TITANS Releases First Look at Brenton Thwaits as Robin

Look out, criminals!  Here comes Robin...the Man Wonder.

Deadline revealed the first image from the upcoming DC digital service series Titans, giving us our first look at Brenton Thwaits as Dick Grayson, better known as the DC Comics superhero Robin.

According to the article, the Robin costume was designed by renowned costume designer Laura Jean Shannon, whose credits include Black Lightning, Iron Man and The Jungle Book, among others.  It appears influenced by the current New 52 continuity of Dick Grayson's Robin costume as shown below, with a staff favored by the third Robin, Tim Drake.

Written by Akiva Goldsman, DC Entertainment’s Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti, Titans follows a group of young soon-to-be superheroes recruited from every corner of the DC Universe.  In the action-adventure series, Dick Grayson emerges from the shadows to become the leader of a fearless band of new heroes that includes Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Hawk, and Dove.

Thwaites, 28, is an Australian actor probably best known as Henry Turner in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and he has appeared in the films Gods of Egypt, Oculus, and Maleficent.  His television appearances include episodes of Home and Away, Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, and Slide.

Created in 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Robin first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #38 as Richard "Dick" Grayson, a 12-year-old circus acrobat who performed with his parents as one of the "Flying Graysons". While preparing for a performance, Dick overheard two gangsters attempting to extort protection money from the circus owner.  The owner refused, so the gangsters sabotage the trapeze wires with acid.  During the next performance, the trapeze from which Dick's parents are swinging snapped, sending them to their deaths.  Before Dick could go to the police, Batman appears to him and warned him that the two gangsters worked for Tony Zucco, a very powerful crime boss, and that revealing his knowledge could lead to his death.  When Batman recounted the murder of his own parents, Dick asked to become his partner.  After extensive training, Dick became Robin, and together, Batman and Robin started disrupting Zucco's gambling and extortion rackets. They soon successfully baited the riled Zucco into visiting a construction site, where they captured him.  Becoming Dick's legal guardian as Bruce Wayne, Batman made Dick his ward and adopted him as a son.

As Robin, Dick worked with Batman for some time and eventually helped form the Teen Titans, a group of teenage superheroes who assisted their partners in the Justice League of America.  Due to the tactical skills learned from Batman, Robin was swiftly recognized as leader before the Titans disbanded some years later.  The group later reformed with new members Cyborg, Raven, Starfire and Changeling (the former Beast Boy), with Robin once again becoming the team's leader.  When the supervillains Deathstroke and Terra kidnapped his fellow Titans, Grayson adopted his new identity of Nightwing after being inspired by Superman telling him the legend of Kryptonian heroes Nightwing and Flamebird.

In the current New 52 continuity, Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne at 16 years old, not 12, and used the updated version of the Robin costume shown above before becoming Nightwing.

Thwaits is the fifth actor to portray Robin in live-action, after Douglas Croft in the 1943 serial Batman, Johnny Duncan in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin, Burt Ward on the television series Batman and Legends of the Superheroes, and Chris O'Donnell in the films Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Titans is expected to debut on DC Comics' digital service sometime in 2018.