Author - Sean Ryan

Despite his proliferation in modern pop culture, Batman has been around since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939 (you can pick up a copy of this legendary comic for a cool $4.23million if you fancy owning an original version of the birth of the Caped Crusader). This price made it the second most expensive comic book of all time. If that fact shocks you, sit back, relax, and read on, because it isn't the only fact about Batman that may leave your jaw dropping. Danny DeVito was Nearly Not the Iconic Penguin Batman Returns brought us one of the greatest villains of the Batman movie world: Penguin. Although not being in the role might well have saved Danny DeVito about four hours a day in makeup application (although he claims to have got this down to three hours by the end of the shooting), the iconic role propelled his career forward and made the performance of the on-screen villain truly iconic. In hindsight, it is easy to scratch your head and wonder how Dustin Hoffman could have ever been considered as the number one pick for the role. Thanks to Jack Nicholson, we ended up with DeVito and the iconic acting performance that is still highly regarded in the industry today, even though the film was released way back in 1992! DC Haven't Actually Gone 'Family-friendly' Despite Mr. Freeze DC Comics made an effort with Batman Forever and Mr. Freeze to become a more 'family-friendly' franchise, but Disney and Marvel have gone for a total clean-up job, going so far as to ban online and land-based gambling affiliations. Mr. Freeze Fact 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze has been voted as the worst portrayal of the character ever. I wonder why. pic.twitter.com/FG9MRGAsa9 — DoubleCrossinSnowman (@SnowmanSoul) 19 June 2017 Having made games for The Dark Knight trilogy, now Microgaming offers alternatives to Marvel slots, showing that DC retain that sense of rebellion that gives its characters that realistic edge. The Dark Knight Rises, for instance, is a five-reel slot that features Batman fighting old foe Bane, with new customers able to claim various welcome offers and free spins. If you didn't know Batman had slot games made in his honour, you wouldn't be alone, but given that Batman has been made into a game for pretty much every other gaming console device, this news shouldn’t shock you too much! There's a Film Out There That You Might Not Have Heard of... If you're a keen fan of Batman, you will know that there was an animated series about the hero of Gotham City. What you might not know, though, is that this animated series managed to produce the critically acclaimed Batman: Mask of the Phantasm movie. While the film didn't have the huge budget of Batman Forever and suffered from a rather poor marketing campaign from Warner Bros. that meant it wasn't hugely successful financially, it was nonetheless praised by IGN as being amongst the top 25 cartoon movies ever made and did eventually make the money back that was spent on the film, earning its status as a true cult movie amongst fans. With Batman still very much around and with a new movie in the works, it seems likely that as time goes by, many more weird and wonderful Batman facts will pass us by, so keep an eye out for any that you spot!