With the future of Smallville looming (fan speculation and hints from the stars say this is the last season) The CW is looking for its next superhero primetime fix. Batman you say? Unfortunately the TV rights to that are tied up. Won’t happen. But you wouldn’t be far off. CW has its sights set on a Smallville style take on Robin, The Boy Wonder.
SciFi Wire picks up the press release:
Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as Supernatural executive producer McG, are behind The Graysons, which has landed a put pilot commitment at the network.
Just as Smallville focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, The Graysons will follow the world of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.
It’s the latest DC Comics franchise to be mined for the small screen by Warner Brothers TV. McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision label is also attached.
The Graysons is seen as a potential replacement for Smallville should that show end its run this season, which has been speculated.
Now it is no secret here that Robin has always been my hands down favourite DC Hero character. Most people have negative things to say about Robin, but I figure they have the fairy boot wearing sidekick to Batman, wearing bright colours to attract attention while Bruce lurked in the shadows.
The Robin I like is the more modern version, trained in martial arts, a natural gift for detective work and a personality and story to hold his own title. He has to struggle with regular teen problems and the heavy burden or responsibility he faces as Batman’s partner. I would imagine a series revolving around a Robin yet to be would be like this one.
With the success of the Dark Knight a prequel treatment like Smallville featuring a young Bruce Wayne would be an interesting show. It was already considered and I think they already did it in secret. In season 3 of Smallville a orphaned teenager very capable in martial arts, chemistry, computers and investigation appears under the name of Adam Knight. Over a 7 episode arch he is revealed to have some history that parallels Wayne’s story, but is a little different. Not unexpected in the Smallville canon.
The last TV Batman was played by Adam West, and we all know Batman is also called the Dark Knight. Adam Knight. He also claims to have a dependency to a substance known as the Lazarus serum (nod to Ra’s Al Ghul – a predominate Batman foe). Last the character was seen, he was dying. Considered dead he hasn’t been seen again in the show.
So with no Batman spinoff for the CW, they are considering Robin and even without my favourtism towards the character I think it is a great idea.
CW is littered with dramas aimed at the late teen to young adult demographic, but the balance tends to dominate towards the girly shows like the next generation 90210, Gossip Girl, Top Model, and One Tree Hill. With only Smallville and Supernatural to balance that out, CW is looking for a teen drama to replicate the success of Smallville.
Besides it gives the Justice League somewhere else to make cameo appearances until CW decides to give them their own series.
