Batman versus Batman

This was too funny – well maybe not, if you think about it. Variety posted a story that states the mayor of an oil-rich city in southeastern Turkey, called Batman, is suing director Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for royalties from The Dark Knight. I kid you not, unfortunately. Huseyin Kalkan, the mayor of Batman, has accused The Dark Knight producers of using the city’s name without permission.

Kalkan is apparently preparing a series of charges against Nolan and the studio, including placing the blame for a number of unsolved murders and the high female suicide rate. The mayor is also gathering evidence to show that the city of Batman predates the 1939 debut of Bob Kane’s superhero in DC Comics.

No one has explained why it took so many years to take legal action. The comic character Batman first appeared in 1939. There have been numerous TV and film incarnations ever since. The fact that The Dark Knight is about to exceed $1 billion in box office revenue, must be having major psychological impact on the poor city’s inhabitants.

And they say the U.S. has issues with excessive legal action.