Credit: ITMAdam West had a distinguished acting career for six decades. While many recognize his voice as the Quahog Mayor from Family Guy, most pop culture fans will always associate him with his TV series portrayal of Batman. He may not have been the first live-action Batman, but was the most acclaimed due to his dedication to the role. His legacy became so attached to the character that he reprised the character many times throughout his life. Most of his reprisals were animated revivals such as, The New Adventures of Batman (1977), Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special (2015) and Batman vs. Two-Face (2016). He will now make a posthumous return to the role as the Caped Crusader in an upcoming DC special.
1966’s Batman looked nothing like most modern takes on the Dark Knight. It was one of the first successful adaptations of a comic book property. It lasted three seasons on prime-time television and had one celebrated movie. The delightfully campy series featured legendary hallmarks, like:
- Lively choreographed fights filled with comic book-styled onomatopoeias like, “WHAM!” and “POW!,”
- A whacky, but memorable rogues gallery of villains
- The iconic, tricked-out 1955 Lincoln Futura Batmobile
The last inclusion became immortalized in the mind’s of many Batman fans as it was the first custom themed vehicle exclusively created for Batman. Now, Warner Bros. Animation will use this generational fame to literally bring this Batmobile to life. The preschool animated hit series, Batwheels, is back for another season and will include this classic Batmobile in a special episode.
Batwheels centers around the Bat Family’s group of sentient vehicles. This Disney’s Car-like premise stars Bam the Batmobile (voiced by Jacob Bertrand), Robin’s sports car, Redbird (Jordan Reed), Batgirl’s motorcycle, Bibi (Madigan Kacmar), Buff the monster truck (Noah Bentley), the Batwing (Lilimar) and the maternal Batcomputer (Kimberly Brooks).
The vehicular crime-fighters will soon enlist the help of this original/OG Dark Knight Rider (Adam West) to take on the Legion of Zoom. Even though this would normally be celebrated event, many Batman fans were confused by the announcement considering the esteemed actor passed away from leukemia in 2017. What many fans do not know is that West allowed Warner Bros. to use his voice recordings as Batman in any future voiceover projects. Plus, the advancements in voice replication through artificial intelligence will refine the authenticity of his voice even further.
This disclosure may bring some peace to the actors who are currently on strike due to many studios’ unauthorized use of actors’ likenesses and voices. It is a shame that West cannot reprise the role himself, but he must have had the foresight to know that his legacy is forever attached to Batman. There is no better indication of this as West’s Batman was featured in the recent box office flop, The Flash. Adam West may have been type-casted because of Batman, but he did not let this setback define him. He embraced his connection to this treasured pop icon and forged a career that will continue to make another generation of fans.
Adam West will make his posthumous return on Batwheels on Monday, September, 11, 2023 at 7:45 AM, PST on MAX.