A couple of days ago, the news broke that DC Studios is teaming up with Swaybox Studios for Dynamic Duo, an animated movie revolving around Robin and Robin: Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.
Given the unique animation style being planned for the project, it feels like it could be every bit as special as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. At the same time, many fans would prefer to see Dick and Jason in a live-action project set in the DCU.
One reveal that jumped out in the initial report was the mention that the teenagers are "orphan thieves [and] best friends who share dreams of a better life."
Now, Variety (via ComicBookMovie.com) has chimed in and revealed, "[Dyamic Duo] will depict how the friendship between Grayson and Todd as youths becomes tested by their diverging ideas for what their future should be. (Reports that the characters will begin as a pair of thieves in the film were false.)"
While the fact DC Studios isn't diverging too far from the source material will come as a relief to many fans, it's still strange to think of the two Robins teaming up. In the comics, Dick was the first one to hold that mantle before leaving Batman's side to become Nightwing. He was taken in as Bruce Wayne's ward after his parents, acrobats the Flying Graysons, were killed by gangsters.
As for Jason, Batman found him attempting to steal one of the Batmobile's wheels and took the boy under his wing. Jason was never the obedient son Dick was and ended up being killed by The Joker. However, he'd later rise from the dead as the violent viglante Red Hood.
If Dynamic Duo is set in the DCU's past, it raises a lot of interesting questions. Remember, The Brave and the Bold is set to revolve around Batman and his, the latest Robin, Damian Wayne. Then again, it could be an Elseworlds tale.
As aways, stay tuned for updates as we have them.
Arthur Mintz is directing Dynamic Duo, while Matthew Aldrich (Coco) penned the script. Swaybox Studios uses an innovative "Momo animation" that blends CGI, practical stop-motion elements, and live-action performances to create a new style of animation that's vastly different from what we're used to seeing on screen.
"Over the moon excited to announce the newest DC Studios/Warner Bros Pictures Animation greenlit film for theaters, Dynamic Duo, the story of Robin...or should I say, Robins, as in Dick Grayson and Jason Todd," Gunn said yesterday evening. "The first feature film from the visionary Swaybox, a mix of animation, puppetry, and CGI, a script from the wonderfully talented Matt Aldrich, produced with our partners at Matt Reeves’ 6th and Idaho. This is something special."
Dynamic Duo doesn't currently have a confirmed release date.