Robin in other media
This article is about the comic book superhero Robin as he appears in other media, such as films, television and radio. Dick Grayson, the first Robin, is generally the version of Robin chosen to be portrayed.
For decades, Robin rarely appeared without Batman. The only exceptions have been animated stories featuring Robin as a member of the Teen Titans. Furthermore, from the 1940s to 1980s, Grayson was generally portrayed as being a teenager or adult. This was somewhat different from comic books, as Grayson started out at the age of eight.
Also from the 1940s to 1980s, Robin has appeared in the classic comic book suit of Grayson. However, since the 1990s, Dick Grayson's original "pixie" outfit has been avoided in other media. Instead, Robin usually wears a costume similar to the original uniform of Tim Drake, the third and current Robin in the comics. Drake, who was introduced near the end of the 1980s, has only been identified as the secret identity of Robin once in other media.
1940s
- In director Lambert Hillyer's 1943 film serial Batman, Robin was played by Douglas Croft. Croft was the only actor who was young enough to play Robin, subsequent actors have either been in their 20s or 30s.
- Batman's radio series with Robin, the Batman Mystery Club, in which Batman told ghost stories, never aired. One episode was made: "The Monster of Dumphrey's Hall".
- During radio broadcasts of the Adventures of Superman radio drama Batman and Robin were paired with Superman over the years from September 15, 1945 to 1949. The pairing was pure novelty. The Batman and Robin appearances provided time off for Bud Collyer, the voice of Superman on radio. These episodes called for Superman to be occupied elsewhere and the crime fighting would be handled by Batman and Robin. On that series the voice of Robin was played by Ronald Liss.
- Robin was played by 26 year old Johnny Duncan in Columbia Pictures' Batman and Robin (1949), directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet.
1960s to early 1980s
In the campy 1960s Batman television series and its 1966 movie offshoot, Robin (Dick Grayson) was played by Burt Ward. Burt's version of Robin was known for the catchphrase: "Holy [relevant pun], Batman."
In DC Comics related cartoon series produced by Filmation and Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1970s and 1980s such as the Super Friends, Robin (Dick Grayson) was voiced by Casey Kasem or Burt Ward. Both the live-action and animated versions wore the standard Robin costume, much like the film serial versions of the 1940s.
Late 1980s to late 1990s
Film
Robin did not appear in the Tim Burton movies Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). This was the first time in which Batman and Robin were not presented as an inseparable pair to those who did not read the comics at all. An unused idea from the first film shows his parents murdered by the Joker. The special edition version of the DVD has an animated storyboard sequence of one of the scenes from this subplot, the scene in which Dick Grayson's parents are killed. He would have been played by Ricky Addison Reed appeared as Robin by the end of the film. Burton felt it was unimportant to the story and cut Robin altogether. Due to Loren Lester being absent, Dick Grayson's voice was provided by Jason Hillhouse in this special feature. In an earlier script of Batman Returns, he was portrayed as a technologically savvy street kid who would help Batman following his narrow escape when The Penguin tried to kill him. Later on, he would play a crucial role in Batman's final confrontation with The Penguin. He is simply known as "Robin", and has no known real name. He was to be played by Marlon Wayans. After the 1980s, Robin would appear again, but not in Dick Grayson's classic costume. In Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995), with Val Kilmer as the Dark Knight, Grayson's parents were murdered by Two-Face during a hostage situation at the annual Gotham Circus. The movie featured Chris O'Donnell at age 24 portraying the role of a Robin who met Batman and became a costumed hero in his late teens. O'Donnell reprised the role again in the 1997 film Batman & Robin with George Clooney as the Batman. In those films, the tension between Batman and Robin was greater than in most adaptations. In Batman Forever, his costume closely resembles the Robin uniform worn by Tim Drake. In the latter film, Robin's costume resembled Dick Grayson's third "Nightwing" costume, but with rubber nipples, a cape and red/crimson coloring instead of blue. This latter outfit has been compared to the "Renegade" outfit Dick Grayson wore in comic books many years after the films.
Animation
The first two seasons of Batman: The Animated Series, which debuted in 1992, featured Robin/Dick Grayson, voiced by Loren Lester, only occasionally because he was attending college. In its third and final season (1994–1995), the show was retitled The Adventures of Batman and Robin as Robin appeared regularly. In the series, Dick Grayson wore a costume much like Tim Drake's original suit.
In the reinvention of the series, The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), Dick Grayson became Nightwing, and his place as Robin was taken by Tim Drake, voiced by Mathew Valencia. The animated series continuity does not include Jason Todd by name, but the cartoon's Drake is described as a combination of a young Grayson, Todd and Drake. Between his origin and appearance in Batman: Return of the Joker, he mostly resembled Todd in storyline while bearing little resemblance to the comic book's Tim Drake. A 2006 costume adopted by Drake in the comics seems very similar to the animated Drake's red and black outfit. A version of the Carrie Kelly Robin also makes a short appearance in Batman: Gotham Knights, in a dream sequence in the episode "Legends of the Dark Knight."
2000s
- In the Krypto the Superdog episode, "Bathound and the Robin", a robin called "Robbie" is saved by Ace the Bathound and wants to be Ace's sidekick, much to the dismay of Ace. Robbie's costume resembled the classic outfit of Dick Grayson.
- In a June 2005 interview, Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, revealed that as long as he is directing the franchise, Robin will not be appearing. Since Christian Bale is portraying Batman as a young man at the time of Year One, Robin is still a little kid at this point.[1] When asked who he would cast if he was forced to, Nolan replied "Frankie Muniz," jokingly saying "if he doesn't age too quickly."
- Lego produced its Lego Batman line of licensed sets in 2006, currently into its first wave. The 7783-The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion set features Robin in the classic costume with a mini speedboat. 7785-Arkham Asylum includes Nightwing and his motorcycle as well.
- Robin is a playable character in the Teen Titans video game for Game Boy Advance.
- Robin is a playable character in both the "Story" and "Master of Games" modes for the console Teen Titans game.
- Robin will be featured in the DC DTV movie Justice League: New Frontier.
Teen Titans animated series
The Cartoon Network series Teen Titans appears to be an adaptation of the New Teen Titans comic book series. One similarity is that both series have the character Robin, who also acts as the team's leader. In the comic book series (as noted above), Dick Grayson is Robin. In the animated series, his costume is still closely modeled on Tim Drake's, as in the 1990s. Robin, voiced by Scott Menville, has not been referred to by any full name. This non-identity is intentional, according to both Sam Register and Glen Murakami.
However, several clues have indicated that this Robin is Dick Grayson.
A time-travel themed episode of the animated series showed a future where Robin has taken on the role of Nightwing (a role taken up by Dick Grayson). In a later episode, an alternate universe Robin with the exact same DNA shows up named "Nosyarg Kcid", which is "Dick Grayson" spelled backwards. This latter clue was confirmed by the creators at a panel at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con.[2]
In many instances, Robin's relationship to Batman is heavily referenced. In the Season 5 episode "Go", just before Robin attacks a thief, bats fly at him. After a while the thief says, "Aren't you supposed to be with—" only to be interrupted by Robin who says "Just moved here. I work alone now". Throughout the episode, he says he doesn't want to be in a team again so soon. In another episode, "Haunted", Raven uses her powers to enter Robin's mind; one of the images she sees is Robin's shadow in a cave area swearing an oath to someone. When Robin rejects Slade in "Apprentice: Part 2", he mentions "I already have a father", and then the screen shows a shot of a dark sky with bats flying through it, also referring to Batman. In that same episode, a battle ensues on top of a building that says, WAYNE ENTERPRISES.
It could also be inferred that this Robin is Tim Drake.
In the episode Haunted, the Flying graysons are seen falling off a trapeze. It is interesting to note that although the death of the Grayson parents was motivation for Dick to become Robin, Tim Drake was also present in the audience when the Graysons fell to their doom. Also, this series may have continuity with Batman: The Animated Series, which would imply Tim Drake. Evidence that this is a spinoff series is in the show Static Shock, Batman (from Batman: The Animated Series) made a guest appearance, and mentions that Robin is "With the Titans.", however, Paul Dini, who wrote the episode, claimed he did not know that the Teen Titans series had nothing to do with the DCAU at the time. Also, the appearance of Speedy in both Justice League and Teen Titans implies that both series are of the same timeline. Another link is that in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, they said Robin left after Joker's death to fight crime on his own after Batman forbade him from being Robin and Tim Drake eventually decided to quit and hated being Robin.
The Batman TV series
In The Batman, Robin is voiced by Evan Sabara. Dick Grayson was an energetic, gifted acrobat and one of the main attractions of Hayley's Circus, along with his Mother (Mary) and Father (John) as part of the amazing Flying Grayson's act. His life was changed forever when Tony Zucco and his brothers tried to threaten John into taking a "protection" policy. When John Grayson refused, an altercation resulted in the police and the Batman being called. The Zuccos were easily defeated for the moment one of Tony's brothers was even captured.
An angered Zucco altered the rigs on the Flying Graysons trapeze act, causing John and Mary to fall to their deaths right in front of Dick during a performance. Young Grayson, with no surviving family members was taken in by Bruce Wayne, who saw shades of himself in Dick after his own parent's murder. After Dick discovered that Wayne was Batman, the two worked together to capture Tony Zucco. Dick chose the codename "Robin" because that is what his mother had called him.
Grayson sports a costume much like comic book's Tim Drake first wore, although an early promotional photo showed a suit with a bit more originality. Some tension arose when Robin and the character of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) met. Batgirl, having been active as a vigilante and wanna-be partner of the Batman some time before Robin appeared, was quite jealous of Batman's new "official partner". This was changed when Batman took the liberty of revealing all three of their secret identities to each other and fully accepted Batgirl into the fold. Afterward, Robin and Batgirl developed a more friendly, almost sibling-like working relationship.
As depicted in a possible future during the episode "Artifacts," Dick Grayson gives up the "Robin" name and costume to become Nightwing. Barbara and Batman still persist in calling him by his original codename. Interestingly, the Police department who discover the Batcave in the beginning of the episode call Robin "The Red Robin", a reference to Kingdom Come, and they theorize that Bruce Wayne was the Red Robin.
References
- ^ "Nolan on Robin in Batman Sequels". SuperHeroHype.com. 2005-06-23. Retrieved 2006-07-31.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.titanstower.com/source/animated/behindcomiconpanel2005.html