“Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s” animated figures that caused Bob Hoskins to see things), some unapologetically silly yet enjoyable ones (“Freddy vs. Jason”), and some budget, deliberately absurd mockbusters that functioned as a bad joke (“Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”) in the past few decades, for sure. Yet, this unrealized 1966 venture called “Batman vs. Godzilla” probably takes the prize, even if it never materialized.
According to Grantland, a proposed follow-up to the Adam West-starring “Batman: The Movie” (which premiered after the completion of season 1 of the live-action series) actually had a script (“Batman Meets Godzilla,” ordered from writer Shinichi Sekizawa) that merged the iconic kaiju with the exaggerated slapstick humor of William Dozier’s beloved “Batman” series that aired in the mid-’60s.
Located in Japan, the narrative would have featured Batman, Robin, and Batgirl teaming up to rescue the nation from a sinister German meteorologist, Klaus Finster. Finster asserts he can “control the weather,” which, it seems, serves as a euphemism for having dominion over Godzilla. Regardless, his preliminary threat is to obliterate the entire nation unless he receives $20 million in gold from… anyone. But when he discovers that the caped heroes have been notified to thwart him, he initially dispatches a robotic replica of Count Draidl (a companion of Batman and Robin) equipped with “gun eyes” to deal with them so he can execute his clever master plan. After taking down the android, Batman deduces that the kaiju may be a component of Finster’s nefarious scheme, total destruction and all, and the genuine circus featuring Kabuki performances, samurai swords, Batcopter, espionage robots, a Japanese bathhouse, and Godzilla falling in love is just around the corner.
However absurd this storyline appears, you must concede this movie would have been a spectacle, probably yielding meme material for ages.