Robin is the answer to Batman's woes. From a strategic and a narrative driven standpoint, Dick Grayson was born out of necessity. As Batman scribe Bill Finger itted, "Batman was a combination of Douglas Fairbanks and Sherlock Holmes. Holmes had his Watson. The thing that bothered me was that Batman didn't have anyone to talk to."
more. In surveying his many iterations, both live-action and animated, we endeavor to select the best of the best.
Here is Every Adaptation of Robin, Ranked From Worst to Best:
Honorable Mention: Joseph Gordon Levitt – The Dark Knight Rises
Robin John Blake. What might have been.
Make no mistake: Joseph Gordon Levitt’s Robin is far from the worst on record. Unfortunately, due to his seconds of screen time in the Batcave, we felt it unfair to vault him above actors who spent months inhabiting the beloved role. Still, when the Wayne Enterprises secretary referred to John Blake by his legal name, Christopher Nolan seemed to be enhancing the Batman mythology. Armed with the coordinates to the Batcave and spelunking equipment to boot, Blake swings into the caverns beneath Wayne manor and finds himself atop a fast-rising platform. He has the keys to the kingdom, and as Hans Zimmer’s signature drums and brass swelled, many fans were convinced Joseph Gordon-Levitt would factor into the follow-up movie.
Alas, the Robin reveal was simply a parting gift from Nolan to his fans before leaving the DC universe behind. Though we would have liked to see more of Levitt as the Boy Wonder, the closing shot of The Dark Knight Rises closed out the trilogy with class.
15. Chris O’Donnell – Batman Forever/Batman & Robin
There’s a reason Robin hasn’t received a live-action adaptation since 1997. Despite being a talented actor in his own right, Chris O’Donnell’s grating, obnoxious and petulant take on Dick Grayson banished the Boy Wonder back to the world of animation. The Scent of a Woman star isn’t entirely to blame, because he starred in two of the most widely-panned Batman movies on record (Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are templates for what not to do in franchise building).
Cast opposite Val Kilmer’s stoic Bruce Wayne, this live-action Robin deserves a disciplinary beat down. He wears an earring, pressures Bruce into asg him a team name, steals the Batmobile and disrespectfully calls the next live-action Robin lives up to expectations.
14. Johnny Duncan - Batman and Robin Serial
Now this was the Dick Grayson of DC Comics: polite, respectful of Bruce Wayne, and duty-bound to the max. Johnny Duncan channeled that subservience in his 1949 portrayal of Robin, and Columbia Pictures gave him ample screen time in their 15-chapter movie serial, dedicating several full episodes to Robin’s heroism. Though far from a menacing figure, Duncan’s Boy Wonder excelled in espionage and crafty-thinking, even using his cape for particularly creative means. While he may not be the most thrilling or memorable version of Robin, Duncan helped lay the groundwork for future adaptations, particularly Burt Ward’s just a few years later.
As for the actor himself, Duncan lived to a ripe old age, ing away earlier this year at the age of 92. Though he commandeered a little-ed period in the Caped Crusader’s history, Duncan wielded his Boy Wonder powers and signed many an autograph at movie conventions around the world. Having ed the Batman & Robin serial at just twenty-six years of age, Duncan enjoyed the role of Robin for over sixty years.
13. Douglas Croft – Batman (1949)
When he first set foot in the Batcave, Douglas Croft was just seventeen years old. As a plucky, gangly adolescent with a curly mop of hair, Croft was truly the Boy Wonder. He’s so phenomenally young in this version that you have to wonder how much he can actually contribute to the safety of Gotham. Regardless, Bruce knows how to put this Robin to work, ordering him to fake being a paperboy as part of a larger decoy. Let's face it: this Robin had to pay his dues.
Indeed, the joys of the 1943 Batman serial are highlighted by the many on-screen moments between Bruce Wayne and his ward. While they spent plenty of time suited up and in pursuit of villains (in this case, Japanese criminals in Gotham associated with the attack on Pearl Harbor), audiences got to spend plenty of time with Dick Grayson sans mask. He chooses action over articulation, and for those rare moments of repose, young Douglas truly resembled the poster boy for MADtv.
12. Carrie Kelley
Frank Miller can do no wrong. In 1986, he gave Carrie Kelley the Robin suit in The Dark Knight Returns and empowered the 13 year-old girl to save Batman. Armed with a deadly slingshot, Carrie may look a bit like Velma of Scooby Doo lore, but she means business. While helping bring the Joker to justice, Carrie disarms the Clown Prince of Crime’s theme park bomb before taking on his crony, Fat Abner. Unfortunately, things don’t go terribly well for hefty Abe, who gets beheaded right before Carrie’s eyes. She cries for a second, sure, but after the shock dissipates, she gets her act back together and saves Batman from getting apprehended by the cops. In many ways, this female Robin is even tougher than the boys.
However committed she may be in Frank Miller’s Gotham City, Carrie Kelley has remained a non-canonical figure in the greater DC universe. Despite appearances in The New Batman Adventures, The Brave and the Bold, and Teen Titans Go!, Kelley is simply a fixture of Frank Miller’s universe that will likely never make it to the big leagues.
11. Lego Robin
Everyone has their favorite version of Robin, and it doesn’t always have to do with his personality. While Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian all have different attitudes and worldviews, Robins are often best defined by their costumes. In Lego Batman: The Videogame and its many sequels, Robin has a full costume wardrobe to choose from. s can play as Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, the vintage 1966 Robin, Tim Drake and more.
While we loved the video games, we’re thrilled to meet Michael Cera’s Robin in the the trailers are any indication, this could be the most fun-filled Robin since Burt Ward.
10. The Brave and the Bold
Batman was dubbed "Batsy," and somewhere into his storied career, Robin earned the unenviable title of “Boy Blunder.” Of all the animated shows to apply that nickname, The Brave and the Bold did it best. By keeping Batman’s sidekick on the lighter side, this 2008 TV series kept its Robin highly unique. Though built with a brawnier frame and a Bruce Wayne-lite chin, this Robin was big in stature but fragile in spirit.
During a battle against Crazy Quilt, Robin arrives at the scene of the crime ready for a debriefing from the local police. To Robin’s great delight, an officer comes charging towards him for help, only to run past him in pursuit of Batman. This Robin wants desperately to be needed. Indeed, The Brave and the Bold hearkens back to the tried-and-true tone of the Adam West and Burd Ward series, where every moment of action was softened by an equal number of comedic beats and jokes. It’s a winning formula that drives Robin to prove himself in spite of Batman’s sterling reputation.
9. Early Animated Series
Just as Efrem Zimbalist Jr. became the voice of Alfred Pennyworth, actor Casey Kasem dominated the animation world as Robin. For over seventeen years, Kasem breathed life into Dick Grayson. It all started with the 1986 The Batman/Superman Hour, and the Robin-mania transitioned into the Hanna-Barbera era of animation. While Kasem was busy voicing Shaggy in Scooby Doo, he managed to work on seven DC Comics shows from 1975-1985. The Super Friends series had a variety of spinoffs, including The World’s Greatest Super Friends and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, the final project Kasem would voice before Burt Ward took up the mantle in 1977.
Throughout these early adaptations, Batman and Robin are two peas in a pod. Specifically in the Hanna-Barbera productions, the dynamic duo are shown together perhaps more than any other time in their animated history. After all, Batman and Robin experience everything together, even getting turned into vampires by the Voodoo Vampire of Africa. These are the ties that bind.
8. Recent DC Animated Films
We’ll be saving the best for last, but Robin has made an appearance in more than a few top tier animated movies. Despite the wide variety of plots and character lineups in the last decade of DC animation, Robin remains fairly consistent from film to film. The more recent movies may caricature the role of Robin, but at least in Justice League: The New Frontier, producer Bruce Timm let the Boy Wonder return to his vintage costume roots and wear the Dick Grayson classic.
Since Neil Patrick Harris took up the cause in Under the Red Hood, actor Sean Maher (Firefly) has become the go-to-guy for voicing the Dick Grayson of feature films and direct-to-DVD releases. The more recent Batman Unlimited movies have introduced Tim Drake into the fray, and the most recent Batman Unlimited: Mech vs Mutants gave Damien Wayne some much needed screen time. All in all, while Robin has been a fixture of DC’s growing filmography, his most seminal performances are not to be found in this cluster of content.
7. The Batman
The Batman made a bold move: in sidelining Robin for the first three seasons, the showrunners elected to nominate Batgirl as the sidekick du jour. This choice was one-part creative and another-mandatory, given the fact that the Boy Wonder was heavily featured in Teen Titans at the time. Nevertheless, as soon as the Cartoon Network show was taken off the air, Robin immediately arrived in the fourth season of The Batman.
The premiere episode delved right into the depths of Robin's origin story. This edgy-looking, punked-out Dick Grayson (voiced by Evan Sabara) grieves the loss of his parents and holds himself able. Though these are the platitudes of Robin’s upbringing (and Bruce Wayne’s, for that matter), they resonated loudly in The Batman. In the “Artifacts” episode, the show restored gravitas to the animated world of the Dark Knight by imagining the future of 3027. In this dystopian snapshot, Dick Grayson goes by Nightwing and gets a taste of his bolder and braver future. The Batman only lasted one more season after Robin appeared, but the fifth series sent the Boy Wonder out on a high note.