Dark Knight Mania
Bale Would Quit Batman Over Robin
Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on July 2, 2008
In proving himself both awesome and smart, The Dark Knight star Christian Bale, perhaps the most widely praised Batman actor ever, has declared that he would resign if the producers ever tried to introduce the sidekick boy wonder Robin to the franchise.
To quote him directly, the super hero star had this to say:
“If Robin crops up in one of the new Batman films, I’ll be chaining myself up somewhere and refusing to go to work.”
I for one am glad to hear this kind of conviction from one of my favorite actors. Robin’s inclusion in previous installments fell very flat and his role in the comic has always seemed a bit off. Troubled billionaire Bruce Wayne takes an orphan as his ward and guides, or virtually forces, him into a dangerous life of crime fighting. Weird.
But fans of the grittier Batman appearing in the Nolan films can rejoice. While the success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight about to blow up the box office, Nolan and Bale will likely hold the mantel as long as they want it. Provided at least one (preferably both) stays on board, we’ll never have to suffer the acrobatic and borderline creepy exploits of a teen child in tights fighting crime alongside one of our favorite heroes.
Source: WENN, via IMDB
Read more articles by Robert Fure
13 Comments
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Haaaaaaaaaaaallelujah!! Haaaaaaaaaaaallelujah!! Hallelujah Hellelujah!
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Mr. Bale, you are a very intelligent man. Not only have you created the definitive Batman/Bruce Wayne, you also seem to know about the right decisions regarding the movies.
Great, no Robin… keep the grittiness all the way!
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Oh, Fure. Once again we find ourselves on opposing sides. First, I think it’s ridiculous to discount the father/son connection and theme that runs throughout Batman and obviously includes Robin.
Second, Robin is a solid character in Batman: Dark Victory, and you know it. It COULD be done well. Unfortunately, the bad taste left in our mouths from the TV show and Chris O’Donnell means the stigma will probably ensure that Robin never gets his due.
Besides, you cannot tell me it wouldn’t be awesome to have Batman adopt the poor kid, train him, fight along side him, gain a solid attachment, and then have a villain blow up Robin in a factory? Very Awesome? Yes.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Robin has been handled well in about 5 story arcs in the past 40 years. Not good. I’d love to see Robin blow up in a factory, only because I hate Robin (and so did the fans, who voted to kill him).
I’d like to keep him out of the new franchise because if you introduce Robin, that entire movie basically has to be about Robin and he won’t obviously die in that one (it would be too soon) so you get stuck with 2 movies with Robin.
No Boy Wonder for me.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I think they could handle the whole Robin situation in a future film by perhaps referring to him in the past tense. Perhaps in a story that takes place a few years later Bruce is dealing with his death, which I think would be more significant and meaningful than introducing a new Robin. This could even be quite subtle and not even a direct reference, but just one more sting of guilt for Mr. Wayne to deal with. This way it appeases fans of the boy wonder and that continuity without derailing this wonderfully dark Batman franchise.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Robin is definitely a caker (a blatant homosexual). The character sucks. If anything, I could possibly see Nightwing!
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 am
The inclusion of Robin would be a bad move for the franchise. It just wouldn’t work with the current tone of the new films. Sorry Robin, but you just don’t cut it.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:57 am
The key is to use the current tone of the movie and re-create that with Robin. It’s definitely doable, but it’s a matter of creating a realistic Robin, not a cartoon Chris O’Donnell who watches his family die in such a (forgive me) wacky way. Find him in the street starving to death in The Narrows.
You can also make the film without focusing entirely on Robin. Just create enough of an attachment to him so that when he’s blown up in a warehouse, the audience is shocked. Killing off important characters is awesome.
The biggest obstacle is that damned costume.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:35 am
Firstly, many of the fans that complain about Robin think exactly as those who think Batman is just a goofy guy in tights…..and that watching a comic book movie is beneath them. Batman Begins proved that a comic book character could be done in excellent fashion and NOT BE RIDICULOUS. Now these same Batman fans may appreciate this…..but are CLOSED MINDED when many others would like to see the same thing done for the Dick Grayson character….Batman The Animated Series did an awesome origin (emmy award winning to be exact) episode about it…….and when he finally was Robin…he wasn’t some little kid….He was more along 19 or 20 years of age (guessing by the Animated Series since he’s in college).
If Christian Bale is saying he won’t do Batman because he fears that it will be the 1998 version of B&R….then I completely understand…..if it’s because he thinks it’s silly….then I would venture to say he’s NOT as intelligent as I believed him to be…..Christian….you’re running around in a Bat suit for God’s sake! Doesn’t matter if you’re a great actor….if it were written & filmed poorly……you would suck……simple as that. And that’s the bottom line with Robin…..It’s THE EXACT SAME THING…..IF DONE AS WELL AS BATMAN BEGINS OR THE DARK KNIGHT……IT WOULD BE AWESOME. But some fans just want to refuse to believe that though……sad thing is….that if WB had the same pesimist attitude as these fans…..Batman Begins or The Dark Knight WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN MADE.
For me the Big 3 has always been Batman, Spiderman, and Superman (although Superman was more fun when I was kid….not as engaging anymore….despite his powers). I’ve always had favorites taking turns at the number 1 spot……Batman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, the X-Men…..but I’d say Batman is probably the one who has hovered at number 1 the most often…..with the exception of Robin (whom I don’t consider to be as popular as the Big 3…..but is my all time favorite). The reason I like Robin’s whole story is because his origin story makes Batman’s origin story resonate even more. The are connected by tragedy…which makes for great story telling. But that won’t mean a damn thing if they have another Chris O’Donnel version permeate the Silver Screen. The only thing worse than Chis O’Donnel as Robin was Alicia Silverstone as a blonde Batgirl…..yuck.
And the “original” Robin is never blown up in a warehouse (it’s the 2nd Robin…Jason Todd)….he grows up to eventually become Nightwing……a character I’ve grown to enjoy almost (and pretty damn close at that) as Batman. The Robin costume is also not that big of an issue so long as the greens, reds, and yellows of his Costume are of a dark enough shade……and the yellow has to be on the inside of his cape….while the rest of his cape is black on the outside……the cape worked well in Batman TAS……..I believe it would also work well in a live motion picture……Nolan said he needed someone fearless…and that’s why he picked Ledger to do the Joker………can the same be said for Nolan & Bale when it comes to honoring the complete mythos of Batman? Only time…..will truly tell……but it seems unlikely.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Yes,
Robin can be silly, silly, silly. However, as The Dark Knight Returns demonstrated, he/
she can be essential to the story. Batman’s motivation to having Robin is in minor part
to get his ass out of trouble when he gets captured or overwhelmed; but mostly it’s
because he knows he is mortal, and that he won’t be around forever. The fact that he
is grooming someone to take his place shows the audience that he knows he’s just a
man, and can (and will) be killed someday. It would be shortsighted (and self-
aggrandizing in a way) to just fight crime until he dies, with no thought of the future.
Training a replacement shows he wants his fight for justice to carry on after his death,
and that he views his mission as bigger than himself. Take that away, and you take a
lot of stakes for Batman out of the picture. It all depends on how you portray Robin.
Throwing him in there against thugs would be stupid; having him in a safe place
observing and as a backup provides another layer to the story.
August 4th, 2008 at 9:06 am
i totally agree, even though my favorite Robin is the 3rd one (Tim drake) the best Robin
ever. but i think its about time to introduce and revamp the Boy wonder, and save him
from the B&R version; and make him bad ass again.
Keep in mind: you cant have NIghtWing with out him becoming Robin first (possible spin
off series)
and also please, preety please fix Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon’s Daughter; Barbra
Gordon.
The B&R Batgirl sucked and she was Alfred’s Grand niece or somthing. that BLOWS!!!!
i hope they put her in it some how
either way, theres alot of possible storylines for Batman (lets not forget about Batman’s
Son = Damian wayne; thats a great story and brings back Rhas al guel, and his daughter.
but still you have to start from begining to tell all those stories, in order for batman and
robin to grow. so Robin is needed, and plus, at this point in the storyline of the dark
knight its needed.
the first one was about becoming batman, and the second one was about the limits and
consequencies about becoming batman are. i cant think of anyother way to improve on
the character of bruce wayne even more than to introduce Robin - Dick Grayson. Read
last halloween and you’re understand. plus he doesnt become robin until very late in the
story.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I thought the blonde kid Bruce saved in Batman Begins would later on turn into Robin… otherwise his character would’ve been kinda insignificant. Maybe if they would somehow converge Robin with Nightwing, I believe it could work out. I mean… for me, it can’t possibly get any worse than Catwoman xD
August 8th, 2008 at 12:28 am
No, wait… Gordon’s son of course.