Bob Kane devised the character's civilian name, Bruce Wayne, wrote the first Batman story, while Kane provided art. Kane, who had already submitted the proposal for Batman at DC and held a contract, is the only person given an official company credit for Batman's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in "Comic Book Encyclopedia", refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger". According to Kane, "Bill Finger was a contributing force on Batman right from the beginning. He wrote most of the great stories and was influential in setting the style and genre other writers would emulate
Superhero film (which debuted in Marvel Comics) and set the stage for further comic book film adaptations. After the comic book boom and the success of several comic book adaptation films (including superhero films) in the 1990s, the first decade of the 21st century brought increased interest in the genre and some of the most profitable superhero franchises, many from Marvel Enterprises. The success of the "X-Men" TV series had made 20th Century Fox license the film rights in 1994. After the success of "Men in Black" in 1997, Columbia Pictures licensed the film rights of "Spider-Man" in 1999. 20th Century Fox's