The DC Nightwing Movie Gets Devastating News
It’s been a rough few months for DC. After Shazam: Fury of the Gods marked a major miss at the box office, The Flash was meant to be the studio’s saving grace but never managed to outrun the competition. Although it may have begun to find some footing with the recently released Blue Beetle, DC is calling it quits on another highly anticipated title, Nightwing.
In development for years, Chris McKay’s Nightwing movie has been quietly canceled by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Taking to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) to share the upsetting news, The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez revealed “that project is dead,” referring to Nightwing. Gonzalez’s post rattled followers who were looking forward to the story of Batman’s ex-sidekick, Dick Grayson, to be told in Chris McKay’s on-screen version. Further adding to the gut punch, the movie has been in pre-production since 2017, when it was first announced.
While everything was up in the air when James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios at the end of last year, McKay (and the rest of the fan base) remained hopeful that the new co-heads would still take an interest in the project and push it along. But speculations about other upcoming projects from DC may point to the idea that while McKay’s Nightwing is no longer moving forward, the team might have something up their sleeves.
One of the more talked about projects coming down the chute from the reformed studio is The Brave and the Bold. A kick-off point for other titles that will fall under the umbrella of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, The Brave and the Bold promises to pack a punch from not only Batman but from others attached to his story. With this in mind, it could be possible that Gunn and Safran are taking over the reins of McKay’s Nightwing project and turning it into their own.
For now, the only live-action Nightwing will be Brenton Thwaites on DC’s canceled series, Titans.
The move wouldn’t be completely unfounded as the duo has had the worst luck with recent titles’ performance at the box office. In just under a year, Safran and Gunn have done a full overhaul of DC, nixing Henry Cavill from his long-running role as Superman and scrapping any plans to move forward with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. Coming from the standpoint of not trusting anyone else to get the studio back on track, it’s completely possible that the pair are taking things into their own hands with any future Nightwing projects.
As for Chris McKay’s Nightwing, there wasn’t much known when it came to the film’s specific plot details. It was previously rumored that Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf) was in the line to play the titular superhero, but nothing was ever confirmed. As for McKay, to get a sense of what his directorial style would’ve looked like, he’s the helmer behind The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War, and Renfield.
Fans will never get a chance to see Chris McKay’s comedic take on Nightwing and there’s no telling when Dick Grayson will be part of the DCU.
With the fate of the DC hanging in the balance, fans can only expect to receive similar news in the approaching days and weeks. After followers had their hearts broken following the back-and-forth of Gal Gadot’s reprisal as Wonder Woman, which would be shut down by Gunn and Safran following her initial reports, the DC community needs a solid win. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Nighthawk will be that victory.
