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 has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
Film.
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".
"Batman Dracula".
In 1964, a "Batman Dracula" black and white American superhero film, was produced and directed by Andy Warhol. Few scenes survive to this day, as it was an unauthorized production, simply known because of Warhol's fame.
"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.
Television.
Live-action.
"Batman (TV series)".
The series premiered January 12, 1966 on ABC and ended March 14, 1968 starring Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin. West and Ward later reprise their roles in "Legends of the Superheroes". 
"Gotham".
The series premiered September 22, 2014 on FOX and ended April 25, 2019 starring David Mazouz as a young Bruce Wayne. The series depicts young Bruce Wayne following the death of his parents. Also Bruce is 12 years old when his parents die, unlike his traditional age being 7 or 8 years old. When the series reached its finale, stunt performer Mikhail Mudrik served as the physical actor for Wayne as Mazouz still wasn't 6 foot 4, the showrunners height preference for their Batman Mazouz was able wear the Batsuit in the final shot with the help of forced perspective. He also lent his voice to all Batman speaking scenes in the last episode.
"Titans".
Batman is mentioned several times in the series before appearing in the first season finale in a dream sequence created by Trigon. Alain Moussi and Maxim Savarias portray stunt doubles. Batman's alter ego Bruce makes his full appearance in the second season, portrayed by Iain Glen.
"Batwoman".
Bruce Wayne appears briefly on a magazine cover in The CW's Batwoman season one finale, portrayed by Warren Christie. The character Thomas Elliot masquerades as Wayne in the opening episode of season two before being discovered and forcibly unmasked.
Radio.
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 (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 (). 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.
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).
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:
"LittleBigPlanet".
"LittleBigPlanet 2" (2011) for PlayStation 3 and "LittleBigPlanet PS Vita" (2012) for PlayStation Vita
are puzzle-platform games with several DC characters, including Batman (voiced by Gary Martin).
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 "". 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, 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 (Joe) 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 (USPS) 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 (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.