Batman Film Reboot: 6 New Stories For The Dark Knight

4. Something With A Little More Robin

0321featured_batmanandrobinnew52vol1 Arguably THE most recognisable side-kick of all time, Bruce Wayne's wise-cracking ward first appeared in Detective Comics #38, and has been a much-loved character ever since because he brought a sense of light-heartedness to the modern-day Batman's stories, which were quite dark. This same sense of brightness can be brought to the films using Robin. Ok, ok, I know that the last attempt to bring Robin into the Batman cinematic universe failed (miserably), but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give it another shot. And what's not to like? He's the light to Batman's dark, the Watson to Batman's Holmes and more that that, he's generally a loveable and awesome character. Wouldn't you like to see Robin in a movie that doesn't suck? I know I would. He's an amazing character, not to mention gifted with talents beyond anything Bruce could have taught him. This can be said about every Robin: Dick Grayson is an acrobat, Jason Todd is a fierce survivor, Tim Drake is an incredible detective and computer genius and Damian Wayne is a ninja. The only possible problem that could face the film makers is deciding upon which Robin that they choose to go with. Another benefit of having Robin in a Batman film is that it allows the entrance of the rest of the Bat-Family into the Universe. How? Simple: Say you start with Dick. In the story, he has to eventually grow up to become Nightwing. Then you add in a brief relationship that existed with Barbara Gordon, and BAM! You have Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl in the Universe. Continuing on, After Dick leaves, there's a vacancy open for Robin. Enter Jason Todd. Then he dies at the hands of the Joker after which Tim Drake approaches Bruce Wayne and proves to him that he has deduced that Bruce Wayne is Batman. He then gets taken in as Robin. Add a brief bit with Jason returning as the Red Hood and attacking Tim for being a "pretender" (because he became the next Robin), or having Red Hood attack the Joker for killing him and you have Red Hood in the Universe as well. After Tim becomes Red Robin, you could interject the Birth of the Demon story line and you have Damian Wayne. There we go, core members of the Bat-Family have been presented into the Batman cinematic Universe. Although the Bat-Family are there to help him with a super-villain or to help him work through his problems when working on a case, their main importace is that they bring out Batman's humanity. The Caped Crusader can be ruthless and we have seen this on many occasions, be it interrogations or fights. Want proof? Look at the end of Death of the Family: Batman nearly killed the Joker for attacking the ones he loves, but what stops him is his family and the morals he instilled in them, as well as adopted himself. Bat-Family There is a slight problem though: having more than one Robin may confuse an average movie audience, who probably don't have as in-depth a knowledge of the Batman mythos as avid comic readers. However, if you can establish the characters well enough and tell the story well enough then this problem can be overcome.
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Satya Baskaran hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.