Chris McKay’s Nightwing Movie Lies ‘Dead’ at the Feet of James Gunn’s Gods & Monsters

The death of Dick Grayson is at hand? No, nothing quite so dramatic. But The Wrap’s film reporter, Umberto Gonzalez, merely claims that filmmaker Chris McKay’s Nightwing movie is officially “dead.” Prior to the announcement of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s Detective Comics Universe (DCU) in January, McKay had designs to lead a film focusing on the Batman’s first sidekick, Robin/Richard Grayson, when he grew up and took on the mantle of Nightwing.

During an online discussion between Gonzalez and Home of DCU on Twitter, The Wrap journalist wrote that McKay’s project wasn’t going to be pursued any further. @homeofdcu wrote:

“I hope Chris McKay still gets to work on his Nightwing movie.”

To which Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) responded:

“That project is dead.”

The first chapter in Gunn and Safran’s DCU is titled Gods and Monsters. And it seems there is no place for a Nightwing solo outing amid such comic book movie drama. During the initial phase, the DCU will kick off in 2025 with its first official feature film, Superman: Legacy. And while the death of his Nightwing film hasn’t been confirmed by McKay, there’s still a very good chance fans could see the character of Dick Grayson (not McKay’s version, though) in the DCU. And possibly even alongside both Batman and Damian Wayne in DCU movie The Brave and the Bold.

Related: DCU’s The Brave and the Bold: Members of the Bat Family We Want To See

Dick Grayson’s Nightwing: Past & Future

Even without McKay’s Nightwing film, the character will likely have a home in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU. Dick Grayson was the Batman’s original partner, Robin the Boy Wonder, and he first appeared in the pages of Detective Comics No. 38 in 1940. Prior to the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-1986), a grown-up Grayson would willingly pass on the mantle of Robin to the second boy to ever don the iconic yellow, red and green costume, Jason Todd. The historical moment, which came during the pre-Crisis origin of Jason Todd, occurs in the pages of Batman No. 368 (February 1984).

Three months later, in July of 1984, Grayson dons the identity of Nightwing for the first time in Tales of the Teen Titans No. 44. In an entirely new and rebooted destiny (post-Crisis Jason Todd origin), Dick’s Robin is shot and nearly killed by the Joker in the pages of Batman No. 408. In the new timeline, Bruce Wayne fires Dick for nearly getting himself killed, and he is forced to give up the role of Robin — only to become Nightwing again.

Gunn’s DCU will include a Batman film titled The Brave and the Bold. Gunn’s version of The Dark Knight will feature a story that focuses on an altogether different Robin: Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul’s biological son, Damian Wayne. And Gunn went on record saying the film is the “beginning of the Bat Family in the DCU.” So, it’s almost a certainty that Dick Grayson will show up in Gunn and Safran’s upcoming world of superheroes — it just won’t be Chris McKay’s vision of the character.