Where to Stream: Batman & Bill

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“You take away their humanity when you take away their credit.”

That statement, given by legendary comic book artist Jerry Robinson in the first half hour of Hulu’s new original documentary Batman & Bill, sets the stakes for this real world comic book battle. Lives may not be in peril in Batman & Bill, but legacies are. The documentary follows one author-turned-detective as he strives to right a hidden wrong — and gives comic book fans a thrilling, Serial-esque ride.

No, Batman & Bill isn’t a podcast, but it’s hard not to see the parallels between the documentary and much-talked-about audio docs like Serial, Missing Richard Simmons and S-Town. Like those podcasts, Batman & Bill sets out to solve a mystery that many people didn’t know existed. Even Batman cosplayers — fans dedicated enough to don the Caped Crusader’s iconic cowl — just shrug when asked about Bill Finger. Like Simmons and S-Town, Batman & Bill also dives deep into the life of an absent protagonist. While artist Bob Kane came up with the name “Bat-Man,” uncredited comic book writer Bill Finger came up with Batman’s costume, coined the phrase “The Dark Knight,” named Batman’s city Gotham and co-created Robin, Commissioner Gordon, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, and Scarecrow among others. Despite those contributions, Kane’s 1939 contract with National Publications (now DC Comics) ensured that he would receive sole credit for a character that is now the most recognizable superhero in the world. Finger died in 1974, alone, before being buried in a potter’s field.

With both Finger and Kane dead, Batman & Bill’s real connection to those podcasts comes in the form of a non-titular protagonist. Marc Tyler Nobleman fills the Sarah Koenig/Dan Taberski/Brian Reed role, with the documentary focusing just as much on this amateur sleuth as it does on the creator he’s trying to vindicate. This isn’t just the untold story of Batman’s creation, it’s also the story of Nobleman’s obsessive quest to do the impossible: get Warner Bros. (DC’s parent company) to give Finger the credit he deserves after a 75-year-long snub.

It could be seen as unfair that Finger, long denied the spotlight, has to share a movie named after him with someone else. The addition of an underdog protagonist (Nobleman) makes this a compelling watch, and Finger is continually the film’s focus — even in scenes featuring Nobleman’s wife and daughter. By adding Nobleman’s narrative to the documentary, the audience has a living, sympathetic point-of-view character. Nobleman cares about Bill Finger, so we do as well. If you take a step back, this structure positions the film as one Finger could have written, with a detective chasing down leads in a quest for justice. Not only is this Bill’s story, but it also feels like a Bill story.

It also looks like a comic book at times thanks to animated sequences by Alchemy X. It’s definitely a trope of comic documentaries to include animated comic book art, but Batman & Bill uses it to great, sometimes beautiful, effect. Considering that there are only 11 photos of Bill Finger in existence, the doc uses these animated sequences to bring Finger’s story Finger to life. Appropriately, the animated art reflects the styles of the time period; the sequences depicting the time around Batman’s creation are rendered as yellowed Golden Age pages while Nobleman’s adventure looks like a 21st century comic. Even though the animation is purposefully stiff, it’s adept at conveying subtle emotion. The joy that washes over animated Bill Finger’s face when he sees his writer’s credit on an episode of the 1966 Batman TV show — the only time Finger was ever credited with a Batman story — is surprisingly touching.

The animation also illustrates Nobleman’s hunt, as it depicts Nobleman calling every “Finger” in the phonebook and staking out Bill’s ex-wife’s apartment building, a sequence that culminates with Nobleman interviewing two elderly ladies in their living room. Just like Batman (and also Serial’s Sarah Koenig), Nobleman is a lone detective with a lot of help. Batman & Bill expands its scope to include the extended Finger family — a family whose tradition is, as one member notes, “being excluded from everything.” Like those buzzed about podcasts, Batman & Bill includes a number of twists as clues give way to game-changing reveals.

There is one major thing, besides the whole not-a-podcast thing, that separates Batman & Bill from this year’s water-cooler series S-Town and Missing Richard Simmons: Bill Finger wanted this. Much has been made about the level of consent granted in all those aforementioned podcasts, especially the ones focusing on people that are either dead or purposefully avoiding the public eye. Bill Finger is dead, but the documentary makes it clear that he wanted the credit that Nobleman spent a decade chasing down. Finger even tried to claim credit himself in a string of interviews given in the 1960s, including an appearance at the very first comic-con in New York City in 1965. Those claims were always batted down by Kane, a man that further profited off of Bat-mania by selling lithographs he falsely passed off as his own. Ultimately, all Finger could do was ask his writing partner for top-billing on that one Batman episode. As more is revealed about Finger’s family, you realize that this Golden Age slight has been passed down through generations as others tried to get Bill the recognition he deserved — and failed.

Batman & Bill succeeds in telling the story of not just Bill Finger, but the entire oft-overlooked Finger family. As the events unfold and the lost facts of Bill’s life are uncovered, this battle for credit starts to feel as mythic as a summer superhero film — partly because a woman with the name Athena literally assumes the role of “chosen one” when Nobleman isn’t able to fight any further. Batman & Bill is the comic book version of Serial, effectively marrying the best of two worlds while sidestepping the third act fumble that’s prevalent in both. After 75 years, Bill Finger finally has a happy ending.

Watch Batman & Bill on Hulu