DC Needs To Give Its Most Neglected Hero The Spotlight
It’s clear that if James Gunn’s new DCU wants to set itself apart from the last crop of DC movies it needs to do something to shakeup the status quo. Like maybe a movie starring a certain DC A-lister who’s never been given a proper chance to shine on the big screen? We’re referring, of course, to the one and only Nightwing.
Nightwing In The Spotlight
Nightwing is the identity that former Robin Dick Grayson adopted when he left Batman’s side to become a solo hero. Rather than copy his mentor’s stoic demeanor, Nightwing is a more happy-go-lucky vigilante with a high-flying, acrobatic style born of a childhood raised as an acrobat in the circus.
Make no mistake, Nightwing is not Batman 2. He’s his own hero with his own villains and gadgets, his own style, and, oddly, what’s considered by many fans to be one of the best butts in comics. Yeah, you read that right.
Superhero Sex Appeal
Dick Grayson’s sex appeal is just one of the reasons he deserves his own movie. Superhero movies have a habit of being rather sterile and sexless in the Marvel age, and a Nightwing movie could bring us back to a time when Batman was still having one-night stands with Vicki Vale instead of awkwardly rejecting Zoe Kravitz’s advances in what we’re pretty sure might have been the first onscreen interpretation of Batman as a virgin.
Key To A Sexier DC
No shade to Matt Reeves or Robert Pattinson. We get it if their Caped Crusader is too busy fighting crime to indulge in his more primal urges.
There’s no denying, though, that a little sex appeal might spice up the DCU in a way that both sets it apart from its rival and cuts through the air of superhero fatigue permeating every new Marvel release.
Nightwing and his various relationships—the dude has had more flings than Batman’s had Robins—could be the key to a sexier DC.
Batman Feeling A Little Stale
The character has more to offer the DCU than just a cute tush, of course. There’s his association with the Teen Titans, for instance.
A Nightwing solo film could set up a potential Titans movie down the road by introducing other heroes like Starfire and Raven to the DCU. Zack Snyder already proved what an ordeal it is getting the Justice League on screen; perhaps James Gunn would be smart to focus on a different set of superheroes should the DCU get around to making a big team movie.
The truth is Batman has been around for 85 years. Superman for 86. These guys are starting to feel a little stale, and audiences deserve something fresher. It’s a movie where they can enjoy the trappings of a Batman film but without the constant brooding and a character that takes himself way too seriously.
Dick Grayson Solo Hero
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Dick Grayson abandoning his former role as Batman’s sidekick and becoming a solo hero.
In the four decades since Tales of the Teen Titans #44 gave us the debut of Nightwing, the hero has appeared on the big screen exactly zero times.
DC came close with Batman & Robin giving Chris O’donnell’s Dick Grayson a similar costume to Nightwing, but the character still retained his Robin identity. Then, of course, there’s whatever happened at the end of The Dark Knight Rises, but the less said about that weak attempt to shoehorn Robin into the trilogy at the last second, the better.
Nightwing Has Been Around, But Not Enough
Meanwhile, the character has shown up in multiple DC animated movies and even a few live-action series.
Still, Nightwing deserves a shot at the big leagues. The fact that we live in a universe where Catwoman (2004) exists, but the closest we’ve ever gotten to a Nightwing movie is the Grayson fan film released the same year just proves that this is the darkest timeline.
Dick and his perfect glutes deserve better.
