It is a suspicion that fans have had since the first teaser trailer when they saw a superhero’s costume emblazoned with an R defaced with ‘Hahaha! Joke’s on you, Batman‘.
For those who have followed the story of the Dark Knight, Robin’s (A.K.A. Jason Todd‘s) death was an event chronicled in the 1989 graphic novel A Death in the Family, and now it seems that Robin’s death is part of the new history of DC’s Cinematic Universe.
According to Ben Affleck, his old vigilante veteran is wracked with guilt over the death of the Boy Wonder, perpetually grieving for the loss of his sidekick. In the interview with Entertainment Weekly, Affleck had this to say about his version of Batman:
“[Batman is] bitterly disappointed … that he’s lost this guy who fought by his side. That character’s death must have been devastating to him, and he’s suffered. We get the sense that he’s suffered a lot of devastating losses before this movie even starts.”
It could possibly have been because of the death of Robin that he went into retirement, but it is not the reason why he decides to go up against Superman in the ultimate nerd throw-down. His reason for doing that lies with the carnage the Man of Steel and General Zod wrought throughout Metropolis and Gotham in 2013’s Man of Steel, which included the deaths of hundreds of his employees at Wayne Enterprises.
Seeing the awesome power of Superman, Batman is fearful of what that could do to humanity:
“It inspires in him the idea that, well, if there’s one of these kinds of people out there, then maybe there are more. If there are more, then maybe that’s hopeful and also terrifying to him, because then they could make humans even more powerless – or they could serve on our side.”
Although fans may take the news of Robin’s re-death and the fact that we won’t see him in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hard, a cheery fact to consider that Batman did take on a new Robin sometime after the death of Jason Todd. Perhaps it is not too much to hope for that we shall yet see Robin the Boy Wonder fighting side-by-side with the World’s Greatest Detective.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits cinemas on March 25 and you can see one of a multitude of trailers below.
#Peace.Love.Robin
