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See DC Comics *Batman *Batman History *Batman Skills and Equipment *Batman Supporting Characters *Other Batman Media *Batman Store *Batman Gallery

The character of Batman has appeared in various media aside from comic books. The character has been developed as a vehicle for newspaper syndicated comic strips, books, radio dramas, television and several theatrical feature films. The first adaptation of Batman was as a daily newspaper comic strip which premiered on October 25, 1943. That same year the character was adapted in the 13-part serial Batman, with Lewis Wilson becoming the first actor to portray Batman on screen. While Batman never had a radio series of his own, the character made occasional guest appearance in The Adventures of Superman starting in 1945 on occasions when Superman voice actor Bud Collyer needed time off. A second movie serial, Batman and Robin, followed in 1949, with Robert Lowery taking over the role of Batman. The exposure provided by these adaptations during the 1940s "helped make [Batman] a household name for millions who never bought a comic book."


See Batman DVDs to watch Batman at home.

Contents

Batman TV Series 1966

The Batman (TV series), starring Adam West, premiered in January 1966 on the ABC television network. Inflected with a camp sense of humor, the show became a pop culture phenomenon. The series ran for 120 episodes, ending in 1968. In between the first and second season of the Batman television series the cast and crew made the theatrical release Batman (1966).


Batman Early Animation

The popularity of the Batman TV series also resulted in the first animated adaptation of Batman in the series The Batman/Superman Hour; the Batman segments of the series were repackaged as Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder which produced thirty-three episodes between 1968 and 1977. From 1973 until 1984, Batman had a starring role in ABC's Super Friends series, which was animated by Hanna-Barbera. Olan Soule was the voice of Batman in all these series, but was eventually replaced during Super Friends by Adam West, who voiced the character in Filmation's 1977 series The New Adventures of Batman.


Batman Movies 1989-1997

See Batman (film series)

Batman returned to movie theaters in 1989, with director Tim Burton's Batman starring Michael Keaton. Burton's film was a huge success; not only was it the top-grossing film of the year, but at the time was the fifth highest-grossing film in history. The film spawned three sequels: Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), the last two of which were directed by Joel Schumacher instead of Burton, and replaced Keaton with Val Kilmer and George Clooney, respectively.

Batman Animated Series

In 1992 Batman returned to television in Batman: The Animated Series which was produced by Warner Bros. and was broadcast on the Fox television network until 1997, when it moved to The WB Television Network and was reworked into The New Batman Adventures. The producers of Batman: The Animated Series would go to work on the animated feature film release Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), as well as the futuristic Batman Beyond and Justice League series. Like Batman: The Animated Series, these productions starred Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne. In 2004, a new animated series titled The Batman made its debut with Rino Romano as the title character.

Batman Begins

In 2005 Christopher Nolan directed Batman Begins, a reboot of the film franchise starring Christian Bale as Batman. A sequel to Nolan's film, The Dark Knight released in July 2008 has broken several box office records.


The Batman 2004 -2008

The Batman is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008.

Although the series borrows many elements from previous Batman storylines, it does not follow the continuity set by the comic books, the Burton-Schumacher films, nor that of the previous Batman: The Animated Series or its spin-offs. Also, the animation style bears a strong resemblance to that of Jackie Chan Adventures (as both are based from designs by artist/producer Jeff Matsuda), with the designs of many characters, like the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler, being very different from those of their comic counterparts. The series won two Emmy Awards and one Annie Award.


Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Batman: The Brave and the Bold is the name of an upcoming animated television series based in part on the comic book series of the same name, which is scheduled to debut on November 14, 2008 on Cartoon Network.

Based on The Brave and the Bold comic book, the series will have Batman team-up with several other DC Comics heroes.


Theatrical movies

Batman (film series) A number of Batman theatrical films have been made. There have also been several attempted projects during the hiatus between Batman and Robin (film) and Batman Begins.

Batman film hoax

Comic writer Mark Millar wrote in 2004 about a failed attempt by director Orson Welles about a Batman project with himself as both director and title character. Although it has been long since proven to be a work of fiction, it is partially based on a previous Welles attempt to adapt The Shadow onto the big screen.

Direct-to-video

Television

Live action

 

Bruce Wayne

In 1999, Tim McCanlies wrote a pilot script and series bible for a planned series called Bruce Wayne. Taking place in his teenage years, the series would cover his passage into young adulthood, training, and development into becoming Batman. Other characters would include Alfred, Sergeant Jim Gordon, law school student Harvey Dent, and a seductive young Selina Kyle. Planned to run for five to six seasons, it would show how he acquired his martial arts skills, his equipment, and detective abilities he would use in his war on crime. It would also focus on corruption within the board of Wayne Enterprises (an element which found its way into Begins to some extent), police affiliation with the mafia, etc. Bruce Wayne was nearing pre-production when Warner Bros. movie division felt it would conflict with the planned Year One movie and scrapped it. The result was Batman Begins.

Smallville

The producers of Smallville wanted to get a teenaged Bruce Wayne onto the show as a recurring character acting as a friend and foe to Clark Kent, while being a potential love interest to Lana Lang. Scripted as being two years younger than Clark, the young Wayne was wandering around America trying to find his purpose in life and training in martial arts. His main story arc was to be involved in a feud with Lex Luthor over Lexcorp and Lionel Luthor's rivalry with Wayne Enterprises. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar had stated as far back as Season 1 that they would love to have the pre-Batman on the show.

Due to legal issues and the production of Begins, the planned idea was cut from the drawing board. Ian Somerhalder was cast as a stranger named Adam Knight, (named based on Adam West and The Dark Knight) who served as a boyfriend for Lana in at least seven episodes. This was in response to the plans of Wayne coming undercover to Smallville while investigating Luthor. However, in 2007, Gough stated that while it is impossible to get Wayne on the show, "there are other characters out there we can exploit."

Animated

  • 1968 - 1969: The Batman Superman Hour featured Batman in Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder. In this cartoon, he is voiced by long time Batman voice actor Olan Soule.
Title card for The Dynamic Duo's guest shots on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972.
Title card for The Dynamic Duo's guest shots on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972.

Olan Soule reprises his role as Batman in all but the last two Super Friends series, where he is replaced by Adam West, who had previously played Batman in the live action TV series.

Batman also appeared in the various cartoons set in the DC Animated Universe;

Batman throughout the DC animated universe.
Batman throughout the DC animated universe.

In this series, Batman is a young crime fighter just three years into his career as Batman. He is voiced by Rino Romano. This is positively not set in the DC Animated Universe.

Newspaper

See also Batman (comic strip) and Batman and Robin (comic strip)

From 1943 to 1946, Batman and Robin appeared in a syndicated daily newspaper comic strip produced by the McClure Syndicate. Other versions appeared in 1953, 1966, and 1989. The original run is collected in the book Batman: The Dailies. One more comic strip series ran briefly after the success of the 1989 film.

Books

Batman is also slated to appear in a novel by cyberpunk/horror novelist John Shirley, entitled Batman: Dead White from Del Rey books. Many other novels and short story collections featuring Batman have been published over the years, including novelizations of each of the recent movies and several of the more popular comic book arcs. There are also several more scholarly works, aimed at either Batman's history or art, such as Les Daniels' Batman: The Complete History and compilations such as Batman: Cover to Cover : The Greatest Comic Book Covers of the Dark Knight. In 2004 The Batman Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual, written by Scott Beatty was published by Quirk Books (). Written in the same style as The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series, the book explained the basics on how to be Batman. Amongst the skills included in the book are "How to Train a Sidekick", "How to Execute a Backflip", "How to Throw a Grappling Hook" and "How to Survive a Poison Gas Attack". Finally, there are of course countless sticker, coloring, activity, and other children's books featuring the Dark Knight.

Radio

Beginning in March 1945, Batman and Robin made regular appearances on the The Adventures of Superman drama on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Efforts were made to launch a Batman radio series in 1943 and again in 1950, but neither came to fruition.

In 1994, the comic book storyline Batman: Knightfall was adapted to radio by BBC Radio 1. It was adapted, produced and directed by Dirk Maggs - with music composed by Mark Russell - who had recently made Superman: Doomsday & Beyond on BBC Radio 5. This show, however was not commissioned of its own, but rather to be three minute episodes on the Mark Goodier Show. This meant it was written with a sense of immediacy; having to make an instant effect and each three minute segment contains a major plot development or sound effect stunt and end on a cliffhanger. DC acknowledged the effort in an issue Shadow of The Bat by having villains jump past a sign that read Dirk Maggs Radio. Michael Gough reprised the role of Alfred Pennyworth from the Burton/Schumacher film series.

Batman was also featured in the audiobook adaptation of Infinite Crisis.

Both Batman & Robin are mentioned in the 2007 song, "Make Me Better" by Fabolous ft. Ne-Yo

Video games

Batman computer and video games


Several Batman video games were created:

  • Batman for the ZX Spectrum, MSX and Amstrad PCW in 1985. Now known as Batman 3D.
  • Batman: The Caped Crusader for various 8-bit and 16-bit platforms.
  • Batman for Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Atari Lynx, Commodore Amiga, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and other platforms. (In October 1989, the Amiga 500 was bundled with this game as part of the Batman Pack, which was sold in the United Kingdom and was a phenomenal success).
  • Batman: Return of the Joker for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Game Boy.
  • Batman Returns for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo (Super NES), Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Game Gear, and Atari Lynx.
  • Batman: The Animated Series for Game Boy.
  • Batman & Robin: The Animated Series for Game Gear.
  • Adventures of Batman and Robin for Super Nintendo (Super NES), Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Game Gear.
  • Batman Forever for Super Nintendo (Super NES), Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, and Sega Game Gear.
  • Batman Forever: The Arcade Game for Arcade, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
  • Batman & Robin for the Tiger Game.com and the Sony PlayStation.
  • Batman: Total Chaos for Game Boy Color.
  • Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker for the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation.
  • Batman Vengeance for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, PC, Game Boy Advance and Xbox.
  • Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu for the PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox, the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.


  • Batman: Dark Tomorrow for Xbox and GameCube
  • Batman Begins for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance (2005).
  • Lego Batman: The Video Game (2008) A videogame in the style of Lego Star Wars based on the LEGO Batman toyline.Game Informer features a two-page gallery of the many heroes and villains who appear in the game with a picture for each character and a descriptive paragraph. See "LEGO Batman: Character Gallery," Game Informer 186 (October 2008): 92.
  • The Dark Knight (2008) Planned video game based on the 2008 box office smash, rumored to be released around the time of the home release of the movie.
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum (video game) (2009) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC.

Batman appears in Justice League Task Force Super Nintendo fighting game, a couple of Justice League games for Game Boy Advance, and an arcade game based on Tim Burton's original movie. Also, the 16-bit Sega game The Revenge of Shinobi features a (non-authorized) Batman as a boss. The 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System game Final Fantasy features "Badman", a character with strong resemblances to Batman, as one of the enemies of the final area. He appears in the Justice League Heroes game for PS2, Xbox, and PSP and will appear in the crossover game Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. In the trailer for the story of the game, Batman sees the merging of the two Earths and faces off against Sub-Zero in the Batcave.

Games, action figures, and other toys

Batman is one of the few fictional characters that can be defined by his toys and merchandising. The first boom started in 1966 during the hit television series, and since then, along with every major movie or cartoon series has come a wave of toys, collectibles, and just about any other merchandise imaginable. Over the years, hundreds of Batman action figures, die-cast models, and other miscellaneous items have reserved the store shelves. Of the many companies that have acquired the rights to make Batman merchandise, some of the most well known include:

  • Ideal- Captain Action
  • Mego - Action figures and dolls
  • Corgi Cars - Die-cast metal vehicles
  • Remco - Playsets and roleplaying toys
  • Toy Biz - Action figures
  • Ertl - Die-cast figures & vehicles and model kits
  • Applause Corporation - PVC figures and dolls
  • Hasbro- Action figures
  • Monogram models - Bobble heads
  • Mattel - Action figures and jigsaw puzzles
  • Lego - Building bricks and minifigures


Batman has appeared as a [HeroClix figure along with other Batman characters in the following HeroClix sets:

  • Hypertime
  • Cosmic Justice
  • Unleashed
  • Legacy
  • Icons

For April 2006, Lego introduced a Batman line which also includes characters such as the Joker and Two-Face, at American International Toy Fair.

Theme park attractions

Several Six Flags theme parks, formerly owned by Warner Bros., opened live-action "Batman Stunt Shows" as the movies increased in popularity. Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey is home to a looping, suspended roller coaster named "Batman: The Ride" Six Flags Mexico in Mexico city, Mexico has also a looping, suspended roller coaster named "Batman: The Ride" (Six Flags Saint Louis has the same ride, as does Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois) as well as twin roller coasters named "Batman and Robin: The Chiller." On the latter attraction, riders may ride on either the Batman or Robin versions of the coaster. But unfortunately in the 2007 offseason, the ride was removed after a long history of technical difficulties and occasionally breaking down. Six Flags Over Georgia contains a Gotham City area that contains the same "Batman: The Ride" and also features a looping coaster called "The Mindbender" that was adapted to fit the color tone of The Riddler after Batman Forever came out to fit the Gotham City section of the park it shares with "Batman: The Ride". Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California has two Batman-themed coasters, the suspended coaster "Batman: The Ride," and "The Riddler's Revenge," a stand-up type roller coaster. This Six Flags park also features an entire themed area called "Gotham City" complete with architecture to match that of the fictional Gotham City. Warner Bros. Movie World in the Gold Coast, Australia, also has two Batman-themed rides. Batman Adventure - The Ride, revamped in 2001, is a motion simulator style simulator ride while Batwing Spaceshot is a vertical free-fall ride. In 2008, Six Flags Great Adventure,and Six Flags Great America, will receive The Dark Knight Coaster, based on the newest Batman film coming out in July. They will be Wild Mouse roller coasters, indoors, heavily themed, and give you a feeling that you are being stalked by The Joker. They will all be expected to be open by Memorial Day weekend. Six Flags New England was originally going to receive this Roller Coaster, however due to problems with building permits, the park scratched the project.

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