Hey guys, I'm new here.
I've been reading this thread since page one, trying to keep track of everyone's ideas. I'm not too well versed in the Batman mythos, I just know that I enjoy the darker realistic side more than the Bat-Prefix days.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my thoughts on Robin, here. I think Nolan's Batman could very well suit Robin. Bruce Wayne is a very human character here, he doesn't seem to have as much sheer ego as the previous incarnations. We're forgetting all of the flash-backs and dialogue that made Begins' Batman seem justifiable.
If Bruce attended the circus thing (albeit grudgingly, because of his self-imposed commitments as Batman), and witnessed the death of Dick's family, he would definitely see himself in that. It would have to depend on Dick's reaction, and how Bruce sees that reaction. Then, and only then, would Bruce see the parallel.
Then, after that, Bruce would sort of take Dick in, not so much literally, as just be the guy that's always there for you if you need to talk. He'd understand. Dick, whom I believe should be somewhere in that impressionable age period between 14 and 17, would not take kindly to Bruce trying to help him. After all, to Dick, what does some billionaire know about it? And even moreso, why would he care?
So Dick starts to follow in Bruce's footsteps, without realizing it. Except Dick doesn't have a Rachael Dawes or an Alfred to try to retain his sense of right and wrong, and becomes a vigialante, only achieving revenge. Only attacking the small-time thugs directly responsible for the death of the Graysons. No, he's not particularly skilled, but he's getting lucky, keeping his reflexes up, staying on his feet, being nimble and quick, from his circus training. However, in doing that he's become part of a larger ring involving the main villian of this particular movie.
On a side note, here: this isn't all part of one movie. This would be more like how Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul were sort of using the Gotham Mob for their dirty work, but using them as expendable soldiers, and when they are for the most part out of the picture, they turn to the Joker, etc. etc. Dick is fighting small-time members of the mob, and when he gets to that one that will rattle some high up cages, he will inerrantly get his ass kicked.
Bruce (as Batman, doing his Detective thing), would witness Dick try to take revenge for his parents. He then rescues Dick in a fashion sort of like how he rescued Rachel in Begins, and his first encounter with Carmine Falcone. He takes Dick up to a rooftop, and Dick starts attacking Bruce (a la Forever), but Bruce explains that Dick has become lost (echoing some of the lessons Ra's and Alfred taught him in Begins') until Dick calms down; comes to his senses, and becomes visibly upset at what he has become. Angrily, he shouts at Batman, "What would you know about it!? You weren't there! You don't even know me!" (Typical teenager banter), so Bruce takes off his mask. Things connect here, for Dick, since Bruce was really, although Dick would never admit it, his only restraint against irrational acts of amateur violence.
So from there, they go back to Wayne Manor, to the Batcave, and Dick begins his training. From there, we skip ahead a few more years like we did a lot in Begins. I'd say about, 20-24, 25 or more is seriously pushing it. The Nightwing story needs to happen. And that time is JUST training. No costume designing. Dick should take the intended theatricality path that Ra's was trying to impress on Bruce, and not take the Batman Jr. Route, but Dick has his owns reasons and his own justifications for what he is doing, and as such, his approach should be completely different. His mindset on Justice vs. Revenge has been molded by Bruce, so the most that Robin would do is do a tribute to Bruce by having Wayne Enterprises make him a Survival Suit like Batman's. He wouldn't have the forearm protectors, having never trained with the League of Shadows, etc. etc.
And this post has become entirely way too long, so I'll just stop to say this:
Bruce and Dick's relationship and their personal lessons and struggles should be the theme. If you use the source material, while not having any contradictions to Begins, Knight, or any other of the movies.... if you try to stay close to the darker, more realistic portrayals of Robin in the comics, and stay away from Joel Shumaker, then Robin is completely 100% plausible, and it even makes sense, if the director chooses to include him at a later date.
Um, yeah... awesome forums.
t:
