He is the superhero who finds himself in horrifyingly domestic situations.
“The idea was simply Batman as a dad," Blake Wilson said. "What it is - his glory days are over and now he's married with kids?"
The birth of the phenomenon that is Batdad happened in suburban dad fashion - at Target.
“I walked through the aisles in Target, saw the mask, picked it up spur of the moment and just bought it and then when we got out to the car, I just put it on and started making videos.”
Two weeks in, Blake Wilson's videos went viral. Two and a half years and more than four million Facebook followers later, he is still at it.
“Nobody would think that they're going to go buy a child's mask and then goof around with their wife and kids and then have that turn into their career,” he said. “It's very strange and I'm aware of how strange it is.
Photos: The adventures of Batdad
Wilson's children make appearances in his videos.
The unintended star of the videos is often his unsuspecting wife, Jen.
“Sometimes I do get mad,” Jen said. “A lot of time I truly am caught off guard which is why I look so irritated I guess.”
Like all successful franchises, Batdad has diversified and grown.
Batdad fans thought he got the dog as a sidekick. Turns out the reason was deeper than that. Sugar, the family’s newest dog -- a pit bull -- came from You Lucky Dog Rescue.
“I really felt the urge to foster one first just to give one a chance,” Blake said.
Blake wasn't sure about it with four kids in the house.
“I was hesitant,” he said.
Facebook: Batdad
But a year later - it's a different story.
“It didn't take long for my heart to open up for her,” Blake said.
And it opened up a conversation in general in the comments section.
“People thought it was really cool that we fostered and adopted a pit bull,” he said.
Sometimes Sugar plays Robin to his Batdad, but most of the time she's just a well-loved member of a relatable family whose flaws and mishaps make us feel better about our own - mask or no mask.
