Chris McKay on Nightwing Movie Potential
"I Like Dick Grayson"
By Alex Burns
Director Chris McKay is set to direct the first live-action Nightwing film for Warner Bros. Pictures. In an interview on the Shanlian On Batman podcast, The LEGO Batman Movie director explained why he is so fully invested in the character of Dick Grayson. Check out his comments below.
“Bruce Wayne in my mind came from privilege and I think that’s why he’s more dour and angry. He’s self-made as far as his becoming all of these cool things we like him for… Dick Grayson didn’t come from that. Dick Grayson came from a circus family. Essentially people who aren’t rich and they are self-made. They’re entertainers. They’re gymnasts. They’re people who live hand-to-mouth and that’s something that informs him and his attitude… he’s a fascinating guy to me, because he had all the same things happen to him. He’s got some of the same negatives as Bruce Wayne and then from a society standpoint — obviously he was adopted into Bruce Wayne’s life… but he didn’t start that way. He’s this guy who has all these negatives and then even more negatives and yet he remains… Those are things why I like Dick Grayson, why I like the idea of Nightwing as a movie.”
Dick Grayson was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson the character first appeared in 1940 in the pages of Detective Comics #38. Introduced as a partner for Batman, so younger readers could picture themselves adventuring alongside the dark knight, the original Robin proved a huge hit and has since become one of the most iconic DC Comics characters ever.
Dick Grayson fought alongside Batman for several years before eventually leaving the Robin mantle behind and forging his own path out of the shadow of his mentor to become the hero Nightwing.
The Judge and The Accountant screenwriter Bill Dubuque is locked for script writing duties.
A firm fan-favourite, the news that a Nightwing film is in development is bound to raise excitement levels around the ever-growing slate of DC film projects set for release in the next few years. It's unclear at this point how the Nightwing character will fit in with the other heroes of the DCEU but we can expect Matt Reeves and Ben Affleck's solo Batman film to potentially lay the groundwork for Nightwing. It's worth noting that Nightwing also has strong ties to Deathstroke and with Joe Manganiello taking on the role of master assassin in the Batman film, there is every possibility we could see a connected story play out across films. With the appearance of Jason Todd's Robin costume in Batman v Superman there's bound to be a rich history concerning the legacy of the Robin mantle and also how Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne's relationship played out in the 20 years before BvS.
After the release of Wonder Woman and Justice League this year, the other DC projects in various stages of development include:
- James Wan's Aquaman starring Jason Momoa, which is very close to production proper
- A Suicide Squad sequel that is looking for a director
- David Ayer and Margot Robbie's Gotham City Sirens feature
- A solo Cyborg film starring Ray Fischer
- Green Lantern Corps set for release in 2020
- The Flash starring Ezra Miller, a film that is now under-going script rewrites
- A Shazam film and a Black Adam feature starring Dwanye Johnson
- A rumoured solo Superman sequel starring Henry Cavil
Check out our thoughts on Chris McKay's last film - The LEGO Batman Movie in the podcast below.
UPDATE - Check out our thoughts on the Nightwing film in the podcast below!
Team Catch Up - 00:04:44
Matt Reeves to Direct Batman, discussion and analysis - 00:18:34
Listener Q&A - 00:36:25
Nightwing film in the works, thoughts and comments - 01:03:44
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