# Clueless Adam West Interview about Batman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757 "2008-07-08T21:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/1 "2008-07-08T21:02:41Z")
This guy has got to be one of the dumbest dumbshits who has ever walked the planet. [Interview Here](http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/74971/the_den_of_geek_interview_adam_west.html). He played Batman forty years ago and has been whining about wanting into the Batman movies ever since. However; "Your fans, including me, have been waiting nearly twenty years for you to make a guest appearance in the new Batman movies… Well I’d love to. I like Christian Bale. I’ve heard he’s a big fan of mine, but I certainly reciprocate. I think he’s really very good. I’d love to play his father. The older Batman comes out of the woodwork, when times get really tough…maybe a few tips here and there…" _ **screeeeeeetchhhhh!!!** _ Wait a minute there, Adam. Did you ever, you know, just ONCE, read any of the Batman origin comics? Are you even slightly aware of the character’s background and parents? _ **Play his father??? “The older batman”???** _ WHAT THE FUCK. Did you even watch the new movie? Go the fuck away now Adam. You’re too stupid, clueless and ignorant about Batman to have any further part in the mythos. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/2 "2008-07-08T21:05:02Z")
Adam West has renewed his career in recent years by pretending to be a crazy old man (mostly through Family Guy). I imagine this is just more fuel for the fire. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/3 "2008-07-08T21:05:14Z")
Maybe he can play his crazy uncle or something? (The one they never talked about). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/4 "2008-07-08T21:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] Go the fuck away now Adam. You’re too stupid, clueless and ignorant about Batman to have any further part in the mythos. [/QUOTE] You know that this is the guy who in his first notable performance in 30 years successfully pulled off a five-minute joke about chewing taffy, right? Adam West can do no wrong. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/5 "2008-07-08T21:11:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Wait a minute there, Adam. Did you ever, you know, just ONCE, read any of the Batman origin comics? Are you even slightly aware of the character’s background and parents? Play his father??? “The older batman”??? WHAT THE FUCK. Did you even watch the new movie? Maybe Adam West is tuned into Bat-culture more than you are. Back in the Silver Age there were stories about Bruce Wayne’s dad. In particular, there was one where he dressed as a Bat-Man for a costume party and ended up putting away some criminals. Later Joe Chill was ordered to take him out – which is how Bruce’s parents got rubbed out. In that version, it wasn’t a random street thug (as it had been earlier, and since) or Jack Napier (as in the Tim Burton Batman movie), but a hitman from a criminal organization who deliberately sought out the Waynes. Batman later caught up with Chill. > [@](#): > > In Detective Comics #235 (1956), Batman learns that Chill is not a mere robber, but actually a hitman who has murdered the Waynes on orders from a Mafia boss named Lew Moxon. > **[Joe Chill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Chill)** > > This is an accepted version of this page > Joe Chill is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939). In most adaptations of Batman's origin story, Joe Chill is the mugger who murders young Bruce Wayne's parents, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne. The murder traumatizes Bruce, inspiring his vow to avenge the... ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/6 "2008-07-08T21:13:01Z")
You’re calling him the dumbest person on the planet for forgetting that Bruce Wanye is an orphan? Take a big, deep breath, and think of a tropical pool under a soothing waterfall. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/7 "2008-07-08T21:14:34Z")
Methinks you’ve been whooshed by a Master. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/8 "2008-07-08T21:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Adam West has renewed his career in recent years by pretending to be a crazy old man (mostly through Family Guy). I imagine this is just more fuel for the fire. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I can’t imagine that anyone who happily plays himself on Family Guy and Kim Possible (I think there may be other animated shows) where he’s portrayed as more than a little crazy can be that oblivious. Unless he really is so far gone he just reads whatever they hand him. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/9 "2008-07-08T21:16:11Z")
**Thomas Wayne** : > [@](#): > > Dr. Wayne was also the “first Batman” according to The First Batman, a Silver Age tale where he attacked and defeated hoodlums while dressed like a “Bat-Man” for a masquerade ball with flying creatures as a theme (the costume resembles the original Batman costume from 1939). This was recognized as one of the inspirations for Bruce becoming Batman. According to the story, Thomas Wayne’s actions resulted in Lew Moxon being imprisoned and ordering the murder of Thomas Wayne ten years later through Joe Chill. Though this would make Bruce 12-15, the Silver Age Batman tales were known for their inaccuracies. When Batman realizes Moxon ordered his parents killed, he confronts Moxon, who can’t remember what he did due to amnesia. When Batman’s costume is torn, he wears Thomas Wayne’s. Moxon remembers his crime, believes that he is being attacked by Thomas Wayne’s ghost and flees into the streets where he is killed by a truck. These events were retold in the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dr. Wayne as the “First Batman” was retconned - he instead attended the masquerade ball as Zorro. This was furtherly retconned in the pages of Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering alteration to the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving candies to children (it’s Halloween Night) in the original Batman costume, and thinks at how Bruce told him about a costume his father wore at a ball, that inspired his Batman identity later. > **[Thomas Wayne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wayne)** > > Dr. Thomas Wayne, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne, and husband of Martha Wayne as well as the paternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Wayne was introduced in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939), the first exposition of Batman's origin story. A gifted surgeon and philanthropist to Gotham City, Wayne inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne. When Wayne and his wife are murdered in a street mugging, ... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/10 "2008-07-08T21:23:42Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Batman later caught up with Chill. [/QUOTE] As well as Lew Moxon, the guy who hired Chill to get revenge on Thomas Wayne. As a minor additional note, in addition to supplying various guest voices during various Batman cartoons, West suplied the voice of the big B himself in the 1986 (and final) season of _Super Friends_, under the title “The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians”. He’d also done the voice in earlier toons. Frankly, I could see West in a film adaptation of the Frank Miller _Dark Knight_ books about an older Batman, but he’d need a strict fitness regimen and extensive acting lessons first. I’d rather see Rutger Hauer in the role, though. I also could’ve imagined West as Thomas Wayne in the 1989 movie, on-screen just long enough to get shot. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/11 "2008-07-08T21:30:59Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Yeah, I can’t imagine that anyone who happily plays himself on Family Guy and Kim Possible (I think there may be other animated shows) where he’s portrayed as more than a little crazy can be that oblivious. Unless he really is so far gone he just reads whatever they hand him. :eek: [/QUOTE] Fairly Oddparents - Catman, an actor who actually believes himself to be the superhero he played on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/12 "2008-07-08T21:38:03Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Fairly Oddparents - Catman, an actor who actually believes himself to be the superhero he played on TV. [/QUOTE] I knew I was forgetting one. _Self-aware_ is the term I was trying to get across in my last post. He’s too self-aware to be a clueless idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/13 "2008-07-08T21:38:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Yeah, I can’t imagine that anyone who happily plays himself on Family Guy and Kim Possible (I think there may be other animated shows) where he’s portrayed as more than a little crazy can be that oblivious. Unless he really is so far gone he just reads whatever they hand him. :eek: [/QUOTE] And let’s not forget NewsRadio, where we discovered that he was D.B. Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/14 "2008-07-08T21:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] This guy has got to be one of the dumbest dumbshits who has ever walked the planet. [Interview Here](http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/74971/the_den_of_geek_interview_adam_west.html). He played Batman forty years ago and has been whining about wanting into the Batman movies ever since. However; "Your fans, including me, have been waiting nearly twenty years for you to make a guest appearance in the new Batman movies… Well I’d love to. I like Christian Bale. I’ve heard he’s a big fan of mine, but I certainly reciprocate. I think he’s really very good. I’d love to play his father. The older Batman comes out of the woodwork, when times get really tough…maybe a few tips here and there…" _ **screeeeeeetchhhhh!!!** _ Wait a minute there, Adam. Did you ever, you know, just ONCE, read any of the Batman origin comics? Are you even slightly aware of the character’s background and parents? _ **Play his father??? “The older batman”???** _ WHAT THE FUCK. Did you even watch the new movie? [/QUOTE] Sure! Why not! We’ll just get George Romero to oversee the makeup. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/15 "2008-07-08T21:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Methinks you’ve been whooshed by a Master. [/QUOTE] Yeah, West was doing self-parody long before Shatner made it cool. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/16 "2008-07-08T22:38:01Z")
I know, huh? Never in the history of comic books has a supposedly dead character ever miraculously turned up alive. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/17 "2008-07-08T22:44:52Z")
He may have simply been thinking along the lines of his old Batman character being the one who’s parents were murdered by Joe Chill. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/18 "2008-07-08T22:48:29Z")
Sure, think about the angle for that! Bruce Wayne, totally messed up in the head because his parents were killed right in front of him, dedicates his life to fighting crime and invents the Batman as a symbol to do so. When suddenly his “dead” father returns. “Oh sorry son, I wanted to go away for a while. Miss me?” :eek: People can point out potential back stories from the original comics all they want, but **Batman Begins** clearly showed that the above is true. His parents were killed before his eyes, he went mental, dedicated his life to fighting criminals, and HE invented the Batman idea. There is no “older Batman”, there is no still living father to show up and cock things up. This ain’t Zorro, despite some similarities in costumes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/19 "2008-07-08T22:50:51Z")
Read the interview completely. West admits he’s never seen any of the Batman movies in their entirety. Either the whole thing is a whoosh, or he may not even _know_ what the origin story is. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757/20 "2008-07-08T22:54:12Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Yeah, I can’t imagine that anyone who happily plays himself on Family Guy and Kim Possible (I think there may be other animated shows) where he’s portrayed as more than a little crazy can be that oblivious. [/QUOTE] He did the same thing on the Simpsons in “Mr. Plow” in 1992. “I suppose you’re only familiar with the _new_ Batman movies. Michelle Pfeiffer? _Ha!_ The only true Catwoman is Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, or Eartha Kitt. And I didn’t need molded plastic to improve my physique. **Pure. West.** And why doesn’t Batman dance anymore? Remember the Batusi?” Creepy. Deranged. Hilarious. I’m not sure what he thinks about Batman these days, but I can see where he would appreciate the acknowledgement. Given the way the 60s Batman went, by the way, the fate of the Waynes may have never been dealt with. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clueless-adam-west-interview-about-batman/455757.md?page=2)