Joseph Gordon-Levitt Returning As Robin For DC?
Could we see Joseph Gordon-Levitt return to the DC Universe? The actor answered an interesting question recently about the prospect
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When we last saw Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the Batman universe, he was standing on the edge of the Batcave, having been handed the veritable keys to the Caped Crusader’s kingdom. The Dark Knight Returns ended on a couple of different cliffhangers, one possibly setting up Gordon-Levitt’s own rise into superhero glory as Robin/ Nightwing. That didn’t ever come to fruition, but never say never on that front. Recently, Joseph Gordon-Levitt hinted that he might be interested in picking back up with the role though there would be certain conditions.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt was recently doing an AMA on Reddit while promoting a new acting class he is teaching. Of course, a number of different topics and questions came up about his accomplished career on the big screen. One fan asked him whether he’d ever considered doing a Robin/ Nightwing movie. Gordon-Levitt was open to the possibility but couched it around one detail saying, “As with every project for me, it would depend on the script and the director. But if I were to do a movie like that, I’d only want to do it if it were going to be awesome, and honestly, I think the odds of that happening would be pretty slim.”
This is probably the nice way to say, “I’m not doing it.” But he didn’t rule it out altogether. With the universe of superhero movies only growing, and the genre expanding in ways few would have ever thought imaginable, there are always avenues for big-name actors or actresses to hit the screen as characters. And in terms of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the groundwork has already been laid out. He played John Blake during the events of The Dark Knight Rises, but when Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne was ready to hang up the Batwings for good and move off into the sunset with Anne Hathaway’s Selena Kyle, it was Blake he gave all the toys to. And it was at that moment we learned that Blake’s real name was Robin. At the time it was a fun call-out with the possibility of further stories. But those never came to be.
As for Nightwing/ Robin, the reason it came up in the Reddit AMA is that there have been plans for a live-action movie around this character. Chris McKay has been in various stages of development around this character for some time now though it’s been a bit unclear about the path and plan for the film. Supposedly, McKay has a script done, but there is some chance it ends up in an animated version instead of live-action. That would obviously put Joseph Gordon-Levitt out of the running to begin with.
And it sounds like Joseph Gordon-Levitt is only leaving the door cracked open a millimeter when it comes to him returning to the character. Saying it is unlikely to line up with what he would need to see from a script and director signals that he might not have all that much interest. In addition to teaching his acting class, Joseph Gordon-Levitt most recently created and starred in Mr. Corman for AppleTv. It was about a public school teacher in California but was canceled after just one season. Next up, he’ll voice Jiminy Crickett in the live-action version of Pinocchio and will star in Super Pumped with Uma Thurman and Kyle Chandler among others. For now, Nightwing will have to wait.
