Kevin Smith Is Dropping Batman From the Title of One of His Most Popular Podcasts

Kevin Smith is dropping the title Fatman on Batman from one of his most popular podcasts, and will rebrand with a special live episode airing on September 15 — ironically celebrating “Batman Day.”

The series’ new title will be Fatman Beyond, a wink-and-a-nod reference to the fan-favorite animated series Batman Beyond, as well as an acknowledgment of how far the show has come since it was just Smith weighing in on all things Batman.

While Smith acknowledged that Warner Bros. had been gracious about him using the Batman name for so long without trying to force him to stop using their trademark, he thought that “Sooner or later, the axe would fall. Then, couple that with the fact that a lot of people were like, ‘You’ve lost too much weight; it’s false advertising.’ So it felt like it was time for a change.”

Going from suggestions on the internet, he and co-host Marc Bernardin landed on Fatman Beyond.

“The next live show, we’re going to do on Batman Day, which is September 15,” Smith said. “Mark your calendars: that will be the official launch of Fatman Beond, which as a title I think works on a couple of different levels. Not only is it a nod to the Batman universe which of course spawned this show, but it is ‘Fatman, Beyond.’ Not just like, hey, he’s beyond a fat man now, or something like that, but it started as one thing and it’s gone beyond that, it’s become something different.”

Smith said that they will not renumber the show, and that it will remain on the same RSS feed and the same place on iTunes. Current Fatman on Batman subscribers will be subscribed to Fatman Beyond.

“It doesn’t come to an end, we just evolve into something else,” Smith said, “And it certainly gets rid of any [potential] legal action by dropping Batman from the title.”

He called the change “bittersweet.”

“This is like going on a final date with your boyfriend and/or girlfriend before you go off to college,” Smith said. “It just feels like the right time, but it is kind of weird to see the end of one era.”

The series, which used to feature regular interviews with comics and film talent behind Batman stories, will continue to be called “Fatman on Batman” if and when Smith uses that format for episodes, he said, but will be Fatman Beyond on podcast apps and that will be the title used in the introductions for new episodes of his pop culture talks with Bernardin.