The way it should be done!!

[El wopo]

Ok I for one am looking forward to this series, but I have to agree with all that I fear it will be doomed. I can see how it might infuriate long time fan boys and not stay true to it's real origins and comic book continuity. Dick Grayson first met Batman when he was about 12 years old and i highly doubt that they will cast a 12 year old for a lead in a CW show.

The way it should be done and i hope the higher ups at the CW see this is as follows -

In the comics there was a duration where Dick Grayson ( I believe he was around 18 or 19 years old) had a falling out with the BATMAN and went off leaving his Robin Cape in the Batcave. Dick went on to discover himself and returned to his roots in the circus. This is where he really found himself and the hero he became to be - NIGHTWING.
That's what the show should be about the transition from sidekick to hero, the return to his roots and his strong feeling of family. You could have mentions of BATMAN and even the occasional visit or phone call from Alfred. Maybe even a cameo of when Dick Grayson meets a young boy named Tim Drake (who later takes on the mask of Robin). This would stick to the no tights no flights rule of Smallville (not that Robin can fly) but it could also open the door to showing Dick Grayson using the skills he's already learned and the new ones he will learn by being on his own. We could see some great detective skills being used and we can see the sidekick turn into a hero. I think if they do it this way it could be a great success.
Any thoughts!!!

nuff said!!

[Tabularasa]

That could work, but I doubt that's the direction the show is going to take. Dick Grayson will probably a teenager or a 20 something kid in the show with his family and start to buold on him becoming the hero and foreshadow what he will become. Personally, I don't think this show is going to last. While Smallville had the premise of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor starting out as friends and turning into enemies, I don't see anything promising about The Graysons. My comic book knowledge is very slim, but I'm pretty sure what was shown in Batman Forever was the basic backstory. I don't know how they can add onto that and make the show interesting.

[Mischael12]

I personally don't think its a good idea, but hey....

[MartianRogue]

I think Dick was around 8 when he was taken in by Bruce. But I definately agree with the idea that it should be more of a Nightwing series. If they wanted to do Pre-Robin it would not only be dull but completely out of place in the overall idea of Robin as percieved in the DCU. What's it going to be? Dick and the circus moving from city to city fighting crime. Maybe he'd be his parents sidekick of sorts and they'd be the kind of Pre-Batman heroes in his life. I don't know. Another idea would be to actually go for a Robin series where it's Dick first becoming Robin and treat Bruce/Batman as more of a shadow figure in the background, watching. Almost, and I mean ALMOST, like AllStar Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder. The book has it's critics and people who flat out despise it's very existance. But there's something about Miller's psychotic Batman forging this kid into a relentless warrior that's incredibly intriguing to me.

[arand08]

He was exactly 9 years old in the comics. he trained till he was around 12 with bruce and then hit the streets as robin

[DavetheAvatar]

I don't see how they can get a whole series out of the story of the Graysons. I mean they can't do that much with the characters unless the focus is on the older Graysons and Dick takes a backseat. That way he would be less involved with the actual crimefighting but still leave him free to gain a few skills ready for when he become Robin.

Smallville takes quite a number of turns away from the comics and I've grown to accept that because I enjoy the series so much. I just don't see how this can work. Clark has his powers slowly developing and thus we see his evolution from the teenager to the beginnings of Superman. Dick Grayson didn't have that development before his parent's death and he met Batman. In a way, these events take on the role that Clark's powers and the discovering of his alien origin had in Smallville, acting as a catalyst to set him on the path to being a hero. You could have had Smallville with an unpowered Clark that didn't know he was an alien but I can't see it being a very interesting series in terms of a show about a young Superman.

As I said, with the focus being on the rest of the Grayson family, they'd be free to take far more liberties with their story. If Dick becomes a crime fighter before he meets Batman, then why does he need Batman? Why does he need to become Robin? He would already have the skills he needs to be a hero, already have the years of experience to track down his parent's killers.

That being said, if they can make a good series that makes me want to watch, and don't stray completely away from the comics(I mean ridiculously, like Dick's father being Batman or the family having superpowers), I'll be happy regardless of what route they take.

[SuperheroFan87]

A show about Dick Grayson in his pre-Robin days could work out if done in an Elseworlds type of format. That way it can veer dramatically from comic book canon and continuity. I think if they combine certain elements of Dick's origin and Jason Todd's origin it could be an interesting show.

[Minotaur]

I don't see how they can get a whole series out of the story of the Graysons. I mean they can't do that much with the characters unless the focus is on the older Graysons and Dick takes a backseat. That way he would be less involved with the actual crimefighting but still leave him free to gain a few skills ready for when he become Robin.

You could do it, there is a story, but no Batman, so you run into big problems, after a season. He does not have to be there for even more than a couple of episodes a year but if you do Robin, you need him.

That is the reason I think this is a non-starter, without the ability to refrence the Major Batman charcters, this is doomed. Do the road to nightwing, it works, and you have a reason not to have Batman, but you get Superman.

Why not do Wonder Woman, the film is not going to happen, and it would work. You even get the Smallville bonus of people knowing a little about the charcters.