Fact Check: Did Wayne Bruce of Scotland inspire Batman? Truth behind the viral bearded, masked man debunked

A seemingly vintage photo of a bearded man in a mask is claimed to be the inspiration behind DC’s Batman. The image went viral on social media recently, with two different stories backing the claim.

According to one of the variations, the man in the photo was called Wayne Bruce who lived in Scotland in the 1800s. Donned in a bat mask, the man is said to be the inspiration for the DC superhero.

Another story claimed the man lived in New York around the same time but was called Bill Smith — a butcher turned vigilante who dedicated his life to hunting down criminals.

However, both these claims have no authenticity. A reverse-image search on Google showed results of numerous reposts of the image over the past few years. The false stories about the image being Batman’s character inspiration have been going around for a while.

The photo is originally from Foto Marvellini — an art and photography workshop founded in 2011. The viral image of the bearded man in a bat mask is titled ‘Batbarbone’ on their website.

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The viral bearded masked man is not the original inspiration for DC’s Batman

The bearded burly man in the bat mask captured in the essence of a vintage photo previously appeared on Reddit in 2017. Google tracked several other dates across 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 as the picture’s online footprint.

Most recently, Facebook user Jake Shearer posted the photo on the platform on April 18, claiming the man was Scottish resident Wayne Bruce — a progeny of King Robert the Bruce. Shearer said that Wayne used his inheritance to confront criminals wearing a disguise. He added:

“this is also why Glasgow was used to depict Gotham in the Batman films as a homage to the true origin story”

The other story shared on X (formerly Twitter) on May 13, 2023, claimed the picture was of Bill Smith, taken in 1892 in New York. Smith is said to have been a butcher who once fought off a thief from his store. He was 43 when it happened and had to appear in court due to his act.

However, the judge took sympathy and released him. An inspired Smith eventually began patrolling the New York streets at night to fight criminals. He used the bat mask to conceal his identity. The X post added:

"The press reported about the hero: "All the locals have heard of this Batman. He walks the night streets, and gangsters, thieves and drunken vagabonds keep their distance from him."

As for the source of the picture, Foto Marvellini seemingly specializes in creating or editing photographs with a vintage touch.

The Batbarbone print was created in 2012. The artist digitally manipulated photographs of individuals from the United States Library of Congress from the 19th century. The bat mask was layered on the photo in post-production. The description of the photo read:

"Cotton fiber base paper with silver salts. Printed in darkroom and treated in tannic acid (“Marvellini wash”). Assembled in wooden frame dated approx. early ’900. Antiglare glass.Complete work measures: cm 45 x 55."

The website has several other characters in bat masks with names, like Bat sposi, Batbianco, and Batraja. These images demonstrate individuals from different periods.

There are a few other images by the photography workshop that resembled popular fictional characters, including Padme from Star Wars, Bane from Batman’s sequel The Dark Knight Rises, Barry Allen aka Flash, Spiderman and Cousin Itt from The Addams Family.

The claim that this bearded man inspired DC to create Batman appeared in 2016 on a satirical website Suffolk Gazette.

However, the first comic strip of the masked vigilante Batman, originally created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger appeared in Detective Comics in 1939. According to a New York Times obituary of Bob from 1998, the artist was inspired by The Mark of Zorro, a 1920s movie, a 1930s film called The Bat Whispers and a radio show The Shadow.

The Bat Whispers featured a caped criminal who shone his bat-insignia on a wall before setting out to kill his victims. Bob Kane also credited the legendary Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci for inspiring him. He said he had seen a book about the artist with a picture of a flying machine with bat wings.

Thus, the claim that the bearded man in a mask from the viral vintage photo was Wayne Bruce from Scotland who inspired Batman's creators to forge his character, is false.