Will Robin Join the Caped Crusader in ‘The Batman 2?’
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He already appeared in the first installment of director Matt Reeves’ new trilogy, The Batman. Actor Jay Lycurgo appears in an early scene where he’s a member of the Red Hood gang who seems poised to change his ways after seeing Batman in action.
But as Reeves gets closer to shooting the sequel and more information is released, there seems to be no signs of Robin.
Robin should be in The Batman 2.
How many adaptations do we have to go through before we get Robin in live action again? ignoring such a crucial part of Batman’s character is just stupid.
Batman NEEDS a Robin, literally no debate about that. https://t.co/vESbcTQZr3
— Craig (@CS11__) November 5, 2022
But… it’s too much of a coincidence isn’t it? And Lycurgo, who is British, loves to stir the pot.
Gotham changed me https://t.co/uwEchW2htE
— lycurgo (@jaylycurgo) April 19, 2022
Lycurgo already plays Tim Drake, the third teen wonder to bear the mantle, the first Black actor to play the character, and the first bisexual iteration of the character.
Fans definitely want a cinematic depiction of the character. So far we’ve seen Chris O’Donnell play the original version, Dick Grayson. He appeared in 1995’s Batman Forever and 1997’s Batman and Robin.
The actor was clearly too old to be playing a teenager, and he’s portrayed as obnoxiously cocky for much of the movie as he seeks to avenge his family’s death by Two-Face.
Forever was a huge success, so O’Donnell returned again for 1997’s Batman & Robin. Echoing many critiques aimed at the maligned sequel, O’Donnell likened the making of the sequel to that of a toy commercial and believes it was produced far too quickly after Forever. Its financial performance also killed plans for a solo Robin movie starring O’Donnell, which could have addressed the issues with his character.
The character made an appearance in 2010’s The Dark Knight Rises, that was supposed to evolve into something according to actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
He has explained the mysterious ending in Rises, in which his character John Blake was not only revealed to be called ‘Robin’, but also set up as the successor to become a new iteration of Batman. Of course, despite fans taking this to mean another sequel could be on the way – some day – Christopher Nolan’s 2012 film has never been followed up. In a Reddit Ask Me Anything, Gordon-Levitt has revealed why we had such a huge cliffhanger, saying that’s exactly how Nolan had intended to end the film.
During the AMA session, which tied in to his announcement of a new ‘short-form mini-series’, one fan had jumped in and asked the actor: “So that Robin ending… Were there any plans to do anything with that?”
And as explicitly shown in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Robin is dead. We see this in a scene where Bruce Wayne passes by a display case of Robin’s old suit.
It’s covered in demented spray-paint writing courtesy of what audiences are meant to assume is the Joker, and quickly establishes that this older version of Batman has already lost at least one Robin in the line of duty.
“He took something (Robin) away from me, now I’ll take something (harley) form him” 😭🔥#ReleaseTheAyerCut pic.twitter.com/xG1GrGxlBV
— AHMAD🦇 (@TheAhmadDC) November 5, 2022
Meanwhile, while it was confirmed last April that director Matt Reeves and The Batman star Robert Pattinson we were returning for the second chapter….
Speculation abounds that Lycurgo, who was teased in The Batman would be revealed to be his crime fighting chum.
And Lycurgo has stoked the flames of his future in both Titans and The Batman movies.
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In fact a post by Lycurgo depicting him as Red Robin may be a hint that in Titans he takes on that mantle leaving it open for him to play the boy wonder in the films.
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Our hot take: Lycurgo will indeed take on the Red Robin moniker in Titans and will be introduced as a version of the character in the films, most likely briefly introduced in the second film and then given his own spin-off series.
The Drake version of the Boy Wonder remains among the most well known and also is the only one who has a had a long successful tenure in print.
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His expansive role in Titans suggests big things and we can’t conceive of any circumstances where Reeves accidentally or coincidentally cast the same actor in his film.