Bob Kane and the Movies

[Slash Man]

For the original 1989-1997 film series, Bob Kane was pretty involved. Ever since he was brought on as an advisor for the first film, he's had some influence, and much interaction with this particular re-envisioning of the Dark Knight. I thought I'd dedicate this thread to all that Kane's had to do with the films.

Probably the most important; Kane was responsible for the black, body armor look from 1989 that would essentially carry over to 2012's The Dark Knight Rises. Bob Ringwood actually had plans to adapt Neal Adam's contemporary blue/black/gray costume, but Kane suggested simplifying it to just black. He said this was in line with his original intentions (which would not have worked well with early comic printing techniques). You can actually see evidence of this, as Batman's suit in Detective Comics #27 is noticeably darker than the immediate follow-ups.

I don't think Kane was the one who supplied the idea, but he still commented on it nonetheless. Having the Joker be the killer of Batman's parents was something "he wished he had done" in the comics. Remember that the Joker was pretty inconsequential at first, and even almost killed off by his second appearance. It was only after he became a mainstay that his backstory was cobbled together. Having the foresight that he would be Batman's greatest foe, it would be a great idea to have the same hero/villain connection as Keaton and Nicholson in the film.

Kane's only onscreen contribution in Batman is the sketch of the literal "Bat-Man." Sadly, the original idea of a full cameo never happened due to scheduling, but a fictional version of him was played by Denis Lill. Various documentaries show Kane visiting the set, the filming of the alley fight shows him sketching Batman in action.

I believe Kane had a similar role in Batman Returns, based on images of him on set.

On Batman Forever, it's been quoted that "Batman creator Bob Kane said in a Cinescape interview that of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point (before the series was rebooted in 2005), he felt Val Kilmer had given the best interpretation." Interesting, but not too surprising. Keaton's Wayne was always not quite right after his childhood trauma; Kilmer was the first to play the role of the billionaire playboy at public appearances (as well as be directly involved at Wayne Industries).

No word on any response to Batman & Robin. He was an advisor on all four films, though.

Before this gets off topic at all, I want say that I'm sick of people continuing to trash Kane, just based on the fact of something they read off the internet. While not the sole creator of Batman, people often choose to simply ignore his contributions, and make believe that it would be the same without him. Kane envisioned a character of Batman, period. But it was Bill Finger's invaluable writing and assistance that made him the original character that is still praised to this day.

The way the internet is, you can't search Bob Kane without getting people bitching about Bill Finger, and vice versa. People pretend to be experts in agreements that were forged more than 75 years ago. Despite the villain that they make Bob out to be, spoiler alert: he's been dead for 17 years.

[The Laughing Fish]

While I won't pretend to know what happened behind the scenes, it seems confirmed from trusted sources that Finger was responsible for re-imagining Batman's character design to what he looks like today. I'd imagine that Kane's family estate would've sued otherwise.

I don't resent Bob Kane, especially since the man has been dead for almost twenty years, but it does seem unfair to me that he took sole credit for creating Batman.

[Edd Grayson]

Some Bob Kane haters attribute a quote to him saying that Batman & Robin is how he envisioned Batman all along 

[Slash Man]

I don't resent Bob Kane, especially since the man has been dead for almost twenty years, but it does seem unfair to me that he took sole credit for creating Batman.

That's how the contract was forged in the day. As unfortunate as it is, it was simply the norm; it just so happens that Finger's handling of Batman was what made the character huge. Though I admit that it does seem a bit outdated nowadays; I'd love to see Batman be attributed to both Kane and Finger.

Some Bob Kane haters attribute a quote to him saying that Batman & Robin is how he envisioned Batman all along 

That would definitely relate to the topic at hand... is there a factual source behind that?

The only correlation I can see is the constant puns and monolog. In the comics, those were always thrown in to keep Batman engaging with the audience (though not really necessary for film). I guess the contemporary city setting also may have also been a Kane idea.

[Edd Grayson]

That was most likely an attempt to discredit Bob Kane implying that he approved of Batman & Robin, widely considered the worst Batman film.

While I wish Bill Finger had been credited from the beginning, I don't think Bob Kane was a worthless hack like some have made him out to be.

[Slash Man]

That's pretty much what it comes down to. People act like you need to hate one to like the other. And these two were friends with no real qualms during their lives.

Since so much has changed since 1939, I do think that Bill Finger deserves his due.