Still from the Black and White Batman movie in 1943, and Ben Affleck's Batman looking confused

Long before the DCU , DC’s first foray into cinema came in the early 1940s, but it didn’t star one of the flagship heroes like Batman. DC has been an unstoppable force in the world of comics and superheroes since the 1940s. While it stands beside Marvel as one of the “Big Two,” DC held the advantage for many years in regards to their comics and their media adaptations.

In fact, the popularity of characters like Superman and Batman has been so consistent that both heroes have had adaptations created in most decades since they were first introduced, and sometimes even multiple iterations at once. However, while these heroes top the talent pile for DC today, there were other contenders who got into the theaters faster than either of them. And you probably won’t believe heroes beat Batman into the theaters.

DC’s First Batman Movie Is Predated By 2 Other Film Releases

Batman Was Not The First Hero To Grace The Big Screen

Batman and Robin in a car 1943 Batman 1943 Logo Batman swinging from rope 1943 Batman and Robin running in 1943 Batman 1943 Grandfather Clock

Batman arrived in comics at a similar time to Superman, with Batman debuting in Detective Comics in 1939. However, the version of Superman and Batman that started it all had some subtle differences to the modern iterations. And, the pair had strong competition from a company known as Fawcett Comics, which published a series known as Whiz Comics. Detective Comics and Action Comics from DC had their audience, but they weren’t as quick to pivot to new mediums, like films.

However, Fawcett Comics took a leap of faith, and with two of their unique creations, Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, to release movies featuring these heroes in 1941 and 1942 respectively. Batman then followed suit, seeing the potential for success, and released it’s first theatrical seriel in 1943. However, when DC licensed the rights for Fawcett Comics characters in 1972, Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher became part of their brand. After rebranding with Captain Marvel taking on the name Shazam and DC acquiring the full rights to all of Fawcett Comics characters in 1991, these characters are now official DC heroes.

Why Batman Wasn’t The First DC Movie Release

DC Took Time To Adapt To The Silver Screen

Ben Affleck as the DCEU's Batman looking into the camera Michael Keaton returning as Batman in The Flash Robert Pattinson As Bruce Wayne In Full Batman Costume In GCPD HQ In The Batman Christian Bale as Batman talking on ice in The Dark Knight Rises A close-up of George Clooney as Bruce Wayne in front of red smoke in Batman & Robin (1997)

At this early stage, theater was still a gamble. People did not attend feature-length shows the way they do now, but instead, movies were broken down into bite-sized chapters. These chapters would be released weekly, and keep the audience coming back to see what happened next time, and with the success of The Adventures of Captain Marvel, and Spy Smasher, DC saw an opportunity and took it. However, there was another reason for their hesitation. Batman was not anywhere close to as popular or universal a character as he is today.

Interestingly, Batman not being the first DC property to have a movie is a part of history that is repeating itself in the DCU, with several movies slated to release before Batman’s DCU debut

By all means, DC had a foot in the door and the comics sold well, but this new medium was a decisive step forward, and one that would allow their brand to grow beyond the regular comic book fans. And as time wore on, and the mediums improved, Batman continued to prove an incredibly popular and resilient character who remained popular over the decades with increasingly more appearances, a regular TV show, and more movies down the line. Today, it’s easy to forget that these characters have not been around forever. But the truth is, Batman was not the definitive superhero. He was popular, and his popularity increased over time, but imaginative and creative writers and artists have always been creating new and exciting characters.

I’m Oddly Glad Batman Wasn’t The First Ever DC Movie

There Was More Time To Learn & Grow

Michael Keaton wearing the Batsuit as Batman in Batman (1989) with shadows cast over him Batman and Joker fight scene in Batman (1989) The Penguin laughing in Batman Returns batman returns catwoman transformation - hell here Catwoman in Batman Returns pic

The truth is it takes time for these characters to take root, and become household names. Batman may be one of the top-performing heroes today, and the character has inspired dozens of spin-offs, but it didn’t start like that. It took time and effort invested in redesigning and expanding the hero to become something more. And now, thanks to Batman’s steady growth, it’s great to look back at the history and see how other heroes held the spotlight temporarily.

Things change, and the popularity of characters fluctuates, which has been seen in the way the MCU had a meteoric rise, before the Multiverse Saga has put the entire franchise into a freefall with random hits and misses. If these characters were just created and then became global sensations overnight, it would feel as earned, and seeing how Batman’s popularity helped take DC from the studio that didn’t get the first movie out before a smaller brand like Fawcett, only to overtake them and eventually buy them out, is a cool part of the history of these characters and brands.