The Dark Knights’s family of crime fighters gets bigger this season with the addition of Robin, the Boy Wonder to the team.
At the end of the third season of The Batman it was announced that Robin would be joining the team when the fourth season premiered in September. Now personally I’ve never been a really big fan of Batman & Robin as a team because I’ve always felt that Robin forced Batman to stray away from his darker roots and become more of a less serious character (I’m sure some of you reading this must think I’m an idiot).
When the announcement was made I was just sort of “eh” about it. I mean they brought in Batgirl last season who really didn’t add too much to the show, but she didn’t take away from it either. Since I considered season three to be the best season yet, I figured I’d give Robin a shot and see what he could add to the series.
Having just watched the season premiere all I can say is “wow.” I mean come on, any geek knows the story of Dick Grayson right? (that was hypothetical because I’m still going to recap on it) Dick Grayson is the youngest member of the “Flying Graysons,” a family of circus performers known for their daredevil acrobatics which are performed without the aid of a safety net.
One day Tony Zucco (voiced brilliantly by Mark “The Joker” Hammil) and his brothers come in to offer the Grayson’s “protection.” When Mr. Grayson (voiced by the former Dark Knight himself Kevin Conroy) declines, Zucco decides to give them an example of what could happen. Suddenly, The Batman shows up and deals with the Zucco’s in only the way he can, and Tony is forced to leave behind one of his brothers before the police arrive.
Feeling that his family has now been “divided,” Zucco decides that the Graysons need to endure the same feeling of loss he now feels. During a routine show, Mr. & Mrs. Grayson are performing when all of a sudden something goes terribly wrong, and young Dick Grayson (and the entire audience) is forced to watch the “Flying Graysons” plummet to their death.
Deciding to take Dick in, Bruce Wayne makes a vow that Dick would not have to deal with the same feelings he (Bruce) had felt when his parent’s killer was never brought to justice.
Dick eventually discovers that Bruce Wayne and The Batman are one in the same, and realizes that Bruce is on the hunt for Zucco. Obviously this doesn’t sit well with Dick since he thinks he should be the one to give Zucco “exactly what he has coming to him.”
First let me mention a few things I noticed. The character of Bruce Wayne is now a bit older (late 20’s perhaps?) this can be seen by the character’s new design which features a square jaw, and a few other changers to his appearance…actually, he resembles the model from “BTAS” more now than he ever did. The character of Batman also seems to be much darker (which is why I am cool with the addition of Robin). In dealing with thugs throughout the episode Batman doesn’t waste time. He goes in, finds his target and deals with them accordingly until he gets what he wants…this is definitely not the same Batman from previous seasons.
The scenes in the episode that were meant to be touching were just that, touching. You could get a real sense of Bruce’s feeling of sorrow for Dick’s loss, and the flashback to Bruce crying at his own parent’s grave was a nice touch. This wasn’t just some "hey sorry that happened" (*cough* Batman Forever *cough*), it really was touching which is something hard to accomplish in a 30minute animated series.
The addition of Robin wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, in fact it wasn’t bad at all. One thing I’d like to mention is I really like how the design team decided to split Robin’s cape ever so slightly so now it resembles the actual wings of a robin…then again maybe I’m looking too far into things?
Season four of The Batman is already off to a good start, and with the previews I’ve read of upcoming episodes, it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.