Robin... its never going to happen

Unfortunately, this is the view of Robin everyone has.

Robin is the epitome of the term sidekick. The first incarnation of Robin was Dick Grayson. The son of a couple of circus performers who were killed by a mobster. Bruce Wayne took Grayson in and made him his legal ward. (you know... cause Bruce Wayne isn't having any legal heirs any day soon... I guess)
Because of his skills in acrobatics and fighting skills, he dawns the ridiculous costume and becomes Batman's sidekick thus the dynamic duo is made.

Grayson eventually goes off to be his own superhero in Nightwing, but until then, he's still wearing the yellow cape, the green speedo, etc. And this isn't just a visual used in early comic books of Batman, no this costume is used in recent incarnations.

This happened

This is a screenshot from the cartoon movie, Batman: Under the Red Hood. This Robin is Jason Todd who eventually becomes Red Hood. But it was this visual that inspired me to write this post.

Take a moment and think about the concept of Robin. Bruce Wayne bringing in an orphan child to be his ward. I can't say if this is a normal thing for billionaires to do, but its something Bruce Wayne would do, I get that. But having a 13 year old boy ride along with a full grown man, both in costumes, fighting crime, getting shot at... are you kidding Batman? 

Now I only know the basics of Robin lore but what would prompt Batman to think its a good idea to bring along a 13 year old boy to solve crimes? And he doesn't do this only once, he does it multiple times. There have been multiple young boys who have dawned the name of Robin and been Batman's sidekick, including Batman's own son. 

Now I shouldn't get too angry about this, I mean it is a comic book character, so I will put aside my disapproval of Bruce Wayne's regard for children for second and talk about Robin in movies.

It is one thing to have Robin in a cartoon or comic book. It's a totally different situation with live action film. 

Even if you disregard this pile of complete garbage, the Batman movies that seem to sell these days are gritty, violent and grounded in reality. The idea of a 13 year old boy jumping around with a full grown man is no longer acceptable in our society. And in my opinion, he negates from Batman as a character. Superman has called Batman the most dangerous man on Earth. It just seemed like a guy like that doesn't need a sidekick at all. 

I am all but certain that Zack Snyder is not stupid enough to even consider putting Robin in the new phase of movies that will lead to the Justice League so I'm not even going to mention that. 

All I'm doing here is asking the question, will Robin ever make it into movies again. I say no. This character is so burdened with horrible connotations and his backstory just doesn't work. As much as I would like to see Nightwing because he is actually a really cool story, a studio would have to create a totally new story for Nightwing that doesn't include him being Robin at one point, and then you deviate away from his origin too much. 

As for Under the Red Hood, it still seems odd to me that Batman has a sidekick at all... but its a cartoon, I guess I can suspend a little belief.

What do you think? Do you think Robin will ever make it into the movies again? Do you like Robin? What do you think of Nightwing? Let me know!