James Gunn has quite a bit on his plate presently together with his reboot of the DCU. With this reboot in thoughts, Batman canon wants a change that matches extra in keeping with DC Comics. Batman has been probably the most influential characters in comedian e book historical past. Not solely that, however he’s additionally one of many oldest characters in existence alongside Superman, each of which have remained on the forefront of DC content material. His iconic sidekick, Robin, has been included in animated and live-action collection as properly, however his live-action presence has just about been non-existent within the twenty first century.
As an alternative of together with Robin, the dynamic that has dominated current Batman content material is of him and the Joker. However, by rehashing the Batman vs. Gotham villain storyline, we’re being robbed of the complexities that include each member of the Bat-Household. Film followers don’t even know that there have been a number of Robins over time due to this under-representation. Batman: Underneath the Pink Hood is a storyline that has been acquired properly by followers, and it deserves a highlight within the DCU.
Jason Todd, the second Robin who’s now Pink Hood, suits the invoice for the fashionable antihero obsession. After dying by the hands of the Joker, he returns mysteriously with extra deadly strategies and a brand new persona. Jason Todd’s true asset is that his arc is wealthy with character improvement. His previous is traumatic which leads him down a bloody path that finally steers him towards reconciliation with the Bat-Household. One of these complexity is precisely what James Gunn is sweet at. Now we have seen it earlier than with Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad (i.e. Peacemaker and Yondu).
Other than Pink Hood’s emergence again into the world, the potential plot factors are infinite with the inclusion of the Bat-Household. Dick Grayson, the unique Robin who’s now Nightwing, has helped practice youthful characters and has even taken over as Batman quickly. That is an avenue that has not been beforehand explored in live-action content material. So as to change issues up and hold the character fascinating in James Gunn’s universe, Bruce Wayne can have that again up if he’s incapacitated subsequently defending his secret identification and making certain that there’s all the time a Batman to guard Gotham.
If Dick Grayson takes over as Batman, that would enable for the introduction of Damian Wayne as the brand new, and present, Robin. Damian Wayne is Bruce’s organic son with Talia al Ghul who was raised as an murderer earlier than changing into Robin. The most important battle with Damian is that Bruce and Dick Grayson each need to unlearn the killer intuition that he picked up from his mom. The introduction of Talia al Ghul not solely provides to this battle, but in addition unlocks the Lazarus Pit as an important plot machine which, in some continuities, did deliver again Jason Todd.
Introducing Talia al Ghul alone will add extra depth to Batman’s character. In Batman’s cinematic presence, he has by no means had a organic inheritor and his romantic historical past hasn’t actually been a serious plot level. His relationship with Talia isn’t tremendous romantic, however their dynamic as co-parents is a major a part of Bruce’s character.
Whereas many standard characters have foregone relationships and kids up to now, the MCU has not too long ago been exploring Avengers as mother and father that may finally usher within the Younger Avengers for future content material. James Gunn’s DCU can accomplish this by introducing Damian Wayne, subsequently making a path to usher in Younger Justice.
The Robins alone ship sufficient content material for a number of movies/TV collection, however they don’t seem to be the one Gotham Knights round. Barbara Gordon, Kate Kane, and Cassandra Cain have all taken on completely different female Bat personas. Whereas Kate Kane has had a devoted collection within the CW’s Arrowverse, Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain are comparatively untouched apart from an extremely inaccurate portrayal of Cassandra Cain in Birds of Prey. And whereas Cassandra Cain and Kate Kane have intriguing character improvement to discover, Barbara Gordon wants to seem within the live-action DCU.
Barbara Gordon is a serious asset to the DC Universe, not simply as Batgirl, but in addition as Oracle. As Batgirl, she is a feminist icon who can kick ass simply in addition to her fellow Gotham Knights, however her time because the Oracle is critical as a result of it exhibits that her incapacity doesn’t make her any much less of a hero. Batgirl virtually appeared in a solo movie, and its cancellation disheartened us as DC followers, however with the DCU reboot, there’s nonetheless hope. In any case, it’s crucial to lastly embody Barbara Gordon as each Batgirl and Oracle in order that we obtain disabled illustration via a feminist icon.
Total, the exclusion of the Bat-Household in live-action content material is an absolute travesty. Sure, Batman is a beloved character, however it’s extremely inaccurate to painting him as a one-man military when he has a complete household backing him. We as followers deserve a cinematic portrayal of Bat-Relations and their tales which have made DC comics so fantastic, so right here’s hoping they’ll lastly get their dues within the DCU.
