Dick Grayson Casting Thread

[Airwings]

People write about the age factor. I agree that it's important. It can never be stretched too much in either direction. Dick Grayson shouldn't be 12 when he becomes Robin, but the same goes for the age of 25. It's silly to see someone trying to be the "Boy Wonder" when he's right in the middle between 20 and 30.

Different actors age in their own unique way. Some will remain youthful for years, others will quickly start to look older.
We have to rethink the whole thing. There ARE others out there than Levi Miller and Noah Jupe.
Let's look at some child/teen actors that came during the last decade. I tried to find a variety and their birth year.
Some has the classic look, some don't.

Bryce Gheisar (b. 2004)


Kyle Catlett (2002)
It seems that there aren't any recent pics. This must be sometime in 2015-17


Judah Lewis (2001)


Sunny Suljic (2005)


Jackson A Dunn (2003)


Ed Oxenbould (2001)

 

[Art Vandelay]

I was thinking it would probably some child star, like one of the Stranger Things kids.

Noah Schnapp, maybe? He's 16.

 

[BobJM]

Not a bad choice, but I’d prefer Hollywood’s other 16-year-old Noah, Noah Jupe for the role. He’s worked a lot with WB already.

 

[Art Vandelay]

This thread is starting to look like a Tiger Beat magazine.

 

[Airwings]

I was thinking it would probably some child star, like one of the Stranger Things kids.

Noah Schnapp, maybe? He's 16.

Not a bad choice, but I’d prefer Hollywood’s other 16-year-old Noah, Noah Jupe for the role. He’s worked a lot with WB already.

Both Noahs are now "official" candidates here at SHH
They will be great.
I think Bryce Gheisar could be up there with them. He's starred opposite Jupe & Tremblay, and worked with Clint Eastwood too.
Not bad!

But it's not enough. We must look at other choices. Nobody will know what going through the minds of Warner Brothers and what they will do regarding Robin.

Should there be an age limit in either direction for casting Robin? For example, one can't be younger than 16 or older than 20 when trying out for the role?.
Or... will it depend on the actor himself? Everyone is different.
18-year-old Guy A can look the same age as Guy B who's 21 and isn't one of those that could pass for a 25-30 year old guy (or trying to).
In that case, B should have been hand-picked for Robin at 17. If Warner Bros were smart, they could have hired writers to come up with a story that included the character, and this AFTER the actor was cast. Because they knew they had gotten their Robin.
Plenty of guys, that would have been gold for the young sidekick, have come and gone since he was last used in a film back in 1997. Which Warner didn't understand or cared about.

I can give you some more that might be considered by the studio.
There is a possibility that an out-of-the-box actor lands the role.

CJ Adams hasn't quit acting. But he's already 21 which is old. Getting him would push it far in terms of acceptable age.



Graham Verchere (b. 2002)
From Summer of 84 and CW's Supergirl


Emjay Anthony (b. 2003)


Harvey Scrimshaw (b. 2001)
Made his acting debut in THE VVITCH

 

[Airwings]

Why should it only be about Noah Jupe, Jaeden Martell and other dark brown-haired teens?
Just for information, I want them for Robin too.

Doesn’t matter that some actors seem to be right for the role in looks and age. There are more talents out there than just them.

Warner Brothers work in mysterious ways.
Maybe we need to prepare for a really unexpected actor.
Suddenly, someone will be cast. It could be the most unlikely one of them all.
It will make a lot of people question the studio’s choice. Others will be supportive and like it a lot.

I can mention the Oakes Fegley (b 2004). He’s not only an up-and-raising actor, he’s good too.
Should we be open to the fact that he MIGHT be a really good candidate? Does he deserve to be considered?
Forget how he looks!

I have looked for other possible ones and found two more.
Embry Johnson, who stared in Prodigy (2018)
Tom Sweet (Childhood of a leader)

Are these really weird suggestions?
Warner Brother may not think that.
Sweet (born 2005) has acted opposite Pattinson…. Is there a hint there?
The kid did a good performance, so why should he not be thought of when it comes to portraying the new Dick Grayson? Just because he doesn’t look like him???

 

[Airwings]

How will Warner Brothers proceed when it comes to finding an actor for Dick Grayson? What will they look for in the actor?
Are all their casting choices genius or do they fail sometimes? I just got to think of the latest Lex Luthor.

How much did Ben Affleck's take on Daredevil factor in, when he was cast as Batman?

Do you think the studio will consider Jace Norman? For years, he's been playing the kid sidekick in a Nickelodeon superhero show. There are similarities to Dynamic Duo, but it's much more hysterical. Which is typical for Nickelodeon (and Disney Channel).
Is there a chance that Warner Bros somehow see the young guy's ability to be less hysterical onscreen and do more "real acting"?

Maybe they will go for an actor with a slightly darker skin tone?
Last year, Reece Yates was in a family friendly take on the Peter Pan story (Come Away).
He was believable when acting playful in that one. Not that it really matters, but still.
Is he a possibility for Robin?
Casting Reece would mean they're going with a lesser known name and also a non-white. At the same time.
Two birds with one stone there.

We shouldn't rule out Jude Collie either.
Who?
He's young John Connor's "body likeness" in the opening of Terminator Dark Fate!
What are his chances to land the role as Batman's sidekick?
It's Warner Bros we're talking about here. Who's to say if the studio see true Robin qualities or not in this Jude guy?
With him, the studio (along with Reeves) could mould the actor into becoming the kind of Grayson/Robin they want. Because he's pretty much a blank slate. The teen had hardly done any acting at all. But out of the blue, he was chosen to be in a blockbuster film
He would be one of those "unknown actors" that some people seem to prefer. Jude brings a whole new meaning to that. He's totally unknown. The most unknown of all unknown actors.
As I said, we shouldn't rule him out. This is Warner Bros!
If Jude Collie gets cast, which isn't really impossible, I was the first and only one to suggest the actor.
He's completely under the radar in Hollywood. NOBODY will ever mention him as a candidate, not here at SHH or anywhere else. But Warner Bros might consider him.

 

[Airwings]

Could Warner Brothers look at independent films when trying to find a Robin actor? Is that a good way to go?
Every year, many indie dramas are being made. It’s like a genre of its own
How much talent can be found among the younger actors there?

Have you seen Ira Sachs’ Little Men?
It got good reviews, also for the performances by the two young leads (Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri).
I think it would be interesting to see what one of them could bring to the table as Dick Grayson. In said film, one was extrovert/energetic and the other more shy/sensitive. It may give a hint to where their respective strengths are. But I’m sure their acting skills isn’t limited to only one type of character.
Taplitz and Barbieri don’t act that much anymore. Does it limit their chances to get the role? I don’t think so. Because Gal Gadot had thoughts about giving up her acting career before she was cast as Wonder Woman.

If you don’t think any of them will suit the character, could Tom Taylor be better?
Is he a too bad actor? Well, that doesn't stop Warner Bros. They have done weird casting for superhero films before.
Maybe Owen Vaccaro? He's totally different that the others, going more for more lightweight, family friendly projects. But it doesn't mean he lacks acting talent.

Maybe we should talk about what we expect the Dick Grayson actor to look like?
I brought up Mace Coronel not long ago as a contrast to very Robin-like Aidan Gallagher.
The classic comic book image of Robin is well known. It’s the dark-haired teen/pre-teen boy in a red/green suit. Sometimes with yellow added to it.
(but a film can’t go with an actual kid)
Jason, Tim and Damian are look-wise a continuing of the original Dick Grayson. No actual changes were made to the how the person looks (only the costume and character background).

When considering every candidate, I decided to create four main groups:

A1. Actor looks like Dick/Robin
A2. Actor doesn’t look like Dick/Robin

B1. Actor embodies the character in personality, or seems to do, but we’re not sure
B2. Actor doesn’t embody the character, or doesn’t seem to do, but we can be wrong

A is related to the looks only. Casting by looks might be superficial. It doesn’t mean it will be the right guy
B is all about the personality, the real character traits. It should be what the studio is going for

A2+B1 is better than A1+B2. Do you agree?
What I mean is that casting by looks only can be a mistake.
A Hollywood studio might see something that works in an unlikely candidate (but Warner isn’t like any other studio)

I think there could be some A2+B1 actors out there.
Are we willing to give them a chance?

 

[shauner111]

Ummm..

 

[JubJub86]

Um indeed.

But yeah, no Robin. Unless he's like 19/20-ish or up, in which case he's just Nightwing anyway. Any child/teen Robin just makes Bruce into a genuine psycho who has no business doing what he does due to his judgment being so ****ty.

It's way too early for all of that crap anyway. He's Year 2 as Batman. Dude doesn't know what he's doing yet, let alone mentoring a wannabe. You want to get into Robin shenanigans, at leave have it with a mature & weathered Batman who's already seen all the **** there is to see and has the wisdom to pass on. We're still in "lashing out brawler guy who tries to solve the city's problems with fists and intimidation alone" phase. Let things slow-burn.

 

[Babillygunn]

Totally disagree. I want a Batman who is ironing out his pain of the loss of his parents and then finds the outlet by adopting a family of his own. The Bat Family is such an incredible concept and is an aspect of the Batman character that hasn’t truly been explored in a satisfactory way on film to this point.

 

[JubJub86]

Ehh. I can accept it way down the road, just seems more a hindrance at this point rather than adding anything of value. Let's get to know this guy first, before getting into supplementing him with others.

Wait until he feels like "Dad Batman", then do it. He's still angsty rebellious lashing-out teenage Batman basically, as of now. Fresh on the scene, learning the ropes. A first sequel at least is way too early - if this is limited to a trilogy, maybe do it for the third if you have to do it.

 

[shauner111]

Third movie is the time to do it.

 

[DeadlyWest]

Third movie is the time to do it.

Adopt him in the second movie, he becomes Robin in the third, I'd say

 

[JubJub86]

Batman'll barely be "prime Batman" by a second movie though. It's really putting the cart before the horse.

 

[CondimentKing]

Depends on how much time passes between movies too. It'll have to be judged once we know where the character's at at the end of this movie, and how dramatic his arc is. I could honestly see it happening in the second movie, it just depends on how much he grows in this one. Would love to see Pattinson as the grumpy mentor figure in the second movie, even if Dick isn't Robin until a third film. Him adopting Dick could be a main catalyst in him growing up as well, like a mutual growth thing. There's different ways to do it, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[shauner111]

Honestly it’s not something that I want to think too much about. It’ll probably happen in this trilogy and I’m sure Matt will do it at the right time.

 

[Airwings]

But yeah, no Robin. Unless he's like 19/20-ish or up, in which case he's just Nightwing anyway. Any child/teen Robin just makes Bruce into a genuine psycho who has no business doing what he does due to his judgment being so ****ty.

It's way too early for all of that crap anyway. He's Year 2 as Batman. Dude doesn't know what he's doing yet, let alone mentoring a wannabe. You want to get into Robin shenanigans, at leave have it with a mature & weathered Batman who's already seen all the **** there is to see and has the wisdom to pass on. We're still in "lashing out brawler guy who tries to solve the city's problems with fists and intimidation alone" phase. Let things slow-burn.

We already have a whole trilogy about a young Batman. He had become older in the third film and "sacrificed" himself/hung up the cape.
Nolanverse didn't have a Robin except for the JGL gimmick at the end.

Why should Matt Reeves do exactly the same?
Robert Pattinson is a young Batman too, but that doesn't mean Reeves has to do what Nolan did.

If the issue is only about Bruce Wayne's age and how long he's been the masked vigilante, will it change if the Dark Knight is older? Can we get to see Robin out there fighting criminals too, then?
Snyder focused on a seasoned Batman. But we still didn't get the sidekick because he was dead.

There's always an excuse to not have Robin in a Batman film!!!

Over in the DC film section here, there's a poll about this. The result is that the majority now think Robin can work in a live action film.

Totally disagree. I want a Batman who is ironing out his pain of the loss of his parents and then finds the outlet by adopting a family of his own. The Bat Family is such an incredible concept and is an aspect of the Batman character that hasn’t truly been explored in a satisfactory way on film to this point.

You're right!!! Robin hasn't been done justice on the big screen (except for the 66s film).
Why is it taking so long for the character to get a chance again? How much did Schumacher destroy?

With the vast amount of great young actors out there, there's no shortage of candidates.

With Pattinson being British, and Christian Bale too, I hope i don't offend anyone when I say that the Dick Grayson actor could be a non-American as well. Are there some reasons to why it would be wrong?
I mentioned Milo Parker as an example of a British actor in an earlier post.
Lewis MacDougall (b. 2002) is another one

 

[DeadlyWest]

Batman'll barely be "prime Batman" by a second movie though. It's really putting the cart before the horse.

I think you can use the adoption as another way to transition him into prime Batman though. My idea for the trilogy has always been that it should focus on Bruce developing his different main aspects that make him Prime Batman. In Batman 1, it's gonna be his intellect and his sense of justice. In Batman 2, it could be his compassion via the Mr Freeze villain rumor and adopting Dick. Then in Batman 3, it could be his resilience and family via an ASHOSE adaptation where Robin ends up saving him in the end or something. It's definitely doable, in my opinion.

 

[Airwings]

Hope you don’t mind that I’ve got another theory to present.

When I look at the last few years, I think I realize what Warner Brothers might do with the Dick Grayson character, and that’s to cast him with an untraditional actor.
It won’t be the only time Warner Bros have gone a different route with a DC hero.
Two previously cast guys might give clues about what to expect.

Ezra Miller.
He’s visually very different from Barry Allen. There’s something exotic about the actor’s looks.
It’s because of his ashkenazi ancestry.
As a sidenote, it’s sad that his strength as an actor wasn’t used in DCU.
He’s played dark, even tragic, characters in the past. But Snyder’s Flash was just a comic relief.

Jason Momoa
He’s partly a Polynesian. It’s a feature that’s quite noticeable in him, and he still got the role of the otherwise blond Aquaman.
My memory might be wrong, but didn’t the studio explain beforehand that they were going to change the sea-based hero to suit the actor?

I have candidates for Grayson if Warner Bros is going to do the same here.
Would you be against it if Dick Grayson is cast the same way as Flash and Aquaman were?

Have you heard about the young actor Arman Darbo? He’s a French-American.
There's also the Robin Arryn kid from Game of Thrones, Lino Facioli, who's British but born in Brazil.
I will add the two to the list of possible actors
They bring in the matter of an actor’s nationality.
Can we get anyone as Dick Grayson as long as they speak fluent English without a south-american or central-european accent? Even if they aren't 100 % caucasian? What do you really think? What’s your opinion?
This is not like James Bond or Harry Potter where the actor can't be anything else than British

 

[WatchProtect]

I think any of the Robins could realistically be portrayed by any race of actor. Same with Batgirls except Damian, and Cassandra Cain. I think Tim may be asian American but I cant quite remember

 

[Airwings]

Um indeed.

But yeah, no Robin. Unless he's like 19/20-ish or up, in which case he's just Nightwing anyway. Any child/teen Robin just makes Bruce into a genuine psycho who has no business doing what he does due to his judgment being so ****ty.

Many actors look younger than their age.
If he's 19-20 in real life, what makes you think Dick Grayson is going to be same age?
The character can still be 17. Grayson can still be Robin.
Levi Miller is an example of this. He's born in 2002 and plays a 15-year-old in his latest film Streamline.
At what age should Grayson become Nightwing? Is it when the actor is around 25 and already has played Robin in an earlier film? Or when he's closing in on 30?
Chris O'Donnell was an awful Robin at 24/25 and should have been Nightwing from the start.
But I think Brenton Thwaites was still believeable in the Robin suit, and he was actually 28 when he filmed the first season of Titans.
We always complain about O'Donnell being too old. Nobody really points out that Thwaites was even older and still could play Robin. People didn't hold his age against him.
The Titans series, with all its faults, is far from being a masterpiece. The best thing about it could actually be that they got Thwaites for the lead.

I think you can use the adoption as another way to transition him into prime Batman though. My idea for the trilogy has always been that it should focus on Bruce developing his different main aspects that make him Prime Batman. In Batman 1, it's gonna be his intellect and his sense of justice. In Batman 2, it could be his compassion via the Mr Freeze villain rumor and adopting Dick. Then in Batman 3, it could be his resilience and family via an ASHOSE adaptation where Robin ends up saving him in the end or something. It's definitely doable, in my opinion.

That may work
Second film has only Dick Grayson. We'll have to wait until the third film before we get Robin.
I guess they need to cast a quite young actor if they're going that route.
Do you have a suggestion?

 

[JubJub86]

17's still a minor, and while I hate all this infantalizing of adults "you should be able to be on your parent's health plan until 26!" horsesh*ttery, Bruce bringing some underage kid into his "let's take down organized crime, outside the law!" crusade still makes him an irredeemable pr*ck close to as bad as the people he's fighting. 17, yeah, you murder someone you should be charged as an adult as far as I'm concerned. Most people don't see it that way though. Therefore: **** the notion of any Robin that doesn't start out as an adult. In which case he's just Nightwing anyway.

If you abolutely feel the unwise notion to do it, totally divorce it from Bruce in origin, have him a separate vigilante with the Flying Graysons origin story, and he starts like college-age or 20s. Nothing to do with Batman at first, but Bruce figures this dumbass kid is going to get killed within a couple of weeks so takes him under his wing for some training.

In, like, a 5th or 6th movie. 40-something Bruce, had already shoved Joker back in Arkham 2 or 3 times already.

Robin works in the 60s show. Not in anything semi-grounded or half this violent.

 

[Airwings]

I think any of the Robins could realistically be portrayed by any race of actor. Same with Batgirls except Damian, and Cassandra Cain. I think Tim may be asian American but I cant quite remember

It's best to not move too fast but take one step at a time.
Is the world even ready for very dark-skinned Dick Grayson? We can't race-bend the character too much.
I think we need to use a mixed-race actor (like Reece Yates) before a black one.

But why not start with a latino first?
I brought up Lino Facioli yesterday. It wasn't only because of untraditional actors for DC characters, like Ezra and Momoa.
The other reason is Game of Thrones.
It seems to have a major impact on CBMs and similar stuff.
The dark fantasy series works like a cornucopia when it comes to casting such projects
Several of those actors have stepped over to superhero adaptions.
It’s not only Momoa. No less than four of the Stark children are linked to previous/current films with Marvel characters (only Bran is yet to land such a role).

I can mention other examples of the transition from GoT to comic book adaptions
Emilia Clarke has been cast in Secret Invasion.
Peter Dinklage is doing The Toxic Avenger which is slightly comic book-y. He’s been in X-Men too, and even Infinity War.
Iain Glen plays/played Bruce Wayne on Titans
Pedro Pascal was Maxwell Lord in WW84
The adaption of DC/Vertigo Sandman has Gwendoline Christie and Charles Dance.
I’m sure I forgot some.

Is Lino the next one? Could Robin Arryn become Batman’s Robin?
I know he's is a very a left-field suggestion for the character. But since more and more of the GoT cast do superhero (and similar) stuff, he’s also got a very good chance to end up playing a comic book character at one point. It’s either going to be Robin or some other young guy in another CBM.
If GoT still have an impact on superhero castings (after the series ended), and Warner Brothers look at its cast for future projects, Lino (and Bran too) will be on the studio's mind for Grayson.

 

[Airwings]

17's still a minor, and while I hate all this infantalizing of adults "you should be able to be on your parent's health plan until 26!" horsesh*ttery, Bruce bringing some underage kid into his "let's take down organized crime, outside the law!" crusade still makes him an irredeemable pr*ck close to as bad as the people he's fighting. 17, yeah, you murder someone you should be charged as an adult as far as I'm concerned. Most people don't see it that way though. Therefore: **** the notion of any Robin that doesn't start out as an adult. In which case he's just Nightwing anyway.

If you abolutely feel the unwise notion to do it, totally divorce it from Bruce in origin, have him a separate vigilante with the Flying Graysons origin story, and he starts like college-age or 20s. Nothing to do with Batman at first, but Bruce figures this dumbass kid is going to get killed within a couple of weeks so takes him under his wing for some training.

In, like, a 5th or 6th movie. 40-something Bruce, had already shoved Joker back in Arkham 2 or 3 times already.

Robin works in the 60s show. Not in anything semi-grounded or half this violent.

Change 17 to 18 then. It's only a one year difference but it will make Dick Grayson a legal adult. Can you accept him as Robin then?

If your opinion is that Robin only works in the 1966 version, I guess you think that the character is misplaced in the violent Titans series. And that despite Brenton Thwaites owned the role.
It didn't matter to you that Titans proved that Robin can work in a gritty universe, right?
Thwaites looked like a true Robin in his suit. It was him and Raven who were the best things about Titans during first season (I haven't seen the second).
Titans may be a bad show, but it's mostly due to the writing and weird stuff that happens. Robin and Raven still hold up.

I've been bringing up the classic Robin look in several posts. There’s one thing that factors in other than that.
It’s how the sidekick is written in the script. I'm sure there are several ways to make him fit inside the Batworld that Matt Reeves has created. It’s a quite different world from what we’ve seen before.
This might speak in the favor of an unexpected actor choice for Boy Wonder. You may get a young adult actor that still is Robin, and doing much better than Chris O'Donnell.

The grounded, brooding world with Pattinson might also require a change to the Robin character itself.
How different he will be then, remains to be seen.
As long as there are some classic Robin elements left, I'll be happy.

Reeves's Batman is a very grounded and dark. I can mention previous versions that also were brooding and serious but in other ways.
*Nolanverse (which didn’t really have a Robin, I'll give you that)
*In DCU, we don’t even know how Batfleck’s Robin was supposed to have been like. We only know he’s dead. But there WAS a Robin.... and Snyderverse was quite grim (among the more fantastical elements). Just look at how Batman was introduced in BvS, the fight scene.

Both Snyderverse and Titans showed that there's room for Robin in adaptions that are moody and violent.
I think Nolan could have succedeed with that too if he actually had used Robin. As great as a filmmaker as he is, he surely would have made it possible in one way or another.

You are free to have the opinion that the sidekick should only exist in campy universes.
Though, it doesn't change the evidence that there are other ways to go with the character that still work.