For years, DC Universe fans have been hoping to see Dick Grayson, Batman’s original Robin, make his big screen debut as Nightwing in his own film. In a recent interview, director Chris McKay says he hopes his Nightwing project can come to fruition in James Gunn’s DC Universe.
Chris McKay’s involvement in a potential Nightwing film was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter back in 2017 after the success of The Lego Batman Movie, which was also directed by the filmmaker and heavily featured Grayson’s early days as Robin. While it was reported that Bill Dubuque, best known for his work on dramas like Ozark, would helm the script, development of the film quickly stalled due to behind-the-scenes complications. Now with Gunn and Peter Safran helming a new era of the DCU, McKey reveals that he still hopes to make the film:
“Look, I am still hoping to do something with it,” McKay told SFX Magazine. “Now that James Gunn is involved… I haven’t had any conversations with him or anybody over there, but I love that character. I hope I can do something with him. That would be amazing.”
McKay has been a consistent advocate for the Nightwing film despite development on the film stalling. He now may be closer than ever to it coming to fruition with the upcoming Batman: The Brave and the Bold film, which is set to feature the live action debut of Damian Wayne, the fourth Robin, along with other members of the Bat-Family.
What We Know So Far about the DCU Batman
The recently-announced The Brave and the Bold movie is set to revolve around the Bruce Wayne version of Batman and his son Damian, the fifth Robin. During the DC Studios presentation at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, James Gunn and Peter Safran revealed that the movie is set to introduce the main Batman of the DC Universe.
Robert Pattinson’s Batman is expected to remain outside of the DC Universe, as part of the DC Elseworlds imprint, with Matt Reeves directing and co-writing his second movie for an October 2025 release. As such, Warner Bros. is casting a second version of the Dark Knight for its DC Universe.
“The Brave and the Bold. This is the introduction of the DCU Batman, Bruce Wayne, and also our favorite Robin, Damian Wayne,” James Gunn teased during the 55-minute DC Universe presentation. “[Damian] is a little son of a bitch, an assassin murderer, who [Bruce] unwittingly takes on, who is Batman’s actual son that he doesn’t know exists for the first eight to ten years of his life. It’s a very strange sort of father and son story about the two of them.”
The DC Studios co-head added the following about the Batman and Robin movie, which does not yet have a release date: “It’s based on Grant Morrison’s run on the Batman. There’s a couple of comic book writers that have been exceptionally influential on our stuff and Grant Morrison and Tom King are probably the two primary ones.”
