In the far future of DC Comics, a version of Batman’s iconic sidekick, Robin, is still fighting the good fight in a Gotham City ruled by a hostile alien force hellbent on making its citizens bend the knee. After this era’s Batman is killed in the line of duty, this futuristic Boy Wonder rises to the challenge of protecting the innocent, equipping himself with a perfect offensive weapon that would make the original Dark Knight jealous.

A reinvention of Robin seen in the two-issue Elseworlds tale titled Robin 3000, this story stars Thomas Wayne — a distant member of the Wayne family — as he becomes Gotham’s final savior and rebel leader after his uncle, the aptly named Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, martyrs himself during a skirmish with the alien race known as the Skulp, leaving Tom alone.

During his journey as a solo act, Robin acquires the perfect power upgrade: a cyborg hand that gives him a multitude of unique abilities, helping him to carry on the fight his uncle charged him with.

DC’s Future Robin Used A Cybernetic Hand To Fight Crime In Gotham City

Robin 3000 – 1993 (Byron Preiss and P. Craig Russell)

More of a Luke Skywalker-like space adventurer than a traditional Boy Wonder — especially after Tom acquires his Luke-esque cybernetic hand — Tom vows to clear the Wayne family name after the Skulp pin an unforgivable sin on their centuries-long legacy, yet before Tom can fulfill his mission, he crash lands on a faraway planet called Bolivar. Needing to amputate Tom’s hand after the crash, a Skulp-affiliated doctor performs emergency surgery on him and outfits Tom with a weaponized fist equipped with “communications, sensing, and defensive capabilities” and even a laser that shoots from his finger!

An upgraded hand that’s eerily similar to the one Batman received in Chip Zdarksy’s acclaimed run on Batman, Robin’s prosthetic also allows him to sense chemical agents in the air, pick magnetic locks, weld with precision, use as a sensitive microphone, hack computers, and more, essentially acting as a utility belt that Tom can utilize at will. Oddly not having a finger capable of shooting out smoke like what Batman’s robotic hand can do, Tom also doesn’t seem to have any extra strength in his new hand, another enhanced feature Batman is privy to in current continuity among many others.

Robin 3000 Upgraded The Boy Wonder’s Abilities With Advanced Sci-Fi Tech

Also piloting a customized freighter spaceship that puts Batman’s Batmobile to shame, this inventive take on Robin was short-lived but did a commendable job of making this sci-fi reimagining of the character something worth paying attention to, especially where his nifty cybernetic hand is concerned. So while this version of Robin hasn’t been seen since this story, with Elseworlds making a comeback in the comic space and DC’s sprawling multiverse ensuring even the weirdest variants of Batman and his Bat-Family are alive and well, Tom Wayne and his fist of power could return sooner than fans think.

Robin 3000 is available from DC Comics.