Turkish Town of Batman Sues For 'Dark Knight' Royalties

If you ask the mayor of Batman, Turkey why he's so serious, he'll probably tell you it's because Warner Bros. and "Dark Knight" filmmakers used his city's name without permission.

"There is only one Batman in the world," says mayor Huseyin Kalkan, who is seeking royalties. "The American producers used the name of our city without informing us."

Batman is a Kurdish oil-producing town in southeast Turkey, and Kalkan is blaming the film for having caused several unsolved murders, and elevating the rate of female suicide in the city -- based on the psychological impact that the film's success has had. He also says he has evidence that Batman, the city, existed before the comic was created in 1939.

It seems the town's lawyers may have their hands full arguing that Batman's get-up is actually derived from a Kurdish oil town, as opposed to the winged mammal. Then again, the Batmobile does get a rather low MPG.