As dusk settles on New York’s skyline, the city’s unsung heroes emerge—bats! These overlooked night workers save the City millions in pest control, reducing invasive species, mosquitoes, and the use of harmful pesticides. They are also pollinators, essential for food security.

But Gotham’s bats are in major decline from habitat loss, light pollution, and white‑nose syndrome, a disease that has wiped out ~90% of bats across the State.​ If they disappear, the city doesn’t just gain more unwanted pesticides and lose its favourite treats (chocolate! mangoes! tequila!). Losing bats would eradicate the opportunity to learn their unique biological resistance to cancer and viruses – a blocker to human longevity. In 2025, NY scientists broke ground discovering bats have superpowers, living the equivalent of 180 human years, disease free.   

Long-listed for the 2026 David Prize, this campaign will harness the blockbuster power of the quintessentially New York Batman franchise to establish the world’s first animal IP, launching with the next movie instalment that premiers in fall, 2027.