically took his own life in 1991, a loss Burton felt acutely.) Permeated by a mordant sense of humour, Jack Nicholson turns in an irresistibly maniacal performance as The Joker.