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Batman (franchise)

Adaptations based on DC Comics character, The Batman franchise From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Batman (franchise)
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The DC Comics character Batman has been adapted into various media including film, radio, television, and video games, as well as numerous merchandising items. The Batman franchise has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

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Film

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Main article: Batman in film
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Actors who have played Batman in live-action:
(top) Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Adam West, Michael Keaton,
(middle) Kevin Conroy (as Bruce Wayne), Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale,
(bottom) Ben Affleck, David Mazouz, Iain Glen (as Bruce Wayne), and Robert Pattinson.

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

Batman

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 Meriwether as Catwoman.

Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher series

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The Dark Knight Trilogy

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DC Extended Universe

More information Occupation, DCEU films ...

The Batman Epic Crime Saga

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Other live action Batman film appearances

Animation

Solo films

Team-ups

Web series

Other

Canceled Batman animated films

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Television

Live-action

Animation

Other appearances

Canceled Batman animated series

  • An animated series that reimagines Batman characters as high school students, Gotham High, was in development in the late 2000s and early 2010s.[40][66] A similar idea was used for the DC Super Hero Girls 2015 shorts and the 2019 animated series.
  • Both in the mid- and late 2000s, an animated TV show based on the "No Man's Land" storyline was put in development by producer James Tucker. Character designer Coran Stone worked on the project and made designs for the first version, but the project was ultimately scrapped for being "too dark", which led to Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network focusing on Batman: The Brave and the Bold instead. Another attempt was made and some artwork was made as well, but the project was also cancelled like the first attempt.[67][68]
  • There were plans to make an animated series featuring Batman and Superman. It would have been an origin story.[69]
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Radio

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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. The 1943 pilot "The Case of the Drowning Seal" was scripted with Scott Douglas as Batman; if the script was recorded, no copy survives. The September 1950 pilot for The Batman Mystery Club was recorded with Richard Devon as Batman and Ronald Liss as Robin.[70]

In 1989, an original radio drama, Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome, 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 Batman: Knightfall. It was adapted, produced and directed by Maggs—with music composed by Mark Russell—who had also 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 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

Main article: Batman (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

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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 (such as Batman and The Dark Knight Rises) 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 (ISBN 1-59474-023-2). Written in the same style as The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series, the book explained the basics on how to be Batman. Among 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.[71]

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International comics

Novelty singles

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 (sans the b-sides to Gorshin and West's singles) 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" (lyrics by Roger McGough, who "has written several poems" about Batman and Robin).[72]

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Audio drama

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Following the popularity of the Adam West television series, a pair of LPs were released in 1966 on MGM's "Leo the Lion" label with Jack Curtis portraying Batman and Ron Liss as Robin. The recordings proved popular due to their combination of dramatization and the Batman television theme music. More than 100,000 copies were shipped soon after the first LP was released.[73] Each album contained three dramatizations, including stories adapted from Batman comic books:

  • The Official Adventures of Batman & Robin:
    • The Legend of Batman and Robin
    • The Penguin's Plunder
    • The Joker's Revenge
  • More Official Adventures of Batman & Robin:
    • The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman
    • The Fake Boy Wonder
    • When Batman Became a Coward

Furthermore, in 1966, Batman and Robin appeared on an LP produced by Golden Records dramatising Batman #73.[74]

Throughout the 1970s Batman was the subject of a number of Power Records Book-and-record sets, as well as records unaccompanied by books:[75]

45 rpm book and record sets:

  • Batman: Stacked Cards
  • Batman: Robin Meets Man-Bat

7" 331⁄3 rpm records (no comic):

  • Batman: If Music be the Food of Death
  • Batman: The Scarecrow's Mirages
  • Batman: Catwoman's Revenge (1976)

331⁄3 rpm 12 book and record sets:

  • Batman: Gorilla City & Mystery of the Scarecrow Corpse
  • Batman (Collects Stacked Cards, The Scarecrow's Mirage, Challenge of the Catwoman, If Music Be the Food of Death)
  • Batman (Collects Robin Meets Man Bat, Gorilla City, Mystery of the Scarecrow Corpse, The Catwoman's Revenge)
  • A Super Hero Christmas (segment Batman: Christmas Carol Caper)

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 1996, Time Warner Records released Batman: Legends of Robin, an audio dramatisation of the issues of the comics featuring Robin in some form or another, which also featured Mark Hamill reprising his role as the Joker.[76]

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.

Podcasts

In 2020, it was announced that David Goyer had signed a deal to create an audio drama podcast for Spotify called Batman Unburied.[77] The 2022 series stars Winston Duke as Bruce Wayne and Jason Isaacs as Alfred.[78] The supporting cast includes Hasan Minhaj, Gina Rodriguez, Sam Witwer, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jessica Marie Garcia, Jim Pirri, Lance Reddick, Toks Olagundoye, John Rhys-Davies and Ashly Burch.[79]

Batman: The Audio Adventures is a comedic radio drama podcast series featuring the DC Comics character Batman. The 2021 show, DC's first scripted podcast,[80] is produced by DC Entertainment, Blue Ribbon Content and HBO Max. The series is meant to be an homage to the original 1966 Batman TV series as well as the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series. It is directed and written by Dennis McNicholas, a writer for Saturday Night Live.[81] Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Insurrection Media and WarnerMedia.[82] The series was executive produced by Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, Deborah Henderson, and Jon Berg.[83]

Harley Quinn and The Joker: Sound Mind is the second podcast released under the partnership between Spotify and Warner Bros. Released in early 2023, it features Christina Ricci as Harley Quinn and Billy Magnussen as The Joker. Justin Hartley also appears voicing Bruce Wayne.[84][85] In late 2023, the third Spotify–Warner Batman podcast, The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark, is scheduled for release. The podcast features an odd-couple team-up between Batman and The Riddler and stars Hasan Minhaj reprising his role from Batman Unburied,[86] and Colman Domingo replacing Winston Duke as Batman.[87]

Batman himself has most recently appeared in a podcast entitled DC High Volume: Batman, which, in contrast to the examples mentioned above, adapts story arcs from the comics, notably Year One, The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.[88]

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Video games

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Main article: List of Batman video games

Video games featuring Batman include:

Lego: Batman

Batman Arkham

Batman appears in the Batman: Arkham series. He is voiced initially by Kevin Conroy and later by Roger Craig Smith, and by Max Mitchell as a child.[2][3][91][92]

Other DC Games

  • Justice League Task Force (1995) for Super NES and Mega Drive/Genesis: A fighting game featuring several DC characters, including Batman.
  • Justice League: Injustice for All (2002) for Game Boy Advance: A side-scrolling action game featuring Batman as a playable character.
  • Justice League: Chronicles (2003) for Game Boy Advance: An action game featuring Batman as a playable character.
  • Justice League Heroes (2006) for Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS (voiced by Ron Perlman)[2]
  • Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008) for PlayStation 3 Xbox 360: A crossover fighting game featuring characters from DC Comics and Mortal Kombat (voiced by David Gazzana).[93]
  • DC Universe Online for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One: A MMORPG where Batman, among others, trains new player-controlled heroes (voiced again by Kevin Conroy).[2]
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Windows: A fighting game featuring several DC characters, including Batman (voiced again by Kevin Conroy)
  • Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure (2013) for Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One: A puzzle adventure game featuring Batman as a non-playable character.
  • Young Justice: Legacy (2013) for Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows: An action-adventure game featuring Batman as a non-playable character, voiced again by Bruce Greenwood.[2]
  • Injustice 2 (2017) for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One: the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us (voiced again by Kevin Conroy)[2]
  • Justice League VR: The Complete Experience (2017) features a driving, shooting level with the player taking control of Batman and the Batmobile to destroy simulated tanks in Gotham.[94]
  • DC Unchained (2018) for Android: A fighting game featuring several DC characters, including Batman.
  • Batman appears in DC Battle Arena, voiced by Christopher Escalante.[2]
  • Gotham Knights (2022) for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC: A video game based on Batman's closest allies. Bruce Wayne appears in the announcement trailer for the game, voiced by Michael Antonakos.[95][2]
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Batman in the trailer of MultiVersus
  • Justice League: Cosmic Chaos (2023) for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC and Nintendo Switch: A video game based on the superhero team of the same name, with Diedrich Bader reprising his role from various DC media.[96][2]
  • Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2023) for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC: A video game based on the anti-hero team of the same name. Batman is posthumously voiced by Kevin Conroy.[97]
  • Batman appears as a playable character in MultiVersus,[98] with Kevin Conroy reprising his role from various DC media.[99][100]

LittleBigPlanet

Batman appears in LittleBigPlanet 2 (2011) and LittleBigPlanet PS Vita (2012), voiced by Gary Martin.[2]

Other video games

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Live performances

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Batman Live!

In 1966, Adam West and Frank Gorshin went on a tour as Batman and the Riddler to promote the new Batman movie and the series. They were usually accompanied by several bands before the featured event that saw Batman and the Riddler exchange corny jokes as well as a song performed by West. The tour most famously stopped at Shea Stadium in New York on June 25, 1966[104] and City Park in New Orleans on November 26, 1966.[105]

Musical theatre

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 (Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?)", "The Catwoman's Song (I Need All The Love I Can Get)", "We're Still The Children We Once Were" (the climactic sequence) 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 Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. These songs can be heard at the Batman: The Musical memorial site, Dark Knight of the Soul.

A Batman musical is also parodied in the animated series Batman Beyond. The episode "Out of the Past" (first aired October 21, 2000) opens with Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis attending a performance of (a fictional) Batman: The Musical, featuring caricatures of prominent members of the Rogues Gallery (the Joker, the Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn). 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, England, in Summer 2011 and visited arenas throughout the UK and Europe before arriving in North America in Summer 2012. Another stage play by the name of Batman Ninja the Show opened in Japan in November 2021, it adapts the Batman ninja film.

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 (Joe) Walker.

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Music

The album Knightfall by multinational Swedish band Silent Images, is based on the Batman: Knightfall 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.[106][107][108]

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.[109][110][111][112][113][114][115]

Games, action figures, and other toys

Main article: Batman action figures

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:

  • 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.

In 2015, Looney Labs in partnership with Cryptozoic Entertainment released a Batman-themed version of its card game Fluxx with art by Derek Ring based on The New Batman Adventures.[116]

Postage stamps

In 2006, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a DC Comics Superheroes pane of 20 stamps which included a stamp of Batman.[117]

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Batman, USPS released a limited edition stamp series on October 9, 2014.[118] 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

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Main article: Batman amusement rides and stunt shows
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The 61 metres (200 ft)-tall Batwing Spaceshot tower in the Gold Coast, Australia

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 Batman: The Ride. Six Flags México in Mexico City, Mexico has also a looping, suspended roller coaster named Batman: The Ride (Six Flags St. 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 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.

Recurring cast and characters

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List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in portrayals by actors in Batman media. Characters are listed chronologically by first portrayal.

  • An empty grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
  •  C indicates a cameo role.
  •  U indicates an uncredited appearance.
  •  V indicates a voice-only role.
  •  Y indicates a younger version of the character.
More information Character, Live-action film ...
  1. Includes posthumous performance
  2. The character retains only part of their real name from the source material.
  3. The character's identity is not given but elements such as their story arc or relationships are consistent.
  4. The character appears with an entirely different real name to that in the source material.

See also

References

External links

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