…A Robin Gets His Wings
Is there room for Robin in Christopher Nolan’s Gotham?
We now have two films that are Robin-less. Mercifully, some would say. Batman Begins, as an origin story, had no room for a character who was introduced after Bruce began his night job. And The Dark Knight, as its 
title indicates, takes itself quite seriously. No mincing gymnasts in green manties, thanks!
This has been the overwhelming sentiment amongst many fans since the Joel Schumacher disaster Batman & Robin. Chris O’Donnell as The Boy Wonder didn’t do anything to lend credibility to the character, and so it goes.
According to the World Entertainment News Network, Christian Bale agrees. They quote him as saying: “If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.”
Tee hee. Problem is, WENN isn’t exactly the most reliable source in the world. Plus, a British mag has Bale down as saying that Dark Victory was one of his favorite Batman arcs in the comics…and Dick Grayson, aka Robin, is a major character.
Personally, I think it’s more likely that Bale agrees with a lot of fans, and just skimmed Dark Victory without noticing Robin’s appearance, about halfway through the story. WENN may not be trustworthy, but people’s distaste towards Robin is. Jeph Loeb, writer of Dark Victory, has explained that the character is important to Batman if properly portrayed.
So far, it doesn’t look as if Robin will appear in Nolan’s Gotham anytime soon. Can he modify the brightly colored costume to fit into a world of grays and blacks? Will the vigilante crimefighter ever work with a partner?
More importantly, will the hardcore fans ever completely accept a Robin-free Gotham?
It will be a challenge - but no more of a challenge than it would be to fit The Penguin, Catwoman, or some of the other improbable and unrealistic legends of the Batman universe. Nolan can’t ignore them forever.
Tags: recreation, hobbies, trivia
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My personal guess is that Robin was basically included as a decoy. Batman wears almost nothing but black, but Robin’s dressed in red and green and yellow, like a giant traffic signal in the night. Robin’s around to give the criminals something to shoot at while Batman sneaks around behind.
Clever bats-stard.