10 Smartest Decisions In DC Superhero History

5. Dick Grayson Becomes Nightwing - Teen Titans

Nightwing First Appearance
DC Comics

There are few characters as unique in comics as Dick Grayson. Because of the sliding timelines present in both the Marvel and DC universes, it's rare that readers ever get to see a character age and develop - at least in mainstream continuity.

That isn't the case for the first Robin though, as readers have seen Dick develop from a young crimefighting prodigy into a hero in his own right. Today, Grayson has his own identity separate to that of the Bat Family as Nightwing, although he has both begrudgingly and willingly accepted the mantle of Batman on two different occasions.

Initially it was revealed how Dick had coined the Nightwing identity just to change things up at the Teen Titans, but the post-Crisis origin - provided in Batman #408 - added some much needed tension by revealing Bruce fired Dick as Robin after he was shot by the Joker.

Arguably no other character in Batman's library has received as much development as Grayson, who has only gone from strength to strength since leaving his mentor behind.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.