You may know a lot about Batman, but what do you know about his creation? While I'm sure many hardcore fans of the caped crusader are well familiar with the story between co-creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, there are probably still many who don't know. That truth will be uncovered in Batman And Bill, a documentary that looks to tell the story of Batman's forgotten creator. Check out the trailer and continue reading below.
As you can see from the trailer, Batman And Bill looks to tell the story of the controversy of credit between Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The tension began when Bob Kane first signed over the rights to Batman to National Comics (now DC Comics), in which he required a mandatory byline of his name for all works related to Batman. That deal ensured that Kane would prominently be featured on every piece of Batman media for a majority of the character's time in the limelight, with Finger receiving no recognition until around the 1960s. As you saw in the trailer, it is widely regarded that Finger's contribution to the Batman universe would be much more substantial than Kane's work. Batman And Bill will come to Hulu streaming May 6th.
So what would the Batman universe be without Bill Finger's work? If you can imagine Batman without Robin, Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, Scarecrow, Gotham City, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson and the modernized version of Batman...there's your answer. Obviously, even removing one of those characters would radically change the world of Batman that we know today. While this injustice has been known for decades, DC only has worked to rectify the situation fairly recently. Finger would receive a credit on the film Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice as well as Season 2 of Gotham. Finger would also receive his first formal comic book credit for Batman in 2015.
While Bill Finger would get some big time snubs throughout his life in regards to Batman, he did have a few writing credits in his prime that were publicly acknowledged. Finger was mentioned as the creator of The Riddler in a 60's Batman comic, and would get a co-writing credit for an episode he wrote for the popular Adam West Batman series. As far as other heroes are concerned, Finger's name is featured on the first comic for Wildcat (whose character had a small role in Arrow) as well as the comic which features the first appearance of Green Lantern.
Hopefully, Batman And Bill will bring more attention to the injustice to Bill Finger when it comes to Hulu May 6th, and encourage DC to take more steps than they already have in making his contribution to Batman more prominent.
Speaking of Batman, Gotham is set to return with new episodes April 24th at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. If you're behind and need to catch up visit our midseason premiere guide and summer premiere schedule to find all the shows you love and ensure something like that doesn't happen again!
