#Zack Snyder Wanted to Bring Carrie Kelley’s Robin Into the DCEU

Some filmmakers like to keep the plot of their movies a secret until the film releases. Zack Snyder’s Justice League, on the other hand, has had so much plot and character revealed by Snyder himself over the past three years that fans practically know the whole story already. The latest tidbit relates to the appearance of Batman’s sidekick Robin joining the DCEU. In response to a fan asking if Dick Grayson aka the original Robin was ever supposed to be in Justice League, Snyder had this to say.

“Stay dead… till Carrie.”

Carrie Kelley was a character created for Frank Miller’s 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. She was the third Robin to fight at the side of that version of Batman, and later took on the identity of Catgirl and then Batwoman. Wanting to include Kelley in the DCEU would have been in line with Snyder’s love for The Dark Knight Returns. The entire fight scene between the two superheroes in Batman V Superman is basically a recreation of the fight between Batman and Superman in Miller’s graphic novel.

While Robin has not been seen in action within the DCEU so far, his presence pervades the entire series. Audiences first got a hint as to Robin’s fate in Batman V Superman, where we see a glass case containing the sidekick’s costume and weapon placed in the Batcave.

It was later revealed through other movies and director’s commentary that the Robin costume belonged to Dick Grayson, who had been ganged up on and beaten to death by Joker and Harley Quinn. Enraged by Dick’s death, Batman had smashed Joker’s face so badly he had been forced to wear the infamous grill seen in Suicide Squad.

Robin’s death is shown to be a tipping point for Batman, convincing him that his previous methods of stopping criminals were not harsh enough, and leading him down the dark path that led him to brand and shoot criminals, and later attempt to kill Superman.

Snyder’s hint at the arrival of Kelley as the new Robin is an intriguing one. The original plan had been to have Batman sacrifice himself in the first part of the planned Justice League trilogy. The events of Flashpoint, a reality-bending catastrophe, were then supposed to bring the character back as his younger self. This version of Batman would presumably have had at his side, not Dick Grayson, but rather Carrie Kelley as his Robin.

It will be interesting to see how many of these plot points ultimately make an appearance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League when it debuts on HBO Max next year. The movie is four hours long, but even that will not be enough time to cram a trilogy’s worth of plot points into it. Zack Snyder had previously hinted that Robin’s fate will be further referenced in the upcoming movie, but the arrival of a new character as Robin is unlikely to make the cut. Fans of Dick Grayson will have to keep holding out hope for that standalone Nightwing movie that has been teased for some time now. This news is hot off the Reddit presses.

Topics: Batman, Justice League