Will “Titans” Turn Dick Grayson into Nightwing?

With the premiere of Titans coming up (possibly in late August), rumors are starting to swirl and fans are starting to speculate. And one question that is particularly persistent is: will Dick Grayson become Nightwing?

The character, played in this version by Brenton Thwaites, was the original Robin, and indeed, all of the promo images have shown him in the traditional costume of the Boy Wonder (albeit a more muted, gritty version). That said, it seems likely that the now-adult character would want to graduate to a new role, especially since his actor will likely be 29 by the time the show is out.

In the comics, Dick has a falling out with Batman and leave to lead the team from New Teen Titans, which is what Titans seems to be mostly based on. Along the way, he eventually relinquished his “Robin” title in favor of “Nightwing.” He and Bruce eventually reconcile, but Nightwing has remained his primary costumed identity, showing that he has grown into an independent hero with his own way of doing things.

As for the “Robin” mantle, it would later be taken up by Jason Todd, the second Robin. We already know that there will be an episode of Titans called “Jason Todd,” and reportedly the character will be played by Curran Walters. While we don’t know for sure what this means, an obvious explanation is that this will be some sort of origin story for the character, setting him up to become the new Robin―and implicitly, taking the title away from Dick.

While we do not know much about the show for sure, it seems to be a darker, grittier take on the idea of young superheroes, so having Dick trade in his old title makes sense. And of course, the time-tested themes of him becoming more independent, while also passing the torch to a new Robin, could certainly work as a character arc.

That said, the writers could change up our expectations. Greg Berlanti is working on the show, and his Arrowverse programs sometimes follow the comics, and sometimes just make up new stories and titles; will Dick pass the torch to Jason, or will the show just have Jason become Red Robin or something while keeping Dick as normal-Robin? For now we will just have to wait until the show comes out.