MoviesOnline laments that Dick Grayson/Robin apparently isn’t part of director Christopher Nolan’s vision for the Batman film franchise:
If Nolan intends to explore Batman’s origins and the beginnings of the characters that surround him, such as Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, and The Joker, then it stands to reason that Dick Grayson is wandering around this universe somewhere. The pity is that if anyone could present Dick Grayson as he was always meant to be seen, it would be Nolan. The quality of Nolan’s cinematic vision for Batman is equivalent to Frank Miller’s comic vision for Batman. It is a darker world that is sensible and without the camp that has made some of the Batman characters a joke like Robin seems to have become when translated to screen from the inked page.
Related: Profile of trained bat from first Batman movie (seriously)
August 24th, 2006 at 10:53 am
That’s fine with me. I like my Batman movies dark. While it may be possible to bring Robin and still do a dark movie, the very nature of the character is to brighten up Batman’s world, which so far has been disastrous cinematically. Now I agree if anyone can pull it off it would be Nolan, but I prefer he not even try. Certainly not in the 2nd movie or even 3rd. Leave Robin on the sidelines.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:17 am
Robin could work depending on how he was introduced, or what version of him they would start on. Obviously Christian Bale doesn’t really look like the age to take in a ward, it would look ridiculous even though he is meant to be 30 in the film.
The best version of Robin for them to use would be if they went with the Paul Pope Batman Year 100 version of him where he would help as a decoy or mechanic in the background. They could keep the same origin, but never actually have him suit up or take up the mantle of Robin.
Although currently with the support of Gordon, Alfred and Lucius Fox, it seems he already has a support group capable enough without needing extra help.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:24 am
Realistically, Robin would have to be a stand-alone coming of age movie with Batman as the supporting character. He would have to be 18-21, not younger or else it would be cute kid movie ala Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace. I’m not saying it should be an aged Bruce Wayne like in Batman Beyond, but a spry actor in his mid-40’s to early 50’s. A George Clooney-type (who was terribly miscast in Batman in Robin, but IMHO would’ve been great as the Green Hornet).
August 24th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Perhaps by the end of the third film you can have Bruce Wayne commenting about “the Flying Graysons” and thinking of going to the circus. But, other than that, Robin does not fit with the current cinematic version of Batman.
August 24th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Dick “Robin” Grayson is an important part of both comics history (and the Batman mythos).
If the Nolan franchise is successful and continues, not including Robin is both a slight and a mistake.
Robin can easily be played as a moderating influence on the Dark Knight without having to become campy. The character (whose background was in the circus)was originally envisioned as more of the “devil-may-care” Robin HOOD-type … not the little bird.
August 24th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Why not make the story of Dick Grayson’s parents being murdered and Batman taking him in as a ward part of the second or third movie, but leave the charachters development at that?
August 24th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
Wasn’t Robin IN Batman Begins? The boy that sees Batman on the ledge, and to whom Batman gives one of his bat-toys? I assumed that was Dick Grayson’s cameo…
August 24th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
“Wasn’t Robin IN Batman Begins? The boy that sees Batman on the ledge, and to whom Batman gives one of his bat-toys? I assumed that was Dick Grayson’s cameo…
Comment by Willy D.”
When Katie Holmes shocks Scarecrow, the boy says ‘I can’t find my mom’ or something to that effect. My mother caught this and asked if that would be Robin; I thought it was a good idea. The Narrows/Bludhaven connection is interesting, the kid already is enamored of Batman, and Holmes happens to know a billionaire that would be willing to fight the man responsible for the death of the kid’s parents, much like Batman’s origin. Definitely possible.
August 24th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
As much as I LOVE the character and Idea of Robin in many of his incarnations, I have no problem with the Nolan/Bale series continuing on indefinitely without him. I believe that they COULD do the character justice theatrically, but if they don’t WANT to, I don’t want them to have to just to appease some corporate mandate.
August 24th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Why can’t a movie be “dark” if it has a young boy in it? Go and check out some of the Anakin auditions - there were a couple of young actors who I thought pulled off Anakin’s dark side better, but weren’t cast.
And story wise, look no further then the animated serie’s “Robin’s Reckoning” or the graphic novel “Batman:Dark Victory”. Both great stories that carry the dark tones of Batman stories, but pull Robin/Dick Grayson into the picture. It can be done, and done well and in keeping with the tone of Batman Begins.
August 24th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
I read somewhere that Nolan said the title for the second movie, The Dark Knight, really fit with the feel of this movie. So what it in the second movie, Batman DOES become extremely dark dealing with the crazy, demented, psycho shit pulled by the Joker and his saving grace, in the third movie, that pulls him back from that dark edge will be the responsibility of mentoring Robin?
Just a thought.
August 24th, 2006 at 5:38 pm
I like Dick Grayson as originally visioned, but I’d prefer not to see him in the movies simply because Nolan would probably do the same thing everyone else does and use the Marv Wolfman no-confidence, can’t-win-a-fight version of the character. I’m hoping All Star Bats helps redeem the Dick Grayson reputation when all is said and done.
August 24th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
There may be no Dick Grayson in Nolans world, but there most certainly is a Barbara Gordon, we saw her in Batman Begins
August 24th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Where did you see Barabra? If you’re referring to the baby it’s actually his son James Gordon.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
“While it may be possible to bring Robin and still do a dark movie, the very nature of the character is to brighten up Batman’s world, which so far has been disastrous cinematically.”
I think this is a misconception a lot of people have. The role of Robin is not to brighten Batman’s world and make it all shiney and happy, per say, but it’s more to keep him from going over the edge and human. Robin is a way to keep Bats grounded.
I think it would be a travesty NOT to introduce Robin somewhere down the line.
I’ve said this before, but I’d love to see a “second trilogy” that brings in Dick and shows the ramifications of him on Bruce’s life. If anything, it’s classic story telling.
But I don’t think they should just have Dick’s parents die at the begining and then by the end he’s bopping around with Batman. That would be a huge mistake. It’d be awesome to see at the very end if we see Bruce making Dick take the oath like in Dark Victory. If they introduce Robin they should treat it like they did Bruce and have lots of decompression and time to get to know the character.
August 25th, 2006 at 12:01 am
“The best version of Robin for them to use would be if they went with the Paul Pope Batman Year 100 version of him where he would help as a decoy or mechanic in the background. They could keep the same origin, but never actually have him suit up or take up the mantle of Robin.”
Totally agree, this robin worked well as support cast. But the whole “teaming up” is a little camp.
August 25th, 2006 at 3:58 am
I see nothing wrong with Batman & Robin “teaming up”, but ever since I was a kid… being exposed to the Superfriends cartoons and the early 80’s version of the comics (where Dick was college aged) I always envisioned the two to be closer in age. I still find it weird that Batman would allow a kid to tag along on dangerous missions, and find it more acceptable if the two meet when Dick is 17, not younger. He’d be young enough to be scarred from his parents’ deaths yet old enough to develope a healthier outlook on life (which is how Nightwing is in the comics… out of the Batfamily and the Robins that worked for Batman, Dick was the most upbeat, with Tim Drake being the pragmatic one and Jason Todd being the most screwed up).
And while I liked the fact that Chris O’ Donnell wasn’t a kid in the movies… the less said about those films, the better.
August 25th, 2006 at 11:52 am
The best envisioning of Robin is in The Dark Knight Returns. Robin is a companion and aids Batman in battle, but primarily Robin is an apprentice, the heir to the mantle if and when Batman passes on.
If they treated Robin as an apprentice and not sidekick chum it could work.
August 26th, 2006 at 2:09 pm
Robin’s origin and purpose was handeled very well in Loeb and Sale’s Dark Victory. If that story’s prequel, Long Halloween, was a stand out influence for BEGINS, why couldn’t they introduce Robin into the franchise in a similar way that Loeb and Sale intorudced him in their Batman books?
August 26th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
As long as he doesn’t kidnap him ala All Star Batman & Robin it’s all good.
August 27th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
People (fanboys) don’t seem to understand that what works in a comic book does not always work in a movie. There’s no way a general movie audience is going to accept a little kid running around with Batman fighting crime and like it or not, it’s their dollars that made Batman Begins a hit, not ours.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
You’re quite right that what works in a comic book quite often doesn’t look so good on film and frequently looks silly. What really plunged the original franchise down the toilet was the introduction of Robin. And don’t get me started on Batgirl.
September 6th, 2006 at 9:44 am
FUCK ROBIN.
That is all.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:17 am
I agree with Terry up there…. Robin works better as a younger brother kind of warn as opposed to a little kid. And as much as I dig Loeb & Sale’s Dark Victory, I have problems with the general notion of Batman andangering a kid’s life. I teenage “brother” is a little more acceptable.
And it makes sense for Bruce to adopt Tim Drake as a son because he’s actually old enough to be his dad by this point.