For the past few weeks, The Walt Disney Company's potential acquisition of 20th Century Fox has excited superhero fans with the possibility that Fox's X-Men and Fantastic Four could join their Marvel Comics allies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While that impending acquisition could reshape the future of Disney's Marvel movies, it could also give Disney the rights to the iconic 1960s TV series Batman and influence the future of the ongoing Batman series Gotham.

Although Warner Brothers owns Batman and the rest of DC Entertainment's characters, Fox owns the rights to Batman's 1960s show. Through Gotham, the Fox Broadcasting Network also currently holds Batman's live-action TV rights.

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Both of these Bat-related items could play a part in a deal between Disney and Fox that's worth over $60 billion. While a prospective agreement could be announced as soon as next week, U.S. government regulators would have to approve of the acquisition, which would radically alter the landscape of the entertainment industry. If approved, this would be the latest in a series of major Disney acquisitions that's included Marvel and Lucasfilm. While Fox's current owners, the Murdoch family, would keep Fox's news, sports and broadcast networks, Disney would get Fox's other cable channels, its share in Hulu and vast content library, including shows produced by 20th Century Fox Television.

BATMAN'S BEGINNINGS

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Before the WB purchased DC Comics' stable of characters, National Periodical Publications, DC's forerunner, sold Batman's TV rights to the ABC network for a reported $7,000 in the early 1960s. Subsequently, ABC awarded the Batman rights to Fox, who co-produced the series with Greenway Productions, a production house run by former TV executive William Dozier. As part of their deal to make the show, Fox took Batman's exclusive distribution rights, and Greenway owned the actual footage of the show.

Starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin, Batman became an instant pop culture sensation after it premiered on January 12, 1966. While its kitschy humor was lost on its youngest viewers, the live-action show was widely regarded as a hip piece of pop art that would define Batman for a generation. After its first season ended, the show even spawned a theatrically-released feature film, Batman: The Movie, in 1966. Fox also distributed that film, which was produced by Greenlawn Productions, Dozier's other production company.

The nation's "Bat-Mania" didn't last for long, and low ratings spelled Batman's doom after three seasons. After the show ended in 1968, Fox used its distribution rights to keep the series on in syndicated repeats, where it delighted several new generations of viewers. Although it still had a home on airwaves, Batman fell into a legal quagmire that lasted for decades.

In 1967, DC Comics was acquired by the Kinney National Company, which would eventually morph into Warner Communications in the 1970s. Although Fox released Batman: The Movie on home video in the 1980s, the tangle of rights between Fox, Greenway and Warner kept the show off of the home video market. These issues were only compounded by potential issues regarding some of the famous guest stars, pop songs and even some of the designs that were featured in the series. After years of continued entanglements, Classic Media consolidated Greenway's stake in Batman, which it subsequently sold to Fox for an alleged seven-figure sum in the early 2010s.

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Batman 66

THE CAPED CRUSADER RETURNS

Even though Fox owned the Dynamic Duo's show, the conglomerate couldn't do anything new with Batman without Warner Bros, who still owned the characters. Likewise, the WB couldn't release products inspired by the likenesses of the actors who appeared in the show, since those were legally tied to the show's footage. In 2012, Fox and the WB announced a new licensing agreement that opened the floodgates for Batman to ride again. Over the next few years, the WB's Consumer Products division also released a range of Batman '66-branded products ranging from action figures and Funko! Pops to blankets and Christmas tree ornaments.

At 2013's San Diego Comic-Con, DC Comics revealed new plans for this light-hearted Dark Knight. After decades of trying to shake off the shadow of Adam West's Batman, the publisher embraced his Batman's legacy with Batman '66, a well-received digital comic book with "new stories inspired by the classic TV series."

In January 2014, Warner Home Video made the long-awaited announcement that Batman would be released in its entirety on home video later that year. Remastered in high-definition, the series was released in massive Blu-Ray sets that included all 120 episodes of the show and hours of extras. If those pricey sets were too expensive for fans, the WB also released DVD sets that were broken up by season.

In 2016, Warner Bros. released Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, an animated movie that served as a follow-up to the 1960s Batman show. Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar reprised their respective roles as Batman, Robin, and Catwoman. In 2017, those stars reprised their roles again in a sequel, Batman vs. Two-Face, which was released a few months after West's death.

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Despite the WB's range of Batman '66 products, Fox still holds the copyright to the actual show. As part of the deal with the WB, Fox reportedly got a share of the profits from the Batman box sets. Fox also still holds the rights to Batman: The Movie, which has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray multiple times. Thanks to its original distribution deal, Fox still makes money off of syndicating Batman, which currently airs in the U.S. on stations like MeTV and Heroes and Icons, which specialize in repeats of classic TV shows.

Coincidentally, the Fox Broadcasting Company won a bidding war to air Gotham in September 2013. Although the show is produced by Warner Bros. Television, it's aired domestically on Fox for four seasons. The show, which stars Ben McKenzie as a young Jim Gordon, has achieved solid ratings and mostly positive reviews for its expansive take on a pre-Batman Gotham City. While Fox's deal has kept Batman out of the CW's Arrowverse shows, Gotham is still owned by WBTV. Since the Disney acquisition won't include the Fox broadcast network, the Batman show seems safe from Disney's all-encompassing grasp, for now.

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BATMAN'S POSSIBLE FUTURES

If Disney's Fox acquisition goes through, the exact status of Batman '66 becomes somewhat unclear. Since the full details of any deals between Fox and the WB aren't common knowledge, there's no telling what kind of clauses could direct Batman's future from the depths of fine print. Before or after the acquisition actually happens, Fox or Disney might be interested in selling Batman back to the WB to avoid future rights headaches. For the WB, Batman would certainly be an attractive piece of content to have on its upcoming DC Entertainment streaming service, if they don't already own the show's streaming rights.

From Disney's point of view, there's probably not much it can do with the Batman rights without the WB's cooperation. Since Disney would presumably inherit Fox's syndication rights and the rights to Batman: The Movie, the corporation could probably squeeze a little bit of money out of the show. Depending on whether or not Disney ends up with the digital distribution rights to Batman and Batman: The Movie, that could, ironically, give Batman a digital home alongside Marvel's heroes on Disney's much-hyped upcoming streaming service.

If Fox or Disney decide to hold on to the Batman rights, it's not necessarily the end of the world for the WB. In the decades that DC downplayed Adam West's Batman, the Dark Knight overtook Superman to become pop culture's most prominent superhero. Depending on the nature of the licensing agreement between Fox and the WB, the Batman '66 toys and comics could come to an end after a Disney acquisition. Since younger generations have stronger connections to later incarnations of Batman, it wouldn't be too surprising if the groovy Caped Crusader of the 1960s already had an increasingly less meaningful role in the WB's future plans for Batman.

It's also worth noting that Disney, Fox and Warner all have stakes in the streaming service Hulu. Regardless of whether or not Disney's Fox acquisition happens, all of Batman's rights-holders already have a vested interest in the service. If the show comes to streaming anytime in the immediate future, Hulu could be well-positioned to become Batman's streaming home.

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Even though the Fox broadcast network isn't part of the Disney deal, the Batman TV rights that include Gotham could come into play too. If Fox wants or needs to sell its claim to the 1960s Batman show, the Batman TV rights could be included as a way to make it more enticing for the WB. On the other hand, the live-action Batman rights could become one of the biggest assets the Fox Broadcasting Company has left after Fox's acquisition. In that case, Gotham and any other potential Batman shows could take on a new prominence in the network's future schedules.

Assuming that Disney's Fox acquisition goes through, the future of a long-canceled Batman show is a small piece of an impossibly large, complex puzzle that could dramatically change the entertainment landscape. From its early days as an unlikely pop culture phenomenon to its long-awaited home release, Batman has beaten the odds. If Batman's TV rights force Disney and the WB to come to the table, it could open up a line of dialogue that makes crossovers between Marvel and DC's superheroes a possibility in comics or on film. While that's admittedly unlikely, Batman has already distinguished itself as the little show that could do seemingly impossible things, no matter who owns it.