Does Batman Need Robin?

This is what everyone fears. 

The debate has been raging over at Slashfilm–should Christopher Nolan’s next Batman film introduce Robin?

The problem started when a quote attributed to Christian Bale surfaced, dismissing the whole idea:

“If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.”

(Interesting, considering that for Christian Bale, going to work usually means being chained up somewhere.)

Surprisingly, many people agreed. I say surprisingly, because isn’t Robin an integral character in the DC universe? Look, I am not a comic book expert–I’m just not cool enough–but I’m aware of the basics (Robin–Dick Grayson, Nightwing, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, etc.). From what I understand, in the comics, Robin isn’t a joke, but the problem is that he has become one on TV. The campy 1960s TV series made him pretty silly and the coup de grace was of course the two Joel Schumacher films in which the character, played by Chris O’Donnell appeared, first 1995’s Batman Forever, and most notoriously, 1997’s Batman & Robin (yes, the one with the way too anatomically correct costumes that almost put a premature end to George Clooney’s film career). When people think about Robin now, these unfortunate images are what most frequently comes to mind.

In Thursday’s Slashfilm post, comic writer Jeph Loeb, speaking to MTV, is quoted in defense of Robin joining the latest film series:

“Take the time to tell the story properly. There is a story of Dick Grayson and how he becomes Robin that is extremely moving and very helpful. …[Grayson/Robin] doesn’t understand why it is that he needs to do this and Bruce doesn’t understand why he’s doing it either because he’s not a parent. He doesn’t know how to be a parent,” Loeb said. “And together, they make each other better people. So that for me would be the next step.”

It’s noted that Bale, in 2005, had cited Loeb’s Dark Victory as one of his main inspirations for his portrayal of Batman; Victory is a Robin-heavy story and one that has been touted as a possible source for the next film.

I asked my friend who’s a hardcore Batman fan whether Robin should be in the next film and almost before I could finish asking the question, she said, “Yes, of course.” She was surprised when I said that many people were adamantly against the idea, saying that he should be brought in because he has his own story that’s interesting in itself; he’s not just a cardboad sidekick. Plus his relationship with Batman is important to that character. In other words, she said pretty much the same thing as Loeb.

If Robin is included in the next film (or next one after that, if there is a fourth), I think we should all put some trust in Nolan–I don’t see any reason to think he wouldn’t treat the character seriously, and more importantly, make it work within the world he’s created. So let’s be a little more open-minded and less focused on past failures.