With the future of Smallville looming (fan speculation and hints from the stars say this is the last season) The CW is looking for its next superhero primetime fix. Batman you say? Unfortunately the TV rights to that are tied up. Won’t happen. But you wouldn’t be far off. CW has its sights set on a Smallville style take on Robin, The Boy Wonder.
SciFi Wire picks up the press release:
Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as Supernatural executive producer McG, are behind The Graysons, which has landed a put pilot commitment at the network.
Just as Smallville focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, The Graysons will follow the world of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.
It’s the latest DC Comics franchise to be mined for the small screen by Warner Brothers TV. McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision label is also attached.
The Graysons is seen as a potential replacement for Smallville should that show end its run this season, which has been speculated.
Now it is no secret here that Robin has always been my hands down favourite DC Hero character. Most people have negative things to say about Robin, but I figure they have the fairy boot wearing sidekick to Batman, wearing bright colours to attract attention while Bruce lurked in the shadows.
The Robin I like is the more modern version, trained in martial arts, a natural gift for detective work and a personality and story to hold his own title. He has to struggle with regular teen problems and the heavy burden or responsibility he faces as Batman’s partner. I would imagine a series revolving around a Robin yet to be would be like this one.
With the success of the Dark Knight a prequel treatment like Smallville featuring a young Bruce Wayne would be an interesting show. It was already considered and I think they already did it in secret. In season 3 of Smallville a orphaned teenager very capable in martial arts, chemistry, computers and investigation appears under the name of Adam Knight. Over a 7 episode arch he is revealed to have some history that parallels Wayne’s story, but is a little different. Not unexpected in the Smallville canon.
The last TV Batman was played by Adam West, and we all know Batman is also called the Dark Knight. Adam Knight. He also claims to have a dependency to a substance known as the Lazarus serum (nod to Ra’s Al Ghul – a predominate Batman foe). Last the character was seen, he was dying. Considered dead he hasn’t been seen again in the show.
So with no Batman spinoff for the CW, they are considering Robin and even without my favourtism towards the character I think it is a great idea.
CW is littered with dramas aimed at the late teen to young adult demographic, but the balance tends to dominate towards the girly shows like the next generation 90210, Gossip Girl, Top Model, and One Tree Hill. With only Smallville and Supernatural to balance that out, CW is looking for a teen drama to replicate the success of Smallville.
Besides it gives the Justice League somewhere else to make cameo appearances until CW decides to give them their own series.
I ‘m a sucker… so I’m interested and would very much like to see the pilot. But I personally think that they should end SMALLVILLE and just start a Justice League show. I mean SMALLVILLE shouldn’t be called SMALLVILLE anymore anyway… they are never there anymore. It should be called “Clark Kent” or “METROPOLIS” or “The DAILY PLANET” or something like that. Just sayin’ my 2 cents…. like I said I’m a sucker though and will watch SMALLVILLE no madder how bad, old and lame it gets… out of hopes that one small five minute snippet might make my heart skip a beat or two.
I’ll always have love for it. I started watching it from the first year and have yet to miss any of it. I do own all of the seasons so that proves my lame-ass-ness.
“richard- get down off that wire right now, you’re not old enough yet, young man!!… and stop eating that birdseed it will ruin your dinner!!”
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
No, just no.
Interesting.
I see it as not being picked up for a series, but like Mercy Reef/Aquaman, finding a home on Itunes.
The idea is solid though: this “Robin” universe, like the Smallville, does not have (intentional) continuity with the film series most connected to the character/characters.
That said, I’d much rather have someone roll the dice on Firestorm, but that’s just me I’ spose.
oh i forgot to mention rorschach. no powers. yet he flame torched a house with a lighter and a spray can. and he split a dogs head in 2. and he killed several people with a toilet. and he brakes fingers in bars to get info. oh and hes rorschach
sorry about the multiple comments…ive been waiting for nightwing news such as this one for a very..very long time
bigsampson
powers???
okay. let me make this very clear. and i completly respect ur opinion dude but
superman has powers and he stalks women and knocks up reporters
moonknight has no powers and he grabs moonblades and carves the edge of thugs faces and them rips their faces off
just because you have powers it doesnt mean youre all that. aquaman has powers and hes freaking lame. yet the punisher has no powers and he fuckign rules
although punisher and moonknight are killers also…but i find them cool
nightwing..is fucking amazing…im sorry…if they make a movie of him they can give it a dearedevil look kinda and make him really awsome…
“Now it is no secret here that Robin has always been my hands down favourite DC Hero character.”
rodney youre awsome^^^^ and nightwing fuckign rules. case closed. i wont say anythign about this news because people know how i would react to this.
ahh fuck it…
YES! FUCK YEAH!
BRING IT!
NIGHTWING YES!!!!
OMGOMG can you guys imagine how COOL they can make him!?!? they can make this to be so amazing..holy shit…
Powers don’t mean anything. Grayson’s were gifted world class circus acrobats. Dick was exceptional in that he could keep up with his family at his young age.
Not everyone on Smallville has powers, but they are all exceptional.
Oliver Queen has no powers and he currently leads that version of Justice League.
rodney i acknowledge your nerdom over batman….but to be honest he sucks IMO cept for a couple of series where they made him cool….but the original story is out dated and has way too much rainbow action going on …..i have to be honest if they went to the old school dick…it will suck….they need to get modern cause really robin is weak…..and no super powers are not everything but the fact is before batman ….robin was weak…..he doesnt need super powers but most fans are not intrested in…….ps john your knowledge of MMA is sad, go learn about other organizations…rich franklin and henderson are good but not the best…..middleweights suck in UFC hahah…but ya IMO robin doesnt have the fanfare for most without batman….unless he is taking over the batman persona.
what i’m saying rodney is i would only like to see the character after he is robin, not during or before.
Superpowers aren’t everything reallylongnameguy
(The problem with the concept is Clark Kent has super powers on Smallville, which is why its interesting. Dick Grayson has no powers. He hasn’t met Batman yet. What’s the BIG deal?
Nightwing is Dick Grayson, formerly the teen titan and sidekick to Batman… Robin.
So if they do a story of the guy who was before their was a Nightwing, they have to do a Robin.
So what you are saying Adox, is that you approve?
And Drew, the show you are talking about is Birds of Prey. Unfortunately a show with an all girl cast was doomed from the beginning no matter how hot they were. The show wasn’t half bad, but it didn’t have Smallville to tie into it. It was set in the future after Batman retired/disappeared, Smallville is a generation and a half before that.
If they made this show as the heros that preceded Batman and ran it parallel to Smallville I think it would have been different.
I could see this considering that with no batman in the smallville universe. Robin would be his replacement. Yes the justice league guys need a show of thier own.
It would probably fair as well as the other spinoff did with the 3 chicks… forget the name. They were never able to show batman and it tanked.
And smallville as supposed to end 2 seasons ago, they keep extending it to milk the cow. They’ve said it before but they will say it again… this is its last season.
UHHHH, nightwing maybe, not greyson or robin