Last week, ‘Big Hero 6’ star Ryan Potter started to campaign for the role of Tim Drake A.K.A. Robin in the DC Cinematic Universe. The young actor took to his Twitter to let Ben Affleck know that he’s ready, willing, and able to play the fan favorite sidekick in Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ and beyond. But as you can see above, he took things a step further and showed off some skills that he could utilize if he lands the role. However, Potter isn’t just hoping to score a part. He’s also trying to open up the conversation about diversity in Hollywood.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter recently, the half-Japanese/half-white actor discussed his Tim Drake concept video that has racked up over 560,000 views in just four days and his motivations behind it. Sure, he’s looking to pursue a dream role of his, but he’s also looking to see more Asian and Asian-American faces in major Hollywood blockbusters like so many other consumers out there:

tim-drake-robin“This was really just to start that dialogue, and it’s clearly done so. In the [YouTube] comments, I see time and time again, ‘I don’t want to see an Asian Tim Drake,’ and other people go, ‘Hey, he’s also half-Caucasian.’ On the other end of the spectrum, I see people say, ‘Oh my God, he looks just like him. We need him as Tim Drake.’ That’s exactly what I wanted to happen.

Marvel has done a really amazing job lately of adding a lot more diversity to their universe. One thing I noticed about the DC universe is it’s very one note at the moment in terms of age and diversity. I thought it would be absolutely amazing to see an Asian-American face in that cast.”

Potter’s mission is one that works on so many levels. We’ve said time and time again on this site that representation matters, so naturally we agree that it would be pretty great to see more Asians and Asian-Americans in movies like these. But this also works from a story point of view as well. Though ‘Justice League’ is likely too far along in production to squeeze Tim Drake in there now, there could be some room for the sidekick in the upcoming solo Batman feature co-written by, directed by, and starring Ben Affleck. As far as we know, the script is still getting it’s final polishes ahead of its 2018 or 2019 release date, so there should still be time to add Robin to the story if he wasn’t there already.

Plus based on the continuity established by ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, it looks like Bruce Wayne has already teamed up with Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, the latter of whom perished at the hands of the Joker. Like the comic book version of the hero, it’s possible that Drake could have been inspired by Affleck’s Dark Knight and his various allies over the years and trained to be a vigilante in order to one day team up with Batman as he faces Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke. Everything just falls into place so nicely, but we’ll just have to wait and see if Potter’s efforts are enough to sway WB and the DC filmmakers.

What do you think about the possibility of Ryan Potter playing Tim Drake in the DC Cinematic Universe? Do you think that the young actor would be a good fit? And don’t you think that we’ve gone long enough without seeing the Caped Crusader fight alongside the Boy Wonder in a live-action film? Sound off in the comments below.

horizontal lineDespite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.