22 March 2011

History of The Worlds Finest Team Ups




Tomorrow, Superman and Batman are Public Enemies. The two must team up to fend off villains and heroes looking to cash in on a $1 Billion bounty offered by President Lex Luthor. Even though Superman and Batman are frequently teamed up in the comics, even having their own comic book series (on which this DtV is based), it is surprising that the two haven't been matched up more over their on screen careers.

In the 60's The Batman Superman Hour packaged episodes of Batman and Superman / Superboy into a single programming block, but the heroes themselves never actually met.

The two first met in the 70's when both were members of the Super Friends team.

The pair again teamed up in against partners Lex Luthor and the Joker in the Superman Animated series episodes "Worlds Finest." Later on the series, Superman would team with Robin donning the Batman guise when Bruce Wayne went missing. The two would continue to work together as teammates on The Justice League.


Though Batman has never graced Smallville with a visit, the series third season teased fans with a character named Adam "Knight." Adam turned out not to be Batman, but his intellect, mysterious past, and fight training all pointed toward him being a young Bruce Wayne (until writers yanked him into a villainous direction). His blue/gray wardrobe even matched that of Batman.

A Batman vs . Superman movie was almost made a few years ago, but was cancelled at the last minute. A visual homage to the canceled project can be spied in I Am Legend.

"The Batman Superman Story" episodes of The Batman series' fifth season, much like in Public Enemies, opened with the two heroes facing off against the kryptonite powered cyborg Metallo.

Tomorrow we will see if this latest team up is worthy of the two heroes, but I imagine this isn't the last we will see of the two DC powerhouses sharing screen time.

UPDATE:

After teaming a second time in the Superman Batman sequel Apocalypse, the World's Finest heroes are now poised for their first team up in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, The Battle of the Super-Heroes! which airs this Friday March 25.