Why The Batman movies need a Robin
It’s time to bring the Boy🍌 Wonder back to the big screen

It’s no secret that Batman has been the star of many cinematic outings. While the Ca𒆙ped Crusader differs in each adaptation, there are plenty of recognisable elements through each version, such as Bruce’s trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth and the Batmobile. But one aspect that rarely survives the jump from the comic-books to the movies is Batman’s trusted sidekick Rob𒐪in.
While it’s hard to forget Chris O’Donnell’s turn as the Boy Wonder, or his portrayal in the delightful 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Lego Batman Movie, the big screen has rarely taken the character seriously. Robin has been ignored for too long, but Matt Reeves’ 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:The Batman could change everything – and bring him back into th👍e cinematic Bat mythos for good.
Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight will see the superhero in his second year of crime fighting, which means he’ll be at his most impressionable – somewhere between amateur vigilante and battle-hardened fighter. This is the perfect time to bring Robin into the story. The sidekick has a massive impact on Batman, the masked hero, and Bruce Wayne, the person: 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice very briefly alluded to the impact Robin’s death has on Bruce, his absence turning Bats into a cruel and uncharacteristically lethal hero (and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Zack Snyder’s Justice League will 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:likely show us more). The Batman, though, can show the importance of Robin to Bruce’s sto🎀ry while he’s actually alive.
It might 🦹be surprising to learn the brightly clad Boy Wonder can fit into a gritty Bat adaptation, but the bond between Batman and Robin is based on something deep and dark itself – shared trauma. The first person to hold the Robin title, Dick Grayson, helped Batman deal with the death of his parents. Like Bruce, Dick saw his own parents kille♚d in a senseless tragedy – the Flying Graysons were acrobats at Haly’s Circus, killed mid-performance when a criminal cut the wires of their trapeze – and by helping Dick cope with his grief, Bruce was able to better handle his own feelings and open up to the possibility of having a family again.
Batman Forever touched on this quite effectively, but the follow-up, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Batman & Robin, threw the more serious aspects of the story out completely. Pattinson’s Batman 𓆏is young, which means his parents couldn’t have died all that long ago – and Robin is traditionally far more light-hearted than his brooding mentor, so a new partner could do Pattinson’s grim Dark Knight wonders.
Then there’s the potential for further storylines that the introduction of Robin could usher in. Dick may be the first to hold that superhero name, but he’s far from the last – his successors all bring their own unique twist to the mythos. There’s 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Jason Todd, who was infamously killed by the Joker, which plunged Bruce right back into the violent, reckless phase of his vigilante career. Jason was followed by Tim Drake, who helped pull Batman back out of the darkness by grabbing the yellow cape, and secured his position by insisting to Bruce that “Batman needs a Robin” to𝐆 keep him in check. Bruce even has a biological son named Dami🅷an Wayne, who flipped the script by needing Bruce’s help to become a hero after being raised by assassins.
And then there’s Stephanie Brown and Carrie Kelley, whose storylines both deal with loss and trauma – Stephanie died on the job, and Carrie took on the Robin name after Jason’s death in Frank Miller’s famous alternate universe tale, The Dark Knight Returns. It helps that these characters all tend to become their own hero once they leave the Robin mantle behind, too – which sounds like unlimited spinoff potential for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:HBO Max projects. Chris M꧃cKay’s mooted Nightwing film could live again if Dick outgrows Robin in Reeves’ films and takes✃ up the new identity.
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter
🥂Brin♎ging all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox
As much as we’re used to the image of a lone Batman patrolling Gotham City, he’s surrounded by friends and his found-family in the comics. The Batman already includes two of these allies – Catwoman and Commissioner Gordon – and it looks like the Bat and the Cat will have 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:more of a friendly rivalry than a hero vs villain relationship. There might not be room for Robin in the first film, considering Bruce looks to have his hands full with taking on the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Riddler, but if Bruce warms up to working with Catwoma𒆙n in this film then he could be primed to accept a sidekick in a sequel.
With all the potential of The Batman-verse, it’s time to finally sta🐷rt taking Robin seriously and delve into what 🍰makes pop culture’s most iconic duo such a good partnership.
Until March 4 2022, check out our guide to watching 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:DC movies in order to get caught up.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on 🍸the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on th꧃e CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.