For almost as long as he has existed, Batman has had a sidekick: Robin. There hasn’t been much representation of the Boy Wonder on the big screen, but there was a vital hint at the character’s existence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – the suit of a fallen Robin on display in the Batcave. This led many fans to quickly theorize that Jason Todd, the second Robin who was brutally killed by the Joker in the comics, had already met his fate at the end of a crowbar, which created excitement for the possibility of Jason’s return as Red Hood somewhere down the line. These hopes, however, were eventually put to an end when director Zack Snyder confirmed that the Robin who died in the DC Extended Universe was not Jason Todd, but the first Robin: Dick Grayson.
This choice is definitely one that came as a surprise, and with that came immediate speculation as to what would be the future of both Nightwing and Red Hood: two characters with large fan bases who could no longer be explored the same way that they were in the comics. By choosing Dick and not Jason to kill, the DCEU lost out on the chance to tell a lot of great stories. Unless that is retconned at some point in the near future, these characters may never be explored.
Dick Grayson, Batman’s first Robin, is loved by fans for his iconic wit and sarcasm while crimefighting. That is something that has yet to be seen on the big screen in full form, but viewers got a glimpse of it in the Joel Schumacher Batman movies. Dick Grayson’s story is something that could have been explored in-depth in a DCEU Nightwing movie, which would have been able to show off how Dick really moved out Batman’s shadow and became a hero in his own right. By killing him, though, the door for fans to see the character they truly love in all of his acrobatic glory was closed, and instead, they were presented with a Batman who is overcome with rage because he failed his first partner. Dick Grayson’s death is what pushed Bruce Wayne over the edge, making him the brutal version of the character that is seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
![Batman V Superman Chose The Wrong Robin To Kill (For DCEU’s Future)](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Jason-Todd-Death.jpg)
Jason Todd’s story, on the other hand, practically ends before it begins if he is not killed by the Joker. During his original run as Robin in the comics, Jason was not well liked by fans at all. Readers were able to participate in a poll to decide if he would live or die, and they chose death for the character. When Jason returned as Red Hood, however, the reception immediately flipped and readers loved him, and he has been a staple DC Comics character ever since.
Ever since Snyder confirmed that Dick was the Robin to die, fans have been left to speculate if Jason Todd ever even became Robin in the DCEU; after all, would Batman want to take on another sidekick after he failed his first? While this character is going to be explored in Titans, it feels like a missed opportunity to not introduce Jason Todd into the DCEU, where he would fit the gritty tone so well.
Whether or not Dick Grayson’s – or any other Robin’s story – will be told within the DCEU and not just through interviews is anyone’s guess at this point, but there definitely are some gaps that fans want to see filled on the big screen. We will most likely see Robin appear in a movie at some point, be it in the DCEU somewhere or a sequel of The Batman, as this character is too popular to not be used when comic book adaptations are continuing to dominate Hollywood.
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