After the Death of Jason Todd, no one was sure if there would ever be a Robin again. Dick Grayson had moved on to become a hero on his own, and the first attempt at creating a new Robin had failed. But other than the death of a character, nothing drives sales as well as introducing a new one, so Tim Drake was introduced.
When he was very young, Tim Drake was at the circus when Dick Grayson's parents were murdered. That day stuck with him, so much so that later, when he saw footage of Batman and Robin in combat, he recognized one of Robin's moves as one of young Dick Grayson's from the circus. Going from there, he was able to deduce Batman's identity as well. He followed the careers of Batman and Robin very closely. After Jason Todd's death, Tim noticed that Batman's behavior had become erratic. Tim theorized that Batman needed a Robin to keep him sane, and after impressing Dick, Alfred, and undergoing intense training from the likes of Lady Shiva, he becomes the new Robin.
Unlike Batman and previous Robins, Tim had a relatively happy childhood. It was only after becoming Robin that his family life fell apart. His mother died, his father lost the use of his legs, his father's company fell apart, his girlfriend died (sort of, I'll probably have a subsequent post about that), his best friend died, his father died, and I think his step mother died or vanished or something. Much like pimpin', being Robin ain't easy.
Tim Drake has proved popular, much more so than Jason Todd, and arguably as popular as Dick Grayson. Unlike Dick, Tim's Robin has had his own comic book for many years.
Pros: Actual pants! No short shorts like the other guys. Tim's selection as Robin is more natural than Jason Todd's, since he entered the picture due to his natural abilities as a detective. As Robin, Tim spends more time out on his own, taking his own angles at Batman's cases, and even taking many cases on his own.
Cons: Again, we already know we won't be seeing Robin, and most people associate Robin with Dick Grayson. Plus, Tim Drake's origin is tied to there having been a previous Robin.
How I'd do it: I would mix in healthy portions of Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, plus a tiny bit of Jason Todd. Dick Grayson's name and the flying Grayson's origin is something you can't deviate from, since it's too well known and people might be confused by anything else. But I've always liked Tim Drake's deduction being the reason for his selection. And I kind of like the edge of Jason Todd.
So I'd have Dick Grayson's parents murdered, then him quitting the circus and living on the streets. He sees Batman in action and using his acrobatic skills is able to tail him for a while, but Batman's eventually able to evade him. Dick becomes obsessed with Batman, knowing this is the kind of person who could avenge his parents' death, and starts plotting a map of sightings and figures out where the Batmobile must be coming from in the evening and going to in the morning (pointing him to either the cave or the basement thing in the city, depending on whether Bruce has moved back to Wayne Manor in the third movie). Unable to come up with a better plan, he simply knocks on the door and asks Alfred if he can speak to Batman.
Casting Guesses: Again, casting a kid would inolve an unknown.
Verdict: He's my favorite Robin, but still it won't happen.
2 comments:
I don't think Robin would work in the Nolan films if he's kept as a child.
Perhaps follow Batman Forever's way (never thought I'd say that) in making him older. Perhaps a teenager.
But then have him follow your sort story. He's Dick Grayson, teenager acrobat. His parents are killed (possibly by whoever the main villain is going to be)and he heads to the streets, working out who Batman is like you've said.
Batman is wary about having a sidekick and forbids Dick getting involved. However he doesn't listen and follows Batman. Batman perhaps gets ambushed by too many people to handle by himself (though for someone trained by ninjas there'd need to be a lot of people perhaps) and Dick comes in to offer some help.
They come to an agreement that he can work with Batman on bringing the killer of Dick's parents to justice. Dick gets himself a costume and decides to call himself Robin (er, not sure why).
They take down the villain. Perhaps Robin gets injured during this fight, nearly dying. Batman feels guilty for this and goes back to fighting along. Robin resents this and there's a bit of conflict between the two.
It ends with them going their seperate ways. While still respecting each other they can't work together. They clash or something. So Robin renames himself Nightwing and moves Bludhaven to protect the people over there.
This is just early ideas so may not read or work very well as a film.
My, favorite, and, in my opinion, the best Robin, is Tim Drake. But, I don't see Robin working in Nolan's Batman universe.
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