Batman (franchise)


Since his first appearance in 1939, Batman has been adapted into various media such as film, radio, television, and video games, as well as numerous merchandising items. The Batman franchise is the fourteenth highest-grossing media franchise of all time, having made an estimated 28.6 billion in revenue.

Film

Early films and serials

Live-action

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

Serials

In 1966, a Batman feature film based on the contemporaneous Batman television series was released. It starred Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, and Lee Meriweather as Catwoman.

Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher series

The Dark Knight Trilogy

DC Extended Universe and DC Black

Animated

Voiced by Kevin Conroy
Rino Romano
Bruce Greenwood
Benjamin McKenzie:
Peter Weller:
Troy Baker:
Jason O'Mara:
Roger Craig Smith:
Adam West:
Jeremy Sisto:
William Baldwin:
Daran Norris:
Diedrich Bader:
Will Arnett
Michael C. Hall:
Takayuki Yamada:
  • 2017: DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon, with Takayuki Yamada voicing Batman.
Jimmy Kimmel':

Live-action

In 1999, Tim McCanlies wrote a pilot script and series bible for a planned series called Bruce Wayne to be produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions. 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 topics such as corruption within the board of Wayne Enterprises and police affiliation with the mafia. Bruce Wayne was nearing pre-production when Warner Bros.‘s movie division felt it would conflict with the planned Year One movie and scrapped it. The result was Batman Begins and Tollin/Robbins Productions later went to create Smallville, a series about a teenage Clark Kent.

''Gotham''

In 2014, Warner Bros. Television and Fox Network premiered the series Gotham with show creator Bruno Heller, which focuses on James Gordon, a detective solving Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder. The series premiered in 2014 and ended in 2019, which features Bruce Wayne at 12 years old by the first season and at 19 years old by the final season, as well as his journey to becoming Batman. In the show, Wayne executes several characteristics that his alter-ego Batman is known for, such as expertise in stealth, deduction and hand-to-hand combatant. Fox Chairman Kevin Reilly revealed that the series has an origin story of Wayne before becoming Batman, as well as origin stories for The Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman among other Batman villains. The series has a similar tone to the Christopher Nolan Batman films. Danny Cannon directed the pilot and executive produces the series. The series finale is set in a 10-year time jump, with Mazouz suited up as Batman in close ups along with actor and real estate salesperson Mikhail Mudrik as Batman in the suit as his uncredited performance. Mudrik served as a stand-in as Mazouz wasn't 6 foot 4, the showrunners height preference for their Batman, while Mazouz provided Batman's voice.

Arrowverse

Bruce Wayne or Batman is mentioned in various times of The CW's series The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl and DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
Gotham creator Bruno Heller and executive producer Danny Cannon developed an Alfred Pennyworth TV series titled Pennyworth which is an origin story on a younger Alfred and his past as a soldier in the SAS. The two are the showrunners for the series which aired in 2019 on Epix with Jack Bannon portraying the young Alfred.

untitled Gotham television series

On July 10, 2020, HBO Max have announced that Matt Reeves and Terence Winter are both making a spin-off television series which is taking place in The Batman universe which Reeves is developing with the film, and, the series was reportedly announced to be "an untitled Gotham PD drama".
Despite the Hollywood Reporter reportedly announced that it is unclear if actor Jeffrey Wright is set to reprise his role as Jim Gordon from the film into the series, the website Fandom has announced Wright will return as Gordon.

Animation

''Super Friends''

Beginning in March 1945, Batman and Robin made regular appearances on the radio drama The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Broadcasting System, including solo stories when series star, Bud Collyer had time off. Batman was voiced by Matt Crowley, Stacy Harris and Gary Merrill, with Ronald Liss as Robin.
Efforts were later made to launch a Batman radio series in 1943 and again in 1950, but neither came to fruition.
In 1989, an original radio drama, ', was produced by Dirk Maggs for BBC Radio 4. Bob Sessions was the voice of Batman.
A second Maggs production aired on BBC Radio 1 in 1994, this time adapting the comic book storyline '. It was adapted, produced and directed by Maggs—with music composed by Mark Russell—who had also made 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 ends on a cliffhanger. DC acknowledged the effort in an issue Shadow of The Bat by having villains jump past a sign reading "Dirk Maggs Radio". Michael Gough reprised the role of Alfred Pennyworth from the Burton/Schumacher film series.

Newspaper

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 appears in a novel by cyberpunk/horror novelist John Shirley, titled Batman: Dead White from Del Rey. Many other novels and short story collections featuring Batman have been published over the years, including novelizations of each of the recent movies and many of the 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, Will Brooker's Batman Unmasked: Analysing a Cultural Icon 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.

Foreign comics

Several musical singles featuring cast members of the television show singing in-character were released in 1966: Burgess Meredith as the Penguin in "The Capture" and "The Escape", Frank Gorshin as the Riddler in "The Riddler", and Adam West as Batman in "Miranda". In 1976 West performed a pair of novelty songs, "The Story of Batman" and "Batman and Robin", for Target Records. All six of these recordings were later included on the 1997 compilation, Batmania: Songs Inspired by Batman TV Series.
In 1966, Burt Ward also recorded a limited "disc jokey only" release with Frank Zappa called "Boy Wonder, I Love You".
Also in 1966, British novelty group The Scaffold produced a single called "Goodbat Nightman".

Audio drama

Following the popularity of the Adam West television series, a pair of LPs were released in 1966 on MGM's "Leo the Lion" label. Each contained three dramatizations, including stories adapted from Batman comic books:
Throughout the 1970s Batman was the subject of a number of Power Records Book-and-record sets, as well as records unaccompanied by books:
45 rpm book and record sets:
7" 33 rpm records no comic:
33 rpm 12 book and record sets:
The 1980 mini-series, The Untold Legend of the Batman was available in a special "MPI Audio Edition." Each of the three issues were accompanied by an audio cassette containing a performance of the text of the issue, with musical cues.
As part of its DC Superheroes collection, in 1982 Fisher-Price released Batman: The Case of the Laughing Sphinx, an audio cassette accompanied by a hard back illustrated book.
In 2007, the audiobook publisher GraphicAudio licensed DC Comics properties to adapt as audiodramas. They have produced three adaptations of Batman novels: Batman: Dead White by John Shirley, Batman: Inferno by Alex Irvine, and Alan Grant's Batman: The Stone King. Batman also appears as a supporting cast member in the GraphicAudio's adaptations of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis and JLA: Exterminators.

Video games

Video games featuring Batman include:
While a parody of a Batman musical was featured in one of the most recent series' comics, in 2002, Jim Steinman, David Ives, and Tim Burton had worked on a theatre production called Batman: The Musical although it was ultimately cancelled. Steinman has revealed five songs from the musical. The first is the opening theme for "Gotham City" and the entry of Batman with his tortured solo "The Graveyard Shift"; followed by "The Joker's Song ", "The Catwoman's Song ", "We're Still The Children We Once Were" and "In The Land Of The Pig The Butcher Is King", sung by the corrupt blood-suckers ruling Gotham, covered on the Meat Loaf album . These songs can be heard at the Batman: The Musical memorial site, .
A Batman musical is also parodied in the animated series Batman Beyond. The episode "Out of the Past", opens with Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis attending a performance of Batman: The Musical, featuring caricatures of prominent members of the Rogues Gallery. Series creator Paul Dini, who wrote the episode in question, also wrote a song for the fictitious musical entitled Superstitious and Cowardly Lot.
An episode of the sketch comedy show MADtv also featured a Batman: The Musical parody called Batman V: Out of the Cave which starred Tommy Tune as Batman, and Ben Vereen as Robin.
A live stage show was also created, called Batman Live: World Tour. The show is a unique fusion of live action theatre, magic, stunts, digital projection and music from an 85-piece orchestra and choir. The tour began at Manchester, UK in Summer 2011 and visited arenas throughout the UK and Europe before arriving in North America in Summer 2012.
In 2012, the Internet theatre troupe StarKid Productions created a musical titled Holy Musical B@man!, which went on YouTube on April 13. It was performed in Chicago from March 16–25, and because of copyright laws, tickets were free. Batman is portrayed by Joseph Walker.

Music

The album Knightfall by multinational Swedish band Silent Images, is based on the story arc, with Batman serving as a central character, the "Nightly Priest". The album explores the underlying sociopolitical themes in the Batman universe, and his struggle against "The Venomous One", which is the album's interpretation of Bane.

Fine Arts

Starting with the Pop Art period, and on a continuing basis, since the 1960s, the character of Batman has been "appropriated" by multiple visual artists and incorporated into contemporary artwork, most notably by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Mel Ramos, Dulce Pinzon, Mr. Brainwash, Raymond Pettibon, Peter Saul, and others.

Games, action figures, and other toys

Hundreds of Batman action figures, die-cast models, and other items have been released. Many companies have acquired the rights to make Batman merchandise, including:
Batman has appeared as a HeroClix figure, along with other Batman characters, in the following HeroClix sets:
For April 2006, Lego introduced a Batman line which also includes characters such as the Joker and Two-Face, at American International Toy Fair.

Postage stamps

In 2006, the United States Postal Service issued a DC Comics Superheroes pane of 20 stamps which included a stamp of Batman.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Batman, USPS released a limited edition stamp series on October 9, 2014. Four versions of the superhero were depicted from the four eras of comic book history: Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern. In addition, it included four versions of the Bat-Signal.

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. The now closed Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, Texas was home to a standing roller coaster known as Batman: The Escape. Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas is home to two roller coasters called Mr. Freeze, and. Six Flags México in Mexico City, Mexico has also a looping, suspended roller coaster named Batman: The Ride 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 off-season, 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, The Dark Knight Coaster opened in Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Great America. Based on The Dark Knight film, they are Wild Mouse roller coasters, indoors, heavily themed, and give riders a feeling that they are being stalked by the Joker. Six Flags New England was originally going to receive this roller coaster; however, due to problems with building permits, the park scratched the project and then sent the coaster to Six Flags México.