After 60 Years, DC Is Finally Being Honest About Batman’s Robin

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DC just gave a grim but honest look at Batman’s Robin, and how messed up key aspects of the sidekick’s story truly are. While there have been a wide range of live-action versions of Batman, there have been far fewer live-action versions of Robin – something that may be owed at least in part to the lasting infamy of 1997’s Batman & Robin. Various iterations of Robin have snuck through the gaps into releases since then, but the roster of Batman’s plucky sidekicks have still remained elusive at best in the world of film.

This is a shame not just because Batman’s Robins are key parts of some of his most interesting stories, but also because there are a lot of big questions regarding these sidekicks that the live-action movies would be perfectly primed to explore. Interestingly, the world of The Batman provides the newest look at the conversations surrounding Robin, highlighting one painful truth about the role prior to upcoming DC releases bringing Batman’s sidekicks back to the big screen.

The Penguin provides a harsh rendition of what Batman recruiting young sidekicks would look like through a realistic lense via Victor Aguilar. While Victor is Oz’s sidekick – not Batman’s – the story of Penguin training the teen to be a part of his criminal empire has striking parallels, both due to Vic’s age, and his desire to prove his loyalty to his mentor. Victor’s loyalty effectively results in his death in The Penguin‘s ending at Oz’s hands, which proved one of the most upsetting parts of the finale due to the hopes for the young character’s prospective future.

Indeed, Victor’s debut raised theories that he would serve as The Batman‘s version of Jason Todd, making his demise all the more gutting. Jason is traditionally Batman’s second Robin in the comics, who he took under his wing after finding Jason stealing the wheels of the Batmobile, much as Oz began to work with Victor after he tried to pull the same stunt.

Though this turned out to not be the case, it put a closer spotlight on how troubling the idea of Batman recruiting a kid to fight bloodthirsty and hardened criminals alongside him really is, as it seems clear that Victor would’ve no doubt been just as desperate to put himself in danger’s way and traumatize himself for Batman as the Penguin. While Batman’s cause is more righteous than Oz’s, The Batman‘s darker world still provides an opportunity for a closer look at how hard it is to fully justify Robin’s place beside the Dark Knight facing the worst of Gotham.

Batman Movies Never Handled Robin Well (But DC’s Future Movies Can)

Batman shows have often provided interesting and intricate takes on the Caped Crusader’s dynamics with his proteges, and releases like Titans haven’t been afraid to explore the morally questionable nature of the decision to pit a child or teen against the likes of ruthless villains the Joker or Victor Zsasz. That said, the live-action Batman movies haven’t shared the same success, with Robin’s film appearances either being painfully brief or generally questionable.

However, the future seems bright in this regard, as the main DC Universe is already confirmed to include at least one Robin via Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s biological son, whose origin story as an assassin trained from birth subverts the usual complications of the Robin story – with Batman arguably having to teach Damian to tone things down more than to actually fight. Hopefully, this can pave the way to future effective Robin storylines in both the DCU and other live-action DC movies as well.

Upcoming DC Movie Releases

“}]] Robin has a complicated place in DC’s history.  Read More