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Why A Turkish Town Threatened To Sue Warner Bros Over Batman

By Hugh Fort in Spotlight, posted February 28, 2024

Batman is one of the most well-known superheroes in history and has vanquished many foes on the pages of DC Comics, TV screens and in Blockbuster movies.

The crime-fighting alter-ego of Bruce Wayne is famous around the world.

The character has created buckets of money for Warner Bros from a series of movies including "The Dark Knight."

But did you know there's another Batman?

As well as a comic character, Batman is also a town in the European country of Turkey.

It's a small, oil-producing city in the south-east of the country.

In 2008, the mayor, Hüseyin Kalkan, announced the city would take on Warner Bros in court.

Why? Using the city's name without permission.

He claimed the city deserved compensation for the "psychological impact" of the film on the people of the city.

He tried to blame the film for a "number of unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate."

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Before the lawsuit, he's quoted as saying:

"The mayor is prepping a series of charges against Nolan and Warner Bros., which owns the right to the Batman character, including placing the blame for a number of unsolved murders and a high female suicide rate on the psychological impact that the film's success has had on the city's inhabitants."

Of course, the case never materialized, prompting some speculation Kalkan's outbursts were little more than a politician trying to make a name for himself.

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The Dark Knight grossed more than $1 billion and is regarded as one of the best movies ever made.

Kalkan was jailed for a year later in 2008 for supporting terrorism, but was later compensated by the government after the case was looked into by the European Court of Human Rights.

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