Batman (1966) holds a strange place in popular culture, remembered (sometimes fondly) for its campy tone, farcical stories, and goofy action. Despite the many iconic elements, phrases, and action shots of the show remaining a staple of pop culture and the subject of many jokes, many people don’t remember that this was the point.
Yes, Batman was silly, but it was never meant to be taken seriously. The show is a comedy disguised as an action superhero series, and no element of the show makes that clearer than the many weird gadgets Adam West and Burt Ward’s Batman and Robin used. From shields, to lasers, to shark-repellent spray, every gadget featured Batman’s signature logo and motif.
10 Batman’s Portable Laser Gun Was For All Purposes
Batman’s Laser Gun (one of the few items in his toolkit without a “Bat” prefix) is one of his most useful gadgets. In the pilot episode alone, he uses it no less than three times, from lighting a fuse, to cutting through steel bars on a window, to melting the firing pin of a revolver. The laser gun became the ace up Batman’s sleeve, and its ridiculous usability was indicative of the show’s comedic style.
What’s even more surprising than a 1960s Batman having a portable, lightweight, high-powered laser is the fact that, unlike some of Batman’s older gadgets, the laser gun has remained a staple of Batman’s inventory. Although it isn’t as portrayed as outlandishly, Batman still keeps laser-based tools, especially laser cutters, in his utility belt to this day.
9 The Anti-Hypnotic Bat Reflector Is Perfectly In Line With The Show’s Tone
This gadget is pure Silver Age nonsense, and the show takes this ridiculous deus ex machina and runs with it. Why does Batman have a mirror on his person specifically designed to counter the Mad Hatter? Because why not!
Batman’s high-tech mirror demonstrates the show’s angle on the old “prep time” argument. The idea that Batman could defeat anyone with enough prep time remains true here, but instead of a cool, action-packed portrayal, it’s portrayed as silly, even somewhat slapdash, to get laughs.
8 Batman Carries A Key To Wayne Manor (Just In Case)
Once again, Batman‘s take on the idea of the always-prepared Batman is played for laughs, rather than showing a dangerous and shadowy vigilante. In the classic episode “Joker’s Provokers,” Joker ties Batman to a giant key duplicator, intending to kill him by running him through the machine.
However, Joker is foiled when Batman throws his spare key into the machine, buying him time to escape. Adam West’s Batman truly is prepared for everything, just like the comics’ Batman, but his preparations also include simply carrying a spare key in case he gets locked out of his mansion. In a series where the absurd is often presented as mundane, the mundane becomes absurd and increases the hilarity.
7 The Bat-Turn Lever Made For One Of The Shows Most Iconic Shots
What with Batman and Robin using an atomic-powered car with a rocket engine, a simple emergency break wouldn’t be enough to pull off high-speed turns. That’s where the Emergency-Bat-Turn-Lever comes into play. First, it releases parachutes to help slow the car before braking and allowing for a full 180-degree turn.
While it does, in a way, make sense that West’s sleek and powerful Batmobile would need a special way to turn, Batman ’66 gave it its own unique flavor. The over-the-top execution makes for a combination of a great action scene, and laugh-out-loud ridiculousness.
6 Batman Used Bat-Acillin For Headaches And Bullet Wounds
The modern Batman typically fixes his injuries on the fly with futuristic first-aid equipment or endures long enough to make it back to the Batcave, where Alfred can stitch him up. Adam West’s Batman, however, had a much better way to handle any combat injuries: Bat-Acillin
Bat-Acillin makes video game health packs blush, a simple lozenge that allows whoever takes it to instantly recover from any sickness or wound. In the Western-inspired episode “It’s How You Play The Game,” Robin is shot in the heel, and Batman gives him some Bat-Acillin. In the very next scene, Robin is up and about, jumping and clicking his heels as if it never happened. It’s absolutely ludicrous, but 100% fits in Batman‘s world.
5 The Bat-Ray Brought Any High-Speed Chase To A Close
Batman ’66 sure did love its car chases, and the Bat-Ray was Batman’s one-stop shop for ending them. Since Batman is strictly a non-lethal hero, he didn’t deploy any Mad Max or Fast and Furious tricks to get the upper hand. Batman used his Bat-Ray, a sort of ion/emp laser beam that disabled the villain’s vehicle.
How does this work without disabling the Batmobile, and why does it shoot out of the headlights of all things? In perfect Batman ’66 fashion, the series never bothers to explain how it works; it just shows off its flashy toy. The fact that its very first use results in an explosive crash really demonstrates the mix of silliness and awesome action that the series is famous for.
4 The Batmobile’s Anti-Theft Activator Is Goofy In All The Right Ways
Today, Batman uses everything from biometric scanners to an electric field to protect the Batmobile from theft, but that wasn’t so easy with an open-top Batmobile back in 1966. Instead, in the very first episode, when the Riddler tries to steal the Batmobile, Batman’s theft prevention methods are put on full display.
Robin disguises the anti-theft activator as the ignition, so when Riddler attempts to drive away with his prize, he instead sets off fireworks. Batman’s ingenious theft protection is to set off fireworks to allow anyone to track a stolen Batmobile. It’s ridiculous, but it’s funny in just the right way, and while it may be silly, it was effective, forcing Riddler to abandon his attempts.
3 Batman And Robin’s Bat-Shields Defy All Logic
Since Batman doesn’t use guns, he has to take steps to nullify the advantages guns give his opponents. Sometimes, he uses his Batarangs to knock them away, smoke bombs to block enemies’ sights, or (in the Arkham series) he disables them with advanced tech, but in Batman ’66, it got pretty silly, even by the silly standards of the show.
Batman and Robin used portable shields made of bulletproof glass that Batman kept in his utility belt. How, exactly, did Batman break the laws of physics, and not the glass, to store a collapsible shield in his belt? No idea, but watching it makes for a great comedic moment.
2 Batman And Robin’s Bat-Poles Were The First Sign Of The Silliness
In the pilot episode, before Batman and Robin even appeared in their costumes, one of the very first signs of the behavior of the Dynamic Duo was the Bat-Poles, and they made it crystal clear just how campy of a show the audience was in for.
The Bat-Poles are, inexplicably and hilariously, clearly labeled as the “Bat-Poles” that lead into the Batcave, and are also marked specifically for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. So, if anyone (such as Aunt Harriet) happened to somehow accidentally open the secret entrance, there would be no possible deniability of its purpose, and that just makes it funnier. Batman and Robin always leave the poles already changed into their costumes, however that works.
1 Batman: The Movie’s Bat-Shark-Repellent Is Iconic
Batman: The Movie is nonsensical even by the standards of the show. But it is admirable that it manages to distill every aspect of the show into a film, utilizing famous villains from the original series like Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman, and famously contains some memorable moments.
Really, what would any discussion of Adam West’s Batman be without Bat-Shark-Repellent? The gadget is the epitome of the show’s hilarious take on the over-prepared Batman, and the fact that the shark then falls back into the ocean and explodes is the perfect encapsulation of the series’ over-the-top comedy.
