In the last decade, movies released based on DC Comics have done a nice job bolstering certain areas of the franchise’s reputation (the blockbuster success of James Wan’s Aquaman being the best example yet), but one mountain that has yet to be climbed is depicting the relationship between Batman and Robin. We haven’t seen the pairing together in live-action since the release of Joel Schumacher’s Batman and Robin in 1997 – which fans will remember didn’t go particularly well – and thus while we’ve seen a number of actors play the Dark Knight since the turn of the century, we have not been seeing him team up with his trusted sidekick.
There’s always hope for the future, however, and The Batman star Robert Pattison and director Matt Reeves actually provided us with some surprising hope recently that it could happen.
Robert Pattinson, Matt Reeves, Zoë Kravitz, and producer Dylan Clark participated in a press event for The Batman last week in Los Angeles, and the panel was asked at one point about the possibility of seeing the so-called Bat Family expanded in future films, with Robin specifically being name dropped. Pattinson began his response with a joke, but then seriously noted that it would be a direction in which he’d be interested for the character. Said the actor,
Yeah, but he has to be 13. That's the only way I'll accept it. (Laughs) No, I love 'Death In The Family' and stuff and I think it'd be so cool. And also people are so scared of it, but it's kind of exciting. I think it would be a really fun addition.
While Batman and Robin have been a team in the comics since 1940, the duo has been the butt of jokes for decades now – many of the homophobic variety – and it’s pretty clear that it has impacted development strategy for Caped Crusader blockbusters at Warner Bros. The Dark Knight trilogy doesn’t namedrop the character until the final scenes of the third movie, and the only version of the Boy Wonder we know about in the DC Extended Universe died/was killed.
The version of the titular hero featured in The Batman is still very much in the early years of his vigilante career (year two to be precise), so it wouldn’t have made a great deal of sense to pair him up with a Robin for the film… but next time? Based on the comments made, that doesn’t sound like an impossible idea.
Following up on Robert Pattinson’s comments, Matt Reeves chimed in with his own joke, saying “Yeah, there's no way we will do that,” but copied his star in then being real about the possibility. He echoed how scary it is to make a Batman movie in general, both because of the excellent legacy and because of fan expectation, but obviously part of the experience is facing down that fear and making it work.
In that spirit, the director made it sound like he will be tinkering with the idea of including Robin in a future The Batman movie, but also made no specific promises. Said Reeves,
I do think that toward what Rob's saying, I also like 'Death In The Family,' and I think the idea of being able to approach some of those stories and think, 'How can we do this in a way that feels fresh and ground it in a way?' Look at the scary thing and see if there's a way to do it. And the question is, will we be too scared – but I think we should try.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves thinking about the cinematic future for Robin, The Batman has to be released first – and that big event is now just mere weeks away. The film, starring the aforementioned Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz along with Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, and Paul Dano, will arrive in theaters on March 4 (buy tickets on the movie’s official website).
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend to learn about more of the fascinating things that were said at last week’s press event, and head over to our Upcoming DC Movies guide to keep track of everything that the franchise has in development.
