The latest full-length trailer of “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” shown during the ComicCon 2015 in San Diego gave fans plenty of things to really look forward to come the showing of the movie on worldwide theaters on March 25, 2016.
Of course, the battle between the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel was the highlight of the trailer bar none, but there are plenty of little things in the teaser that could truly fancy the imagination of the full-blooded DC Comics fans.
One of those things is the confirmation to previous rumors that Batman’s sidekick Robin appears to be already dead in the movie. There was a shot of the costume of Robin in the trailer that has a handwritten graffiti note on it that reads: Haha! Joke’s on you, Batman! The writing appears to be the handiwork of The Joker and it is likely that the Boy Wonder died while he and Batman were running after the Clown of Prince of Crime.
However, what fans wanted to know is whether Robin will be featured on the film. It turns out that the answer is yes, albeit very short and a cameo only, perhaps a flashback of how he died, notes Slash Film.
Two cameos
According to the outlet, the Boy Wonder may actually be wearing the suit in the flashback. Latest reports now indicate that Eli Snyder, the teenage son of Director Zack Snyder, shall take on the cameo role of Robin where he will die at the hands of The Joker.
And another surprise is that The Joker, who shall be played by Jared Leto, will also be appearing in the same flashback in a cameo role.
While everyone was thinking that Jared Leto will appear as The Joker in “Suicide Squad,” it seems that he will have to do a cameo first in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” showing several months before the former.
Eli Snyder has previously appeared in previous movies that were directed by his father. He was actually the young Leonidas in the epic movie “300” and also played the young Rorschach in “Watchmen.”
Limited exposure
While fans would have wanted a big name actor to play the role of Robin in the movie, but the limited and cameo appearance of the character would just mean that the film is short-changing him with limited exposure.
However, Cinema Blend points out that casting of Eli Snyder as Robin still does not answer the question about which dead Boy Wonder will he be playing in the movie.
It seems that Snyder would play Jason Todd, the second Robin in the DC Comics because he was brutally murdered by The Joker in the 1988 comics story “A Death in the Family.” However, sometime in April, there were leaked images of “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice” showing a gravestone that has the name of Dick Grayson in it. So Eli Snyder could be playing Dick Grayson, the first sidekick of Bruce Wayne. It is possible that the movie will not take on the two-Robin angle in the comics and Bruce will only have one sidekick in the universe.
Although having The Joker killing Dick Grayson appears logical from a storytelling perspective, but it seems unlikely to happen in the movie and it is possible that the leaked photo of Dick Grayson’s tombstone may be misleading.
Because eventually, in the comics Robin graduated to become the Nightwing and Ben Affleck as Batman in the movie has been in the crime-fighting game for more than 20 years, so Robin should have made the transition by then.
But whoever the deceased Robin is in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” Bruce is obviously being haunted by his demise and still keeps the suit of the Boy Wonder in the bat cave as a reminder of his failure and as a motivation to keep fighting the bad guys.