?Faster Than Robin??: Batman Star Adam West Once Doubted Bruce Lee?s Martial Arts Skills

Bruce Lee?s struggle in Hollywood ended when he signed up for the hit television show, The Green Hornet in 1966. Lee would play Kato, an assistant of the lead character, the Green Hornet, played by Van Williams. Although Lee had a reputation as a karate fanatic in the industry, Batman star Adam West doubted his abilities in an exclusive interview with Van Williams.

Lee?s biography, Bruce Lee: A Life,?revealed an anecdote where Lee had threatened the media for raising questions about him playing the Japanese character, Kato. His controversial statement escalated to such an extent that Adam West openly doubted his skills. However, Lee received support from his co-star Van Williams.

What was the media controversy related to Bruce Lee and Kato?

During a promotional event for The Green Hornet, the media asked Bruce Lee about playing a Japanese character despite being Chinese. To this, Lee gave a grave reply, saying, ?I am a karate expert, black belt class. ??He added, ?Anyone object, I put them on their back.??Lee had clearly made an impression in the media that he would flatten anybody questioning his role as Kato. However, this led Batman star Adam West to question his skills during an interview after the promotional event.

Post-event, both Batman and The Green Hornet male leads appeared in a lighthearted TV interview with an ABC correspondent. The interviewer asked Williams about the Karate form Kato practices in real-life. He answered that Lee does Gung Fu. Moreover, the actor also revealed that his co-star was so fast that he once ended up flat on the floor because he mistakenly sneezed near Lee, indicating Lee’s fast skills.

In that instance, Adam West intervened, asking Williams by switching to his Batman voice,??Faster than Robin???To this, The Green Hornet smiled and replied,??Faster than a speeding bullet.? However, West expressed,??I doubt that very much.?

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Amusingly, during a crossover episode between Batman and The Green Hornet, Adam Wests?s co-star Burt Ward, who played Robin, was intimated to fight with Bruce Lee.

Burt Ward refused to shoot a scene with Bruce Lee

When both Batman and The Green Hornet were breaking records of high viewership, the show’s makers decided to collaborate for a special episode. As per the script, Batman?s assistant?Robin was supposed to defeat Kato.

However, before shooting the scene, Robin actor Burt Ward refused to fight Lee. He was aware of the Little Phoenix?s fighting prowess. Petrified by it, Burt expressed discomfort with the idea of sharing the fighting sequence with Lee.

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However, as Lee was not ready to lose to Ward on screen, the makers had to end their fight sequence in a tie as a solution.