Nightwing Comic Writer Weighs In After Heated Rivalry Star Campaigns To Play The Character

Looking over the upcoming DC movies and upcoming DC TV shows that have been officially announced or reported to be in development, there are a handful of opportunities where the DC Universe franchise could potentially introduce Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Nightwing. You may have also seen that last December, Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams campaigned to play the former Robin. Now comic book writer Scott Beatty, who has experience working on Nightwing, has shared his thoughts about Williams gunning for the role.

Beatty previously co-wrote Nightwing: Year One with Chuck Dixon, which was published back in 2005 and delivered a retelling of the events that led to Dick Grayson retiring as Robin and becoming Nightwing. Hudson Williams was holding up a collected edition of this storyline when he mentioned his interest in joining the DC Universe, but Beatty only learned about this recently. As he wrote on his Blogspot page:

Hey, better late than never discovering that Hudson Thames wants to be the next live-action Nightwing. It makes me wonder the actor, who co-leads the steamy Heated Rivalry with François Arnaud, has also read Scott Beatty and Chuck Dixon’s Robin: Year One and Batgirl: Year One stories. By the way, the hockey series can be streamed with an HBO Max subscription, and since DC also falls under the Warner Bros. Discovery banner, then that already gives Thames a foot in the door with being considered for Dick Grayson. Also, with how sexual Heated Rivalry and how Nighwing’s butt gets a lot of attention from DC Comics readers… I’m just saying.

To be clear, there’s no indication that James Gunn, who co-runs DC Studios with Peter Safran, is looking at Williams to play Nightwing… or even anyone at the moment. But if a list of candidates is ever assembled, Scott Beatty approves of the newly-popular Shane Hollander actor being on it, adding:

While Dick Grayson has previously been portrayed in live action by Burt Ward and Chris O’Donnell, those versions were fighting alongside Batman as Robin. Titans’ Brenton Thwaites is the only actor who’s portrayed Dick in his Nightwing form, having adopted the new superhero identity at the end of Season 2. There were plans for The LEGO Batman Movie’s Chris McKay to direct a Nightwing movie during the DCEU era, but those never made it past.

With The Brave and the Bold set to feature an older Batman teaming up with his son Damian, who will suit up as Robin, it will be easy enough to have Dick Grayson already be Nightwing whenever he’s introduced to the DCU. The question is where and when, and we’ll let you know once that’s decided. Hopefully sooner rather than later, as it’d be a shame for Hudson Williams to age out of the role.