How would you introduce Robin in Matt Reves' trilogy

[Adekis]

I'd probably skip over Dick's circus boy origin and go straight to Jason the gold-hearted street punk.

[Flash Gordon]

I think that you don't even need it to be Bruce. "Batman" is a clear identity and shape. The ears, the cape, the methodology. We all know Batman, and it's Bruce Wayne, but we know it doesn't have to be, and Batman stills works. Grounded or fantastical, like the other thread, doesn't matter. Romantic comedy or My Dinner with Andre like Tom King's run, still works as Batman (IMO, YMMV). if you have the ears and the cape and the spooky detective tropes, you have Batman.

Alfred and his role, Gordon, Lucius, Leslie, the Wayne murders, any of the villains - all optional.

I'd disagree, hard. BATMAN is Bruce Wayne, and his set up is very important to the character. I think Batman's whole world is what makes him so popular, not just ears and cape. It's the aesthetic and the man himself.

The only time I'd say someone else works as Batman is Dick Grayson, but that's because he's been set up as the heir for decades. Plus the Dick/Damien relationship mirrors Bruce/Dick and yet still allows Bruce to factor heavily into the narrative. The Dick/Damien dynamic felt so damn fresh and modern.

Batman may not need Robin, but honestly he's better with a Robin- it's just time to let go of the idea of Dick Grayson having to be a child.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'd piss of all the Robin fans and do this instead.

[gregpersons]

I'd disagree, hard. BATMAN is Bruce Wayne, and his set up is very important to the character. I think Batman's whole world is what makes him so popular, not just ears and cape. It's the aesthetic and the man himself.

The only time I'd say someone else works as Batman is Dick Grayson, but that's because he's been set up as the heir for decades. Plus the Dick/Damien relationship mirrors Bruce/Dick and yet still allows Bruce to factor heavily into the narrative. The Dick/Damien dynamic felt so damn fresh and modern.

Batman may not need Robin, but honestly he's better with a Robin- it's just time to let go of the idea of Dick Grayson having to be a child.

The larger world and mythos (including Robin) is the draw for me too. I was speaking on the conceptual level of it-- "Bruce Wayne" is the justification to how Batman and his world would be possible. Everything that is the "Bruce" character is just "Batman" which makes it seem like both need the other. It's actually just that Bruce Wayne doesn't work without "Batman." "Bruce" is not interesting without the cape and ears, whereas Dick Grayson has had to be, but Batman still works as long as you have the heroic qualities underneath whether his name is "Terry" or "Dick" or "Bruce."

To put it more concisely - Gotham City and Batman can work just fine without Bruce Wayne, but the reverse isn't true. That's why you don't have any Bruce stories without Gotham or Batman, but there are plenty of Batman/Gotham stories without Bruce.

[Flash Gordon]

The larger world and mythos (including Robin) is the draw for me too. I was speaking on the conceptual level of it-- "Bruce Wayne" is the justification to how Batman and his world would be possible. Everything that is the "Bruce" character is just "Batman" which makes it seem like both need the other. It's actually just that Bruce Wayne doesn't work without "Batman." "Bruce" is not interesting without the cape and ears, whereas Dick Grayson has had to be, but Batman still works as long as you have the heroic qualities underneath whether his name is "Terry" or "Dick" or "Bruce."

To put it more concisely - Gotham City and Batman can work just fine without Bruce Wayne, but the reverse isn't true. That's why you don't have any Bruce stories without Gotham or Batman, but there are plenty of Batman/Gotham stories without Bruce.

Bruce Wayne *is* BATMAN, though. That's his identity. It's like stripping your name from you and saying that your name isn't as interesting without the person attached to it. That's an unfair jab at your name, since there is no separate entity. It's just a string of words used to identify an individual.

Dick works as Batman because of the gravitas of him being Bruce's heir. As Alfred said in the first issue of B&R, "think of it as a great performance". For Bruce it wasn't an act, he is Batman.

[Adekis]

Hm, I think it's even weirder than that - it's not that Batman is Bruce, underneath the mask, it's that the only reason Bruce exists as a character is to be the person who Batman is under the mask. That's why Kane and Finger created him, because Batman needed a secret identity. Same goes for Dick and Robin.

A Bruce without Batman would just be a story about a humanitarian with a ton of adopted kids who suffered a tragic loss as a child. There's some appeal in that, but not nearly as much appeal as in the guy who goes out at night to fight crime.

[Jcady59]

It would be hard especially with the tone that the trailer is giving off but not impossible it could work to a point. You would have to change the tone of the film maybe even slightly shift the sub-genres, terminator to T2 would be the best example of this they went from a sci-fi horror film to an action sc-fi film but it did work. personaly for me whichever robin they chose I wouldn’t put them in the suit in any of the movies , I would just introduce them as characters first then make them heroes in the inevitable solo spin-off, Even with a shifting tone a child in a bright green and red costume might be stepping over the line from acceptable to corny for the general audience.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I think it depends on the execution.

If he's a introduced as a child character (more young teens, 12-13) but not thrown into the action right away, instead saving full Robin activity to when he's a little older, I think it would be fine.

The GA can be won over fairly easily when things are done well enough, I wouldn't rule it out right away. They are already fine with Spider-Man working with adult heroes despite the fact that he was designed to be an independent teen hero and not someone's ward.

In a movie you can’t credibly have an 8-11 year old actor look like he has any place fighting grown adults. I know that sucks for us that like Robin, but there’s a reason every live action Robin in the past 60 years were 20 or older and the youngest was 16 in serials in the 1940’s and even that upgraded to an older Robin in the sequel. It’s one of those things that with on page but won’t work in real life

[Adekis]

I'm on board with a sixteen year old first appearance for Robin, but not twenty-five or thirty-one, as O'Donnell and Gordon-Levitt were.

[Lightning63]

I'm on board with a sixteen year old first appearance for Robin, but not twenty-five or thirty-one, as O'Donnell and Gordon-Levitt were.

Exactly 14-19 would be a good spot for the robins (bar damian) if any of them debut in live action

[Aahz]

Exactly 14-19 would be a good spot for the robins (bar damian) if any of them debut in live action

Probably also for Damian, a comics accurate Damian is imo anyway not going to work in a live action Batman, if they stick close to tone of the Nolan Movies (which seems to be the case).

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I'd probably bring in Thomas Wayne Jr as a ghost kid. He's traditionally Bruce's older brother that died before Bruce's parents. Bruce outlived him so it be interesting to play with that.

Or I'd bring in Steph Brown and focus on her time as Spoiler. Her baggage with her dad is pretty compelling on it's own.

[phantom1592]

I would spin it a bit. I would not make it a BATMAN movie. I would make it a ROBIN movie. The movie would be from Dick's perspective. Losing his parents, getting adopted by the rich guy, finding out the secret, the intense training... finally going after the people that killed his parents.

Batman would still be there of course as the dark mysterious mentor/idol type... but the focus character would be Dick. He'd also be about 10-12. We've already seen Hit Girl kicking all sorts of butt in in the Kick-ass movies that shows that YEAH.... a well trained kid using comic book logic is a serious force to be reckoned with.

[SiegePerilous02]

In a movie you can’t credibly have an 8-11 year old actor look like he has any place fighting grown adults. I know that sucks for us that like Robin, but there’s a reason every live action Robin in the past 60 years were 20 or older and the youngest was 16 in serials in the 1940’s and even that upgraded to an older Robin in the sequel. It’s one of those things that with on page but won’t work in real life

I know, that's why I said he should be 12-13 when introduced by not actually be an Robin until he's 17-18 in a sequel that jumps ahead a bit.

I'm not advocating for an 8-11 year old Robin. Truthfully I've never cared for him being that young