LOS ANGELES–Batfans rejoice! After nearly 60 years, the annals of history have uncovered a previously lost pilot episode of Adam West’s classic Batman series. The episode features the villain Onomatopoeia, an antagonist of Batman’s most recently seen in Batman: Caped Crusader. But we now know that he was featured on the 1966 series too–certainly an appropriate choice in a show with such colorful sound effect balloons.

The lost episode, filmed in 1965 and originally intended to kick off the iconic series, introduces the antagonist Onomatopeia, a supervillain who speaks only in sound effects such as “BAM!”, “BOFF!”, and “KAPOW!” A criminal who targets non-superpowered superheroes, Onomatopoeia has come to Gotham to take on the Dynamic Duo. But as part of his villainous plot, he also wants to force his obsession with sound effects onto his foes. He successfully casts a spell on Batman and Robin that makes sound effects magically appear in colorful word balloons whenever they get into fights–a plot point that remains ongoing for the following three seasons. Notably, this is the only time on the show when a villain defeats Batman.

Onomatopeia is played by William Shatner, who had risen to television stardom at that time for his role on Star Trek. Fans believe that Shatner’s penchant for overacting and excessively dramatic dialogue made him the perfect choice to verbally deliever Onomatopoeia’s sound effects, like “THWACK!”, “SOCK!”, and “PEW-PEW!”

According to the recently unearthed journals of show creator William Dozier (1908-1991), he always meant for Onomatopoeia to be a recurring and prominent antagonist of the show. But when he mailed the only copy of the episode to a film festival in Red Bank, New Jersey, it was tragically misplaced and lost to time. We now know that the episode was discovered by a postal worker named Donald Smith, who later showed it to his son Kevin (born 1970). Comic book writer Kevin Smith, who was previously believed to have co-created Onomatopiea in a 2002 issue of Green Arrow, now cites his privileged access to the lost Batman episode as his inspiration for getting into comics in the first place.

As the first appearance of an onscreen Batman, the 90-minute pilot episode also features an extended sequence of the caped crusader’s origin, including a flashback to the brutal shooting of Bruce Wayne’s parents in a dark back alley of the Gotham streets. This crucial scene has also been featured in every Batman film or TV adaptation ever before or since.

Produced by 20th Century Fox, the Batman show is now owned by Disney since it acquired Fox in 2019. The lost pilot episode of Batman is now available to watch on DisneyPlus. In tandem with the episode’s release, Disney executives have announced that Adam West’s Batman and Burt Ward’s Robin will appear in Avengers: Secret Wars through archvial footage of West and digital de-aging of the 79-year-old Ward.

Similarly inspired by watching the lost episode, Matt Reeves has announced that Onomatopoeia will be the primary villain of The Batman Part II, releasing in 2027.