HE’S NO KID SIDEKICK
From Boy Wonder to adult superhero, Brenton Thwaites’ Robin is a hero on his own
When DC Entertainment asked Australian actor Brenton Thwaites more than a year ago if he had interest in taking on the role of Robin the Boy Wonder, what caught his interest was the opportunity to look at the man the character would become. This was no sidekick assignment. No green booties. No Dark Knight. It was the chance to take on the role of a superhero team leader (day-lighting as a cop) in DC’s first live-action show on its new streaming service, DC Universe. Titans, which streams on the U.S. service DCU and will become available in Canada on Netflix (date to be announced), takes its creative cues from one of DC Comics’s biggest ’80s hits, The New Teen Titans, by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez. One of that series’ most popular moments was when Dick Grayson decided he’d outgrown the role of Robin and realized he didn’t want to be Batman’s kid partner anymore. That’s where DC wanted Thwaites to begin his superhero journey — with the weight of a legendary mantle on his shoulders. “We pick up Robin at the end of his time with Batman,” Thwaites said. “I think this show is really about Robin trying to become a man and trying to mature into a leader and someone who fights for justice. He senses that Batman is not doing that and decides to go out and become his own person. He’s not a boy. He’s not a teenager. He’s in his late 20s, trying to figure out how to become his own superhero.” Thwaites knew that the role of Grayson was one that could come with two alter-egos: In the comics, Robin grows up to take on his own vigilante persona, Nightwing, as a means to separate himself from Batman’s influence and prove he’s his own man. Thwaites admitted that the opportunity to portray that transformation on screen was a major part of his draw to this role (he couldn’t say if said transformation will happen in season 1), as well as the ability to help usher in a brand-new streaming platform that provided creative liberties network television couldn’t. “Doing something (superhero related) that had a little bit more freedom to it in terms of the dialogue and the action, that was kind of appealing to me,” Thwaites said. Thwaites said his Robin won’t be like any you’ve seen in previous live-action iterations, such as Burt Ward’s 1960s Robin or Chris O’Donnell’s from the ’90s movies. He hopes the Grayson/Robin the audience sees on Titans will be a first-time viewing experience. “(The producers’) vision and tone for the series was separate from anything we’ve seen before (with Robin), and they purposefully wanted to be like that,” Thwaites said. “The goal was to try and create our own world while remaining true to the comics.” One aspect of comics lore that will come to life on the new show is the arrival of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Todd is a character perhaps best known for being extremely unpopular during his initial comics debut in the ’80s, and who was killed by the Joker in the A Death in the Family storyline. Thwaites says Grayson’s relationship with Todd (played by Curran Walters) will be a major part of seeing how far removed Grayson is from the way Batman thinks. “I think it was really important to feel that tension between them and to sense the differences in attitude that we have toward violence and justice,” Thwaites said of the Robin reunion. Robin’s romantic life also makes it onto the big screen. The character’s relationship with superpowered alien Starfire will be explored on the series. Starfire (Anna Diop) is a character that, for much of season 1, doesn’t know anything about herself. Her and Robin get to know each other while trying to protect the supernaturally enhanced Raven (Teagan Croft) from an evil cult. “I think that Dick sees (Starfire) and realizes that he is in a similar way doing the same thing — figuring out who he wants to become and what he wants to leave behind,” Thwaites said. “In a way, Starfire helps him do that — helps him realize that part of your personality you should put away, and this part you should keep. And together they kind of form a relationship just out of necessity protecting and keeping (Raven) alive.” As for there being no Dynamic Duo in Titans (Batman appears only in small glimpses in flashbacks), Thwaites says that might be the show’s biggest initial challenge: escaping the shadow of the bat. “Fans naturally are going to want to hear and see Batman’s role in this. What did Batman do?” Thwaites said. “Our goal for the show is to break away the Batman and Robin (plot). I think it’s going to be tricky for us to find the balance between shooting the right flashbacks and then fall in the present-day Teen Titans world, but also giving the fans a little taste of the past.” With Titans streaming weekly on DCU, fans won’t be able to bingedive into the answers to some of the show’s biggest mysteries just yet. But one question that has already been answered is if the show will return: It was announced during this month’s New York Comic Con that there will indeed be a second season. “It’s good to know we’re on the same page. The studio is supporting the show. The fans really want to see it,” Thwaites said. “It seems like it’s gearing up to be a pretty successful run, which is really exciting.”