Ages of Characters

[Digifiend]

Even female characters like Lois Lane gain nothing by being below 40. It's not like Melissa Tomei couldn't easily play that character visually.

You mean the actress who played MCU Aunt May? Because you got her first name wrong.

[Alpha]

You mean the actress who played MCU Aunt May? Because you got her first name wrong.

Yes I meant Marissa Tomei, thank you

[The Darknight Detective]

You mean the actress who played MCU Aunt May? Because you got her first name wrong.

She's also pushing 60, too. Which means I am, also, since I'm a half year younger.

[BohemiaDrinker]

Complete agreement.

The Trinity stirs the drink. Now if your favorites are not one of those three, then they won't be sitting in the front row. Some of them might be even expendable. I don't say this to be mean (I probably like your favorite, FWIW), but I don't see things changing. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

While that's DC oficial stance, I don't think that's quite true. Diana has been trough so many revamps that her age is meaningless: she can be 30 or 3000. Superman is also functionally immortal, but more limited because of his supporting cast. So, if and when DC decides that Lois and Jimmy can be a little older, they can age Superman a little bit as well, hence aging up his whole generation.

What really regulates everyone's ages at the end of the day are Bruce and Dick. Bruce is human, so he has to be young enough to be a somewhat believable ninja. But he also has to be old enough to have been an adult and Batman by the time he adopted Dick; now, if they ever decide to give us hard numbers (they won't), those ages can be messed with a little bit, but not too much. They won't de-age Nightwing for more than five or six years at this point, because it creates a mess that's not worth-it by domino effect. But Bruce has to be at the very least close to a decade older, and that is just to keep a minimum of consistency inside the Batman franchise. So, what we have now (a 35-ish year old Bruce and a 26-ish year old Dick) is pretty much the limit they can go without messing everything.

So Batman is really the one that defines everyone else's ages, as long as Dick is kept in an acceptable range.

[bat39]

While that's DC oficial stance, I don't think that's quite true. Diana has been trough so many revamps that her age is meaningless: she can be 30 or 3000. Superman is also functionally immortal, but more limited because of his supporting cast. So, if and when DC decides that Lois and Jimmy can be a little older, they can age Superman a little bit as well, hence aging up his whole generation.

What really regulates everyone's ages at the end of the day are Bruce and Dick. Bruce is human, so he has to be young enough to be a somewhat believable ninja. But he also has to be old enough to have been an adult and Batman by the time he adopted Dick; now, if they ever decide to give us hard numbers (they won't), those ages can be messed with a little bit, but not too much. They won't de-age Nightwing for more than five or six years at this point, because it creates a mess that's not worth-it by domino effect. But Bruce has to be at the very least close to a decade older, and that is just to keep a minimum of consistency inside the Batman franchise. So, what we have now (a 35-ish year old Bruce and a 26-ish year old Dick) is pretty much the limit they can go without messing everything.

So Batman is really the one that defines everyone else's ages, as long as Dick is kept in an acceptable range.

I'd argue that it's really Damian who defines everyone's ages more so than Dick.

With Dick, you can vaguely have him in his 20's, and still have a vaguely 30-something Bruce, and fudge around all the relevant ages. The New 52 managed it without too much hassle - 16 year old Dick becomes Robin to 26 year old Batman...5 years later, Dick is a 21 year old Nightwing and Batman is 31. Compresses things significantly but it's vaguely plausible.

That's not the case with Damian, unless you significantly alter the circumstances of his origin (and of Bruce's history with Ra's and Talia) or artificially age him up. If Damian is 14, then it means that it's been at least 15 years since Bruce became Batman...frankly closer to 20 years, given that Bruce first met Talia some way into his career as Batman (which is relevant because Batman needs to be accomplished enough to attract Ra's attention).

The same applies to Jon too, except that in Jon's case time-travel is already so baked into his convoluted history that you can find ways around it. But without time-travel, Jon means that Superman too has been around close to 15 years at least (Jon being 10-11 chronologically, and there being at least a few years of Superman adventuring before he marries Lois).

[BohemiaDrinker]

I'd argue that it's really Damian who defines everyone's ages more so than Dick.

With Dick, you can vaguely have him in his 20's, and still have a vaguely 30-something Bruce, and fudge around all the relevant ages. The New 52 managed it without too much hassle - 16 year old Dick becomes Robin to 26 year old Batman...5 years later, Dick is a 21 year old Nightwing and Batman is 31. Compresses things significantly but it's vaguely plausible.

That's not the case with Damian, unless you significantly alter the circumstances of his origin (and of Bruce's history with Ra's and Talia) or artificially age him up. If Damian is 14, then it means that it's been at least 15 years since Bruce became Batman...frankly closer to 20 years, given that Bruce first met Talia some way into his career as Batman (which is relevant because Batman needs to be accomplished enough to attract Ra's attention).

The same applies to Jon too, except that in Jon's case time-travel is already so baked into his convoluted history that you can find ways around it. But without time-travel, Jon means that Superman too has been around close to 15 years at least (Jon being 10-11 chronologically, and there being at least a few years of Superman adventuring before he marries Lois).

But Damian's age affects no one else other than him being younger or older than them (and even then, there's some wiggle room as there's usually the case with teenaged characters). Dick defines not only his entire generation - as in, the Fab Five Titans as well as everyone in that age group - as every generation that has come after him, as they can't age to be close enough to Dick's age to the point of making it weird. New 52 made it "work" by removing all of those characters. Jon is not a problem right now[ because DC seems to be operating in a 15 year timeline anyway, and avoiding referencing the past when not convenient. Damian can be an issue, yes, but changing his age changes nothing around him or the larger DCU. Dick is as foundational to his gen, and the ones after, as Batman is a cap to the JL/silver age guys.

[bat39]

But Damian's age affects no one else other than him being younger or older than them (and even then, there's some wiggle room as there's usually the case with teenaged characters). Dick defines not only his entire generation - as in, the Fab Five Titans as well as everyone in that age group - as every generation that has come after him, as they can't age to be close enough to Dick's age to the point of making it weird. New 52 made it "work" by removing all of those characters. Jon is not a problem right now[ because DC seems to be operating in a 15 year timeline anyway, and avoiding referencing the past when not convenient. Damian can be an issue, yes, but changing his age changes nothing around him or the larger DCU. Dick is as foundational to his gen, and the ones after, as Batman is a cap to the JL/silver age guys.

Ah okay, when you put it like that, it makes sense.

Interestingly, Dick getting old was the first time there was a concrete (and permanent) acknowledgment of the passage of time in the DCU. Dick going to college meant that it had been several years at least since Bruce became Batman. So you may be right that Dick is the key to 'regulating' characters' ages in the larger DCU.

But still, Damian's existence affects Bruce and Dick's ages and, by your logic, the ages of everyone else in the DCU as well. Because Damian's existence, at bare minimum, pushes Bruce's age to 40, if not over it (back when Damian was still around 9-10, I suppose we could have gotten away with late 30's, but they insist on making him a young teenager). And Damian was conceived when Dick was in his mid-to-late teens, so that means that Dick is close to 30, if not past it. Now we can provide some leeway and say that Bruce and Dick are the oldest in their respective generations, but that doesn't get us very far (especially in Dick's case when the Teen Titans all had to be, well, teens together at some point!) So at bare minimum, Damian means that the JL generation is in their late 30's/early 40's, and the Titans generation are in their late 20's/early 30's.

Now logically, if you consider that Tim became Robin around a decade after the deaths of the Flying Graysons (might have been more, might have been less...not sure where his origin stands right now), it means that Tim has to be close to 20 at bare minimum, if not past it. And the YJ generation by extension are in their late teens/early 20's.

Damian ages up the DCU as a whole, much like Dick once did. Except that Dick going to college meant that Bruce had been Batman for at least half-a-decade. Damian being a teenager means that Bruce has been Batman for at least 15 (actually more like 20) years!

[Digifiend]

Tim's origin has basically reverted to his original one, which means he watched a Flying Graysons show as a toddler, recognised Dick as being Nightwing later due to his acrobatic moves, and from there, worked out the identities of Batman and the second Robin. When Robin dies he seeks Batman out, reveals he knows he's Bruce Wayne, and offers to be his new Robin. Tim becoming Robin about a decade after Dick makes sense. And yes, Batman should indeed have been active for 20 years by now - the JLA was founded 15 years ago, so Superman's been around at least that long too. Logically, it should have been about a decade since Tim became Robin too - but he's never depicted as being that old, which is a problem because of Damian.

[Aahz]

But Damian's age affects no one else other than him being younger or older than them (and even then, there's some wiggle room as there's usually the case with teenaged characters).

Not really I mean just logically Tim has to be several year older than Damian, especally if they stick with Damain starting as Robin at the age of 10.

So if he keeps ageing at the current rate, Tim needs also to be aged up and that will also effect an entire generation of characters.

If they keep Tim at age 17-18, they just need to age Damian up by one or 2 years and you come at a point where Damian would have become Robin before Tim to make the ages work.

And we really don't need a situation like we have with Jon and Connor in Superman family and Ace and Bart in the flash family with the Robins.

[bat39]

Tim's origin has basically reverted to his original one, which means he watched a Flying Graysons show as a toddler, recognised Dick as being Nightwing later due to his acrobatic moves, and from there, worked out the identities of Batman and the second Robin. When Robin dies he seeks Batman out, reveals he knows he's Bruce Wayne, and offers to be his new Robin. Tim becoming Robin about a decade after Dick makes sense. And yes, Batman should indeed have been active for 20 years by now - the JLA was founded 15 years ago, so Superman's been around at least that long too. Logically, it should have been about a decade since Tim became Robin too - but he's never depicted as being that old, which is a problem because of Damian.

Not really I mean just logically Tim has to be several year older than Damian, especally if they stick with Damain starting as Robin at the age of 10.

So if he keeps ageing at the current rate, Tim needs also to be aged up and that will also effect an entire generation of characters.

If they keep Tim at age 17-18, they just need to age Damian up by one or 2 years and you come at a point where Damian would have become Robin before Tim to make the ages work.

And we really don't need a situation like we have with Jon and Connor in Superman family and Ace and Bart in the flash family with the Robins.

Precisely.

There's also the whole "Jon was born after the Death/Return of Superman" aspect too, which logically ages Tim up to his early 20's. But even ignoring that and focusing on the Batman mythos, Damian's age requires Tim to no longer be a teenager.

IIRC, Tim was around 17-18 when Damian first appeared...maybe even 19. Damian was 9 back then. It's been 5 years, so logically Tim should be around 22-24.

[Alpha]

Batman being 50 doesn't change anything.
Tom Cruise is 60, Keanu Reeves is 58. Both of them are still super powerful action stars

[Stanlos]

I'm a guy who would really prefer if Tim Drake were at least 19-20, and wearing a cowl, while Bruce Wayne was explicitly in his 40s now, alongside Hal (I actually dogged the grey temples look), and maybe actually have Ollie be edging towards 50.

Of course, I also keep thinking the smart thing DC and Marvel should do is alternate the “time setting” of different stories for different characters, so that anyone obsessed with a specific era of a character can actually write in that era, and just “Legends of the Dark Knight” everything as regards to how string their inter-continuity is.

You want to write a solo Batman? Set it in his early career… while letting the guy who wants to write an older Bruce who’s got a complicated “marriage” to Selina appear in another arc. You want Dick as a young adult who’s still not a big leaguer? Okay, tell that story… and let the next guy do DickBats if he wants to.

Everytime I draw Hal, he has the silver streaks and the swagger from Ron Randall's JLI stuff.

[Ascended]

Seems to me the youngest generation is always going to play a role in defining the age of the DCU. As will biological children.

The adult Titans are absolutely a major keystone; their careers from sidekick to "now" forces a timeline that's at least a decade long. Damian and Jon extend that another five-ish years. I figure, the bare minimum timeline for DC right now is fifteen years, and that's honestly compressed a little more than I'd like.

Damian is the biggest factor, in my opinion. We know Bruce didn't meet Talia until Dick was Robin, so we're looking at Year 2 or 3 at a minimum, and Damian's one of the only characters with an established age (14). So without any dumb retcons like "Bruce meet Talia when he 17 and training" or "Damian was fast-grown like a Star Wars clone" the Leaguers have been active for at least sixteen years. Bare minimum.

Jon complicates things a bit because he wasn't born until after Doomsday, and that doesn't happen until Clark is well into his career and about to get married. But when, exactly, Doomsday happens in the timeline is vague (is it year 4? year 6?) and Jon was a retcon in the first place, further complicated by too much time travel nonsense. So you got some wiggle room with him, but he also provides a problem because he's forcing a decade to have passed since Death/Reign/Return. And that obviously directly impacts guys like Tim and Conner, who showed up around that era.

Everytime I draw Hal, he has the silver streaks and the swagger from Ron Randall's JLI stuff.

I liked the gray temples too. Never understood why people had an issue with that. I knew guys who went gray young. I know guys who started to go bald before they were outta high school. Hal going gray before his peers never seemed like a big deal. Struck me as fitting, actually, that the guy who was all about "thinking hard" went gray before the rest.

[Holt]

Have they addressed Ollie’s age in canon now that Connor is back in continuity? GA today had a funny gag with Connor finally meeting Emiko and implicitly pointing out the weirdness of having an aunt that’s younger than him.

[Refrax5]

Seems to me the youngest generation is always going to play a role in defining the age of the DCU. As will biological children.

The adult Titans are absolutely a major keystone; their careers from sidekick to "now" forces a timeline that's at least a decade long. Damian and Jon extend that another five-ish years. I figure, the bare minimum timeline for DC right now is fifteen years, and that's honestly compressed a little more than I'd like.

Damian is the biggest factor, in my opinion. We know Bruce didn't meet Talia until Dick was Robin, so we're looking at Year 2 or 3 at a minimum, and Damian's one of the only characters with an established age (14). So without any dumb retcons like "Bruce meet Talia when he 17 and training" or "Damian was fast-grown like a Star Wars clone" the Leaguers have been active for at least sixteen years. Bare minimum.

Jon complicates things a bit because he wasn't born until after Doomsday, and that doesn't happen until Clark is well into his career and about to get married. But when, exactly, Doomsday happens in the timeline is vague (is it year 4? year 6?) and Jon was a retcon in the first place, further complicated by too much time travel nonsense. So you got some wiggle room with him, but he also provides a problem because he's forcing a decade to have passed since Death/Reign/Return. And that obviously directly impacts guys like Tim and Conner, who showed up around that era.



I liked the gray temples too. Never understood why people had an issue with that. I knew guys who went gray young. I know guys who started to go bald before they were outta high school. Hal going gray before his peers never seemed like a big deal. Struck me as fitting, actually, that the guy who was all about "thinking hard" went gray before the rest.

I started getting noticeable gray streaks in my early 30s. I always thought the gray streaks on Hal were cool when I was a kid (and Earth Two Superman was always my favorite Superman), so I always feel like there's nothing wrong with letting some of these guys be a bit older. I always point out how popular the original Avengers movie was with kids and adults and half the main cast were in their 40s. Companies act like in order to appeal to a young market, the characters all have to be youthful, but I never cared about that as a kid and I don't think that many kids do. When I was growing up, kids in my class all loved Wolverine, who's about as far from "youthful" as it gets.