He created Batman, Robin and Bruce Wayne - but was treated like the Joker. Documentary reveals how superhero's true co-creator was kept secret until years after his death
He dreamed up Batman - and got treated like The Joker.
Bill Finger co-created the superhero in 1939 and founded an empire worth billions of dollars today.
The cartoonist gave Batman the nickname The Dark Knight and invented the story of his parents being killed in front of him as a boy.
Yet for 75 years all the credit went to Bob Kane, Finger's friend who asked him to help on creating a rival to Superman.
Kane became a wealthy celebrity and when he died in 1998 he got an obituary in the New York Times and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
By then Finger had already been dead 24 years and was thought to have been buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.
According to a new Hulu documentary, being released on May 6, it wasn't until author Marc Tyler Nobleman spent 10 years investigating and tracked down finger's granddaughter that DC Entertainment finally gave him credit on the movie Batman vs Superman.
Incredibly Finger did not just create Batman, he came up with his alter ego Bruce Wayne, named Gotham City and was the first person to write a story with the Batmobile and Batcave called those things.
According to the documentary 'Batman & Bill' he also created Batman's sidekick Robin, Catwoman and villains The Riddler, The Joker, The Penguin and The Scarecrow.
He was credited for none of them.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, director Don Argott said that Finger's recognition is long overdue.
He said: 'At the very least, if Bill had always been recognized as opposed to being denied there would be a level of dignity.
'That's what makes it so egregious and such an injustice because it's so clearly a guy (Kane) pushing everybody else out of the way and making sure he's front and center'.
