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THREAD: some of my favorite facts about Batman. #BatFacts
The characters of Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya were both created specifically for the Batman: The Animated Series after-school cartoon, and became such hits that they were added to the continuity of the comics. #BatFacts
In one episode of the Adam West Batman series, Batman performs a series of dance moves called the “Batusi” that John Travolta later used dancing with Uma Thurman in “Pulp Fiction.” #BatFacts
The dance was inspired loosely by the Watusi, a similar move, and became a dance craze for a while. The Watusi, meanwhile, was inspired by the dances of the African Tutsi people. #BatFacts
Adam West once appeared on the Simpsons as himself, mocking Michael Keaton for needing all the molded plastic abs, also saying “how come Batman doesn’t dance anymore?” #BatFacts
Frank Gorshin played the Riddler on Batman ’66 specifically because he was a huge fan of Batman. #BatFacts
Guest-starring on the Batman ’66 TV show was considered to be a fun feather in one’s camp. Bobby Kennedy joked about wanting to appear as a villain called “The Attorney General.” #BatFacts
Batwoman and Batgirl were created as love interests for Batman and Robin in the early 60s to counter claims uptight parents made that Batman and Robin were gay. Ironically, Batwoman is now canonically a lesbian. #BatFacts
I had a crush on Batgirl when I was like 5 and the 60s show aired right after I’d get home from kindergarten. That’s more of a Sean fact than a Batman fact but it’s my thread so fuck you. #BatFacts
The allegations of Batman & Robin’s homosexuality were only part of a larger work by Frank Wertham called “The Seduction of the Innocent,” which claimed comics were to blame for a bunch of problems like teen violence, disrespectful youths, etc. #BatFacts
Basically he was fucking up correlation and causation. He saw high incidence of comic reading among juvenile delinquents, but that's because ALL young people read comics. Basically the same thing as dumbassed arguments against video games. #BatFacts
I hope you guys imagine me exclaiming “Batfacts!” at the end of each of these while doing jazz hands, because I’m doing that in my mind here. #BatFacts
Senator Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate and its longest-serving member, is a huge comics fan who has appeared in 5 Batman movies and the Animated Series. Heath Ledger threatens him with a knife in “The Dark Knight.” #BatFacts
Patrick Stewart was under consideration for the role of Mr. Freeze in “Batman & Robin,” before the role went to Arnold. That would’ve been… a very different movie. #BatFacts
The Batcave almost always features a giant penny, a memento of his encounter with The Penny Plunderer, a penny-themed villain (you heard me) who was obsessed with pennies and wanted to steal the big one. It’s not stated how Batman got it. #BatFacts
I like to think he just stole it, but more likely Bruce Wayne just so happened to purchase it. Good investment, as pennies are made out of more copper than their face value. #BatFacts
Batman also has a giant green T-Rex in the bat cave. It’s actually a sophisticated animatronic he can use against intruders, which is… you know, fun. #BatFacts
Canonically, Batman is supposed to be about 6’2 and 210 pounds, which means that physically the actors closest to his size are Adam West and Ben Affleck. Clooney, Keaton, Bale are all too short. #BatFacts
The movie young Bruce is seeing with his parents has varied a lot throughout history, but is most-frequently said to be a Zorro movie, honoring that Zorro is a partial inspiration for the character. #BatFacts
Zorro (Spanish for “Fox”) is an acrobat, master combatant, wears all black, is the son of the richest man in California, lives in a huge mansion, and has a secret cave hideout underneath called “The Fox Den.” #BatFacts
In the 1940s, Zorro was portrayed by an actor named Tyrone Power, who fought in WWII as a pilot in the Japanese theatre. He was stationed at the same base as my grandfather (who was in the USMC) and they were casual acquaintances. #BatFacts
Gramps’ favorite story was sitting at the table with Power for dinner when an assistant came up and invited Power to eat with a visiting General. “Looks like it’s steak for me tonight,” Power said, pushing away from the table. #BatFacts
Batman was roughly 8 when his parents died, and in his early 30s most of the time in the comics. Thanks to the sliding timescale of comics, that means pretty soon the movie he saw when his parents died could be “The Mask of Zorro,” starring Antonio Banderas. #BatFacts
The original idea for Batman’s costume was red, didn’t have a cowl, and had wings. Bill Finger, the illustrator, came up with pretty much all the cool stuff we know and love with Batman’s costume. #BatFacts
Batman’s cape was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s idea for a flying machine. #BatFacts
Frank Miller, author of "The Dark Knight Returns," went extra-nutty after 9/11 and tried to write a comic called "Holy Terror, Batman!" where Batman would fight al Qaeda. He later changed gears and ended up making it about a non-Batman superhero. It sucked and was racist.
The commonly-accepted origin for Mr. Freeze, where he's a tragic figure trying to save his frozen wife, was also created for the Batman Animated Series #BatFacts
Batman: The Animated Series got their cool visuals by painting against a black background instead of the traditional white. #BatFacts
When Keaton was cast as Batman it was pretty hated by people who assumed that since Keaton was known for comedy it meant the Burton movies would be a return to West-style camp. #BatFacts
Pretty much every generation of Batman since then has invited this sort of hatred. People thought casting Heath Ledger as the joker would be a terrible move, and are now saying the same about Robert Pattinson as Bats. #BatFacts
When "Everything Is Awesome" was performed at the Oscars, Will Arnett showed up in-character as Lego Batman to sing the brigde. He was wearing Val Kilmer's old Batsuit. #BatFacts