‘Holy Musical B@man!’ Is a Catchy Tribute to a Surprisingly Bitter and Murderous Dark Knight

Over the past week, my inbox has blown up with people alerting me to the existence of Holy Musical B@man!, and it's easy to see why. Not since Bring It On was adapted for the stage has there been a piece of musical theater so carefully crafted to appeal to my tastes. This time around, it's a surprisingly catchy parody of the Caped Crusader produced by Team Starkid, the same people who brought you the similarly copyright-defying A Very Potter Musical back in 2009. It's the perfect way to kick off your weekend, so check it out after the cut -- but watch out for a bit of NSFW language.

One of the things you might notice right from the start is that Starkid's version of Batman is a little, ah... off model from the Caped Crusader that you may be more familiar with, what with, you know, all the bitterness and self-aggrandizing and killing people from an airplane. When you consider that Holy Musical is at least partially informed by Tim Burton's 1989 movie, however, it's pretty accurate to the character presented there.

Even though the whole thing is pretty obviously goofing on the very idea of Batman, the love that the creators have for the character is evident in how deep they go for bringing stuff to the screen. Obscure rogues like Calendar Man and Egghead make appearances, and while that's to be expected, a guest starring shot for the entire Justice League -- including a dead accurate portrayal of Green Lantern -- added a whole new dimension to what they were doing. It goes on for two hours and keeps dropping new stuff at every turn.

There's even the hint of a crossover, if I'm right in thinking that the young lady playing the pizza delivery girl is secretly (though inexplicably) cosplaying as Pokémon's Ash Ketchum:

But maybe that's just a coincidence.

Either way, it's a good time, and I'm particularly fond of the villains' number in Act I (again, watch out for the swears) that segues into a bizarre Seinfeldian treatment of Two-Face and then a seriously clever bit with the Candy Themed villain who has the bright idea to actually try killing Batman.

Also, I'm not gonna lie, there is some pretty amazing Michael Caine-ing going on here.

The whole show is available to watch on YouTube, and if you want to check out the soundtrack, Starkid's set up on Bandcamp too, where you can download it for any price you feel like paying. Give it a listen!

[Via Topless Robot]