It's a long story so here goes....

After the success of the comic book Superhero Superman, artist Bob Kane tried to come up with his own hero "The Bat-Man", the character Kane created wore a red suit with a domino mask, blonde hair and a pair of bat wings. Kane then asked for writer Bill Finger's assistance on the project. Finger rejected several of Kane's initial ideas about the character and suggested several changes in design and characterization. His changes included changing his hair colour, a black colour scheme for the costume, adding a cape and cowl, the idea that he shouldn't have any superpowers, his civilian identity of Bruce Wayne (which Finger named after Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland and general Anthony "Mad Anthony" Wayne), the origin story about his parents being shot in an alley and the idea that he should also be a detective.

Kane marketed the "Batman" character to National Comics, and Batman's first story was published in "Detective Comics" #27 (May 1939). The script was written by an uncredited Finger, making him the first of many ghost writers to work on comics officially credited to Bob Kane. When Kane negotiated a contract about selling the rights to the "Batman" character, he claimed he was the sole creator and demanded a sole mandatory byline acknowledging him as such on all comics and adaptations. Out of fairness, Kane agreed to pay Finger his share with money out of his earnings. Unfortunately, the agreement was never put into writing, and Finger never saw a cent.

Finger would go on to ghost write Batman stories up into the mid 1960's, either with Kane or for DC Comics directly. During his writing tenure, Finger was responsible for the unaccredited creation of many key players and pieces in the Batman universe.

These included the Batmobile, the Batcave, Gotham City, and Batman's nickname "The Dark Knight". He also came up with several secondary Batman characters including, his sidekick Robin, his arch-nemesis The Joker, and his occasional love interest Catwoman, as well as Commissioner Gordon, The Riddler and The Scarecrow. Despite all of this, the only writing credit that Finger received for Batman in his lifetime were two episodes of Batman (1966), The Clock King's Crazy Crimes (1966) and The Clock King Gets Crowned (1966) which he co-wrote with friend Charles Sinclair.

Eventually, the truth did come out. Finger attended the first official New York Comic Con in 1965 and sat on a panel with other comic book creators where he revealed the role he played in Batman's creation. Finger's story gained exposure in a two-page article titled "If the truth be known, or a Finger in every plot!," written and distributed by pop culturist Jerry Bails. Kane caught wind of Finger's appearance not long after and replied in the form of a printed letter to Batman fan magazine, "Batmania," where he labeled his old friend a fraud. Finger, who by this time was deeply in debt, continued to write for various projects in and outside of comic books until his death in 1974, when he was found alone in his apartment by friend Charles Sinclair. Finger died penniless and his contributions to the character was never acknowledged in his lifetime.

However, after the popularity of Tim Burton's Batman (1989), Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation, and wrote in his 1989 autobiography "Batman and Me" that "Now that my long-time friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero ... I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I would like to say. 'I'll put your name on it now. You deserve it.'"

Many failed attempts were made over the years by Finger's family to get him recognition for his work, including a request from his second wife Lyn Simmons to have his name listed in the credits of Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

Finger remained largely unknown, even to Batman fans, until writer Marc Tyler Nobleman began investigating the late author's life for a book being written about him called "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman". Nobleman went in search of Finger's family to help fill in the gaps and give him credit. While Finger's autopsy report claimed no relatives were present, Nobleman discovered that Finger had a son, Fred.

Unfortunately, Fred, who was an outspoken proponent of his father, had died in 1992. Nobleman learned that Fred was also homosexual, leading him to believe that Fred had no children before his death. The trail was starting to go cold.

However, after receiving new information from Finger's nephew, Nobleman discovered Fred indeed had a daughter, Athena Finger, who was born two years after Finger's death. Nobleman met with Athena and convinced her to meet with DC about getting recognition for her grandfather. DC in turn welcomed Athena with open arms, cut her a check and invited her to the premiere of The Dark Knight (2008) with all expenses paid. It wasn't until around 2012 that DC offered her more money. This time, however, she had to sign away her rights to her grandfather's claim. With encouragement from Nobleman, Athena rejected the money and took DC to court.

It took years of litigation before a settlement was reached. A major turning point in the case was the unearthing of recorded interviews with Bob Kane during the writing of his autobiography. During one of the interviews, Tom Andrae, Kane's co-writer, asked Kane to what extent Finger contributed to Batman's creation. "Bill was responsible for 50 to 75 percent," Kane bluntly responded.

Finally, in September 2015, DC Entertainment issued a statement informing the public that Finger would be listed as co-creator on any piece of Batman media henceforth. Starting with the superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and the second season of Gotham (2014), an updated acknowledgement for the character appeared as "Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger".

Finger's story was later used as the subject of the Hulu original documentary, Batman & Bill (2017).

Note: For this list only the creators of the characters first appearances are listed. As with all comic book characters, Batman and his supporting cast have had several reinventions and different contributions from different writers. Theses include different iterations in different mediums that all have added different concepts to the overall mythology of the characters.

Obviously there's Bruce Thomas Wayne/Batman called only Bruce Wayne or Batman on screen. He made his first appearance in the comic story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" from Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

The Joker, who made his first appearance in the comic story "The Joker" from Batman #1 (Spring 1940) by writer Bill Finger, artist Bob Kane from a concept by illustrator Jerry Robinson.

Harvey Dent/Two-Face, who made his first appearance in the comic story "The Crimes Of Two-Face" (as Harvey Kent) from Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Alfred, the butler, whose full name in the comics is Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth. In his first comic appearances he was called Alfred Beagle and first appeared in the comic story "Here Comes Alfred" from Batman #16 (April-May 1943) by writer Don Cameron and artist Bob Kane. The characters were later reintroduced as Alfred Pennyworth (complete with a different appearance) in comics continuity by writer Bill Finger and artist Jerry Robinson.

Gotham City Police Lieutenant, later promoted to Commissioner, James Worthington Gordon, Sr., called Commissioner Gordon or Jim on screen. Just like Batman, he made his first appearance in the comic story "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate" from Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Lucius Fox, who made his first appearance in the comic story "Dark Messenger of Mercy" from Batman #307 (January 1979) and was created by writer Len Wein and artist John Calnan.

Dr Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow, who made his first appearance in the comic story "Riddle of the Human Scarecrow" from World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Crime Boss Maroni, whose full name is Salvatore Vincent 'Sal' "The Boss" Maroni, who made his first appearance in the comic story "The Crimes Of Two-Face" from Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.

Gotham City Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, who made is first appearance in the comic story "Batman: Year One (Part I of IV): Who I Am - How I Come to Be" from Batman #404 by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli.

Barbara Gordon, Gordon's daughter. In the comics she would end up becoming Batman's ally in his war against crime as Batgirl and then as Oracle. She was originally created by Batman Editor Julius Schwartz, and artist Carmine Infantino at the request of the producer of Batman (1966) William Dozier. She was later adapted into the comics starting the comic story "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino.

and James Gordon, Jr., Gordon's son, he first appeared "Year One (Part IV of IV): Friend in Need" from Batman #407 by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli.

All other characters were created by the films writers for this movie.

Since this was a mafia-owned bank, that most likely referred to the number of one of their enforcers, as the last group of people the mob would want interfering in their business would be the cops.

Sharp ones.

It's possible that stores sold them. Also entirely possible they made them themselves. A simple rubber cowl isn't overly complicated to make.

Batman (Christian Bale), with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and newly-appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), have almost succeeded in destroying organized crime in Gotham City when the criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a new reign of terror on the city as he attempts to plunge Gotham into chaos.

The Dark Knight is the second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, preceded by Batman Begins (2005) (2005) and followed by The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (2012). The Dark Knight is based on a script co-written by London-born screenwriters and brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer (co-writer of Batman Begins). Christopher also directed the movie. It is based on the DC Comics character Batman; and incorporates certain plot elements from several Batman graphic novels published by DC Comics, including Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Batman: The Long Halloween, along with some references to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Nolan's Batman series is a reboot of the Batman franchise. They have no ties to the previous Batman franchise.

Director Christopher Nolan told Mean Magazine he wants to do something different from Batman Begins, his first film in the series. The title is a way of telling the public as much. It also distances the film from Saturday morning cartoons, the campy 1960s TV series and the Burton/Schumacher movies of the 1990s. In fact, this will be the first Batman movie not to have "Batman" in the title. Nolan said the title was carefully chosen. It certainly has precedent. "The Dark Knight" is a title first bestowed upon Batman in the comic book Batman #1 (Spring, 1940). Frank Miller, whose work inspired Nolan in Batman Begins, also used the term for his 1986 comic book mini-series, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Moreover, Harvey Dent is known in the film as "The White Knight", which adds a touch of irony to the title. The title prepares us for the grim tone of the film. It is reinforced in a quotation from the trailer: "The night is darkest before the dawn."

1. Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine)

2. Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman)

3. Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Colin McFarlane)

4. Dr Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy)

Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Barbara Gordon (Melinda McGraw) also appear albeit played by different actors. (Dawes was played by Katie Holmes, and Gordon by Ilyssa Fradin in Batman Begins). Actors Nadia Cameron-Blakey and Jamie Cho, who were in Batman Begins, are also in The Dark Knight as different characters.

At the end of Batman Begins, the Joker made his first appearance, off screen, when then-Lieutenant Gordon tells Batman about a robbery the Joker committed. In one of the Gotham Tonight videos released to promote The Dark Knight, it is stated that the attack on the Narrows which took place toward the end of Batman Begins happened nine months previously. The Joker has committed several crimes during that time. He is known to the police, to Batman, and to the mob. None of them think he is anybody to be worried about or taken seriously. Then he begins his reign of terror in The Dark Knight.

In Tim Burton's Batman (1989) (1989), Jack Nicholson gave the public a grimmer, scarier Joker than what it had known before. Until then, the public's idea of the Joker had been Cesar Romero, one of the guest villains in the campy 1960s TV series Batman (1966). Heath Ledger based his Joker on Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange (1971) (1971), which wipes away any thought of Romero. Publicity photos show him with the sides of his mouth cut, giving him an unnaturally wide grin. The mutilated mouth links him to Conrad Veidt who played Gwynplaine, the clown with the carved smile, in The Man Who Laughs (1928) (1928). Bob Kane and Bill Finger had thought of the grinning Veidt when they created the Joker. Nolan continues the trend by making the Joker more sinister and less pranksterish than ever. The new Joker is a brutal killer with a macabre and malicious sense of humor. Also, this Joker's skin and hair color is because of makeup (described as warpaint in the movie) and hair dye, not his actual skin and hair color caused by a chemical accident.

Lucius Fox, a character original to the comic books, is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and a secret ally of Batman. In Batman Begins, Fox is in research and development. Only at the end does Bruce Wayne fire Mr. Earle and hire Lucius as CEO. Lucius appeared in both Batman animated series in the 1990s. Around the time that The Dark Knight came out, he was appearing in the the later seasons of the 2000s' animated series called The Batman (2004). He did not appear in any of the four Burton/Schumacher Batman films. In light of the popularity of the The Dark Knight trilogy and Fox's rather prominent role therein, the character became something of a regular in the 2010s' live-action series Gotham (2014).

There were of course the typical rumours that Holmes wanted more money than Warner Bros. was willing to pay for her to reprise her role and so the role was recast. Holmes' publicists said she had scheduling conflicts because of her new movie, Mad Money (2008).

No. The only actors from the previous Batman film franchise has a cameo in this movie or in Batman Begins are Nicky Katt, who has a small, uncredited role in The Dark Knight, briefly appeared in Batman & Robin (1997); and United States Senator Patrick Leahy-a fan of Batman comics who was previously an extra in the 1997 film Batman & Robin and also was a guest voice actor on Batman: The Animated Series-appears as a guest at Bruce Wayne's party. He reprises this role in a cameo in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Gotham City is a fictional U.S. port city located on the north-eastern Atlantic coast. It was originally a stand-in for New York City, but has also resembled other crime-ridden urban centers such as Chicago and Detroit. Some sources, including Mayfair Games' authorized (but now out-of-print) Atlas of the DC Universe, have placed Gotham City in the state of New Jersey. Christopher Nolan's Gotham City is located in the middle of the estuary of the Liberty River, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The river separates most of Gotham from the mainland. The River Merchant divides Uptown from Midtown, while Midtown is separated from Downtown by the Gotham River. The Narrows is a small island in the Gotham River. A creek divides the district of South Hinkley from the rest of Gotham City. Gotham International Airport is in Pettsburg, to the north of the Liberty River estuary. The current DC Universe version of Gotham City is separated from the mainland by the Gotham River, bridged by a series of bridges and tunnels. The east and south sides of Gotham face the Atlantic Ocean. The city is further divided by the Sprang River (named for Dick Sprang) on the northern end and the Finger River (for Bill Finger) to the south. Tiny Blackgate Isle to the south-east is home to Blackgate Maximum Security Penitentiary. (Blackgate is replaced by Stonegate Penitentiary in the animated series Batman (1992-1995) and its spin-offs.)

Batman Begins and The Dark Knight both have scenes that were filmed in Chicago. It has been noted by some sources that people watch these movies just to see what Chicago landmarks they can recognize. Some examples in The Dark Knight are as follows: the US Post Office entrance on Van Buren Street portrays the Gotham National Bank in the opening robbery. The car chase midway through the movie passes through a number of different environments like Lower Wacker Drive (where most of the action happens), through various parts of the Loop, and even a scene of the Batpod traveling through Millennium Station (you can even see South Shore Line signs). Various scenes in the movie were filmed on South LaSalle Street, including parts of the car chase, the funeral procession scene and the stunt where the semi-truck was flipped—the large tower at the end of the street is the Chicago Board of Trade. After wrapping in Chicago, the production headed to Hong Kong. "The filming locations will include the Central-Mid-Levels escalator, some parts of Queen's Road Central and The Centre," notes the newspaper The Standard.

From the beginning of the comic series created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger, the Joker himself never had an origin story. It might have been a deliberate move by the two authors to keep an air of mystery around the character.

In The Killing Joke, a one-shot comic written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland (released in 1988), the Joker is revealed to be a former engineer at a chemical plant who quit his job to pursue his dream of being a standup comedian. However, he was booed offstage after only one show and was left desperate to support his pregnant wife. He agreed to help a group of local crooks rob the chemical plant, but tried to back out after his wife was killed in a household accident. The crooks insisted, and made him wear a red mask, impersonating a well-known villain called Red Hood, so that if the police turned up, he would appear to be the ringleader. When, as predicted, both the police and Batman intervened, the engineer jumped into a vat of chemicals to escape, bleaching his skin white, dying his hair green and damaging the nerve endings in his face, resulting in a permanent, hideous grin. The pain and trauma he had gone through in just one day resulted in a psychotic break and he goes insane, hence the Joker's belief that it only takes one bad day "to drive the sanest man alive to lunacy." However, this is all open to interpretation. The Joker himself fully admits that he's lied about it so often, even he isn't sure what truly happened.

In this film, it's made clear that a freak accident hasn't made him look like a clown. He wears make-up (Happy and Dopey's conversation at the beginning while breaking open the control panel on the roof offers proof), and we can see the makeup change throughout the movie, as he sweats it smears and flakes off. In the scene where he fires at the mayor while disguised as a member of the honor guard, we see him without his makeup line. As for his scars, the Joker gives two conflicting explanations for them. One version, which he tells to Gambol before killing him, is that his father slashed his cheeks open as a child after he (the Joker) took his father performing the same act on his mother "too seriously." Later, when the Joker and his henchmen crash Dent's fundraiser, he claims to Rachel that his wife was scarred by the loan sharks and that he cut his own cheeks with a razor blade to prove to her that scars did not matter. He starts to tell Batman a third story about how he might have been disfigured before Batman interrupts him. It is very possible that none of these statements are true. The ambiguity adds to the mystique of the Joker as a nobody who comes from nowhere and keeps the audience guessing.

Most common theory is that Joker is ex Special Forces (Navy SEAL etc). This is backed up by his experience in hand to hand combat, experience with weapons and explosives, resistance to interrogation, high speed driving of various vehicles, ability to infiltrate and exfiltrate unseen. It is implied he was badly injured whilst on deployment and now has severe PTSD.

The suit was changed both for story and production reasons. During the production of Batman Begins, Christian Bale and the stunt men were constantly in danger of overheating because of the dense nature of the foam latex used to create the suit. It was also difficult for Bale to move, rotate, or to show expression in the head and neck area. Bale also complained that the original suit gave him a crushing headache every time he put the suit on. The suit also damaged easily. The new suit is made of polyurethane; it's a lot cooler and more durable, despite the increase of eight pounds. In the movie, Bruce Wayne asks Lucius for a new suit that will allow him to turn his head (which, he comments, will make it easier to back out of the driveway) and also protect him from dogs (referring to a prior attack). Lucius warns that increased agility means an increased vulnerability to bullets and knives because the plates that make up the suit have gaps in between.

Yes. Batman has a new vehicle called a Batpod, which is a re-imagining of the Batcycle (Batman's motorcycle from previous incarnations). Within the film, it is actually a separate unit that detaches from the front end of the Tumbler (the Batmobile) after that vehicle is catastrophically damaged by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) fired at close range by the Joker.

Nestor Carbonell's eyelashes are naturally thick and dark. But he did wear eyeliner for this role in order to achieve a "Frank Miller comic book" effect.

2008 Euro-Spec Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640. Photo here. The name Murciélago (pronounced "moor-thee-eh-la-goh" in traditional Castilian Spanish and "moor-see-eh-la-goh" in Spanish of Latin America), means "bat" in Spanish.

It has eight rows and 48 columns making a total of 384 screens.

The obvious answer is that he had been spending the last six months (since the ending of Batman Begins) carefully planning out everything so that he would be ready. For example, the Joker blows up a hospital. Most likely, he had set the explosives in place long before. This is a trait very typical of the comic book Joker—he's able to prepare a crime for a long time and yet carry it out before anyone realizes what he's up to. He then "predicts" a crime that has already been committed. Another possibility, since Maroni's (and the mob's) goals mesh well with the Joker's social experiments, is that he gets a considerable amount of assistance from the mob after the Chechen puts out the word that he should be hired to get rid of Batman.

At a pivotal point in the film, Batman is given two addresses and told that he can only save one of the people, those two people being either Harvey Dent or Rachel Dawes. Batman leaves the station and says he is going for Rachel. Commissioner Gordon leaves the police station to rescue Harvey.

One interpretation: The Joker, knowing Batman will choose Rachel ("The way you threw yourself after her" suggests the Joker was aware of Batman's affection for Rachel), has lied. He switched the addresses. Thus, while Batman intended to save Rachel, he "saves" Harvey instead. The Joker needs Harvey alive for his "ace in the hole". Meanwhile, the police, having heard the Joker's confession, race to save the other party. But for some reason (perhaps the Bat-Pod is faster than a squad car, or one address is farther than the other), they don't arrive in time, and Rachel dies in the explosion. The goal is that Harvey would survive, Rachel would die, both would talk before the end, and both had the potential to be saved (though the Joker was able to time the events so that only Batman would save one person quickly enough) so Harvey would think Gordon had failed him.

Another interpretation: The Joker had switched the addresses knowing that either outcome would benefit him. If Batman had made the "right" choice and gone for Harvey (thus finding Rachel), Harvey would die; and Gotham would be left without its "White Knight". The public would hold Batman responsible, turning them against their protector. This is less likely, as Harvey's death probably meant very little to the Joker: being the mastermind he was, Harvey's death would be an easy task for him, but corrupting him beforehand takes more skill, with greater final effect: the final scene of the film shows Harvey (although dead) being presented as Gotham's Saviour, meaning the idea he lived for could continue. Knowing that he had killed "five [people], two of them cops" would undo that work, so Harvey had to be around to commit the murders. It is said at the end of the movie that Rachel died at 250 52nd street, where dent was supposed to be. So the joker switched the addresses.

No. A dedication to Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe does appear about two minutes into the credits.

Heath Ledger, who died on January 22nd, 2008, had finished filming his role of the Joker in The Dark Knight. His death had little, if any, effect on the finished film. Warner Bros. restructured its marketing campaign to focus more on Batman. Up until Ledger's death, it had concentrated on the Joker. But the Joker didn't disappear from the campaign. Trailers for the movie still included him and posters for the film still had his signature line, "Why so serious?" Ledger's death did not affect the U.S. release date, which was July 18th, 2008. Nolan said that the Joker would now not appear in the sequel The Dark Knight Rises. The film (The Dark Knight) is dedicated to Heath Ledger. The dedication appears at the end of the film.

According to rumor, Nolan was pleased with most of what he shot, so very little ended up on the cutting room floor. Reading the screenplay bears this out: whatever cuts were made were minor cuts to existing scenes, as there are no scenes in the screenplay that do not appear in the film.

Yes. Warner Bros. Animation teamed with Japanese animators to produce Batman: Gotham Knight (2008), an anime-style direct-to-video prequel to Christopher Nolan's film The Dark Knight. An internal DC/Warner Bros. Animation marketing document described the project as follows:

Set in the period between BATMAN BEGINS and THE DARK KNIGHT, this brand new adventure follows BATMAN as he unravels a mystery over six original stories done in the style of Japanese Anime. Each of the six original stories has been written by a highly respected screenwriter or comic book creator. The talent includes Academy Award nominee Josh Olson (A History of Violence (2005)), screenwriter of the Blade films and BATMAN BEGINS David S. Goyer, and famed comic book writer Brian Azzarello, among others." Warner Bros. Animation is anticipating this to be rated PG-13 (most likely for animated violence).

Batman: Gotham Knight was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on July 8th, 2008. A sneak peek of Batman: Gotham Knight was included as an extra feature on Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), the direct-to-video animated movie released on February 26th, 2008.

(1) Joker Introduction (bank heist), (2) Hong Kong scene, (3) chase scene throughout Gotham, (4) final fight scene in the skyscraper, (5) the end scene, (6) various shots over Gotham and Hong Kong. And (7) Batman's sonar vision. On the Blu-ray/DVD edition of the film, they are shown in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio—any time there are no black bars at the top & bottom of the screen, that's an IMAX scene.

Yes. IMAX sequences are presented in 1.78:1 while the rest of the film is in 2.40:1. The DVD release, on the other hand, displays the entire film in its theatrical ratio of 2.40:1; a special DVD edition includes the major IMAX sequences in their OARs as a special feature.