Three decades after director Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” film became a box office blockbuster and pop culture phenomenon, the decision to bring the Dark Knight to the big screen seems like it should have been a no-brainer. But in the years leading up to the film’s release, it was as hard to breach the barriers to Hollywood as it was to break into the Batcave.
One dedicated superfan refused to give up his crusade to bring the Caped Crusader to cinematic life, and in doing so he helped redefine Batman’s perception in the public eye.
“By the time I graduated high school I had over 30,000 comic books that took up my dad’s entire garage — he never got his car in the garage,” remembers “Batman” producer Michael E. Uslan of his comic book obsessed youth, growing up in the 1960s.
“I went to the first Comic-Con ever held in history, the summer of ’64 in a fleabag hotel in New York City; I was an early member of comic book fandom as it organized. When I was 11 years old, I met Stan Lee for the first time and it was a life-changing experience.”
“I began to write Batman comics, which was my dream since I was eight years old,” Uslan recalls
“All I can describe the night to you is I was simultaneously thrilled and horrified by what I was seeing on TV,” he remembers. ”
As a hardcore fanboy who really knew the whole history of Batman, this was not the true Batman.
This was not the creature of the night stalking disturbed criminals in the shadows. I realized they were making fun of Batman. It was being done as a comedy, and the world was laughing at Batman.”
