Batman's Latest Archenemy: Batman

Wed., Nov. 12, 2008 7:29 AM PST by Gina Serpe

Stephen Vaughan / DC Comics

It may be more the provenance of Superman, but this time it's Batman who's entered Bizarro World.

Following the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Two-Face in the Caped Crusader's pantheon of sworn nemeses, Batman is now set to face off against none other than...uh, Batman.

The mayor of Batman, a small oil-producing town in Turkey, has filed suit against The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros., the studio behind the record-shattering blockbuster, looking for a cut in the film's royalties in exchange for using the city's name without permission.

Which begs the question of where hizzoner has been the past 70 years.

"There is only one Batman in the world," Mayor Huseyin Kalkan said, per Variety. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."

In addition to the name share, Kalkan claims the emotional distress that apparently comes from having one of the most indelible superheroes share a moniker with your town has led to several unsolved murders and a high suicide rate.

A WB rep, meanwhile, says the studio has seen reports of the legal action in the media but have yet to receive any court papers.

Holy nutjob, Batman.

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