In not so shocking news, Batman’s formerly dead son, Damian Wayne is once again alive. You can’t keep a good tiny terror down and with his nasty attitude and snarky sense of humor, Damian became a breakout character, teamed up with Dick Grayson during a time when Bruce Wayne was believed to be dead. The character was killed off not long after the launch of The New 52, but no one really thought he’d stay that way. After all, his grandfather is Ra’s Al-Ghul a villain that gets killed off almost every time he appears to plague the Dark Knight, only to be brought back to life via his mystical Lazarus Pits.
But surprisingly, Damian wasn’t revived that way, instead being brought back by Bruce using a “Chaos Shard.” And this shard had one very unique side effect… Damian now has super powers.
Even though Batman exists in the same world as wonders like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and The Flash (among others) and hobnobs with them in the Justice League, the actual ‘Batman’ family of books, is typically devoid of metahuman activity, with a few exceptions like Killer Croc, Clayface and as of late Poison Ivy.
What will having a super powered Robin mean to the Batbooks? Will it change the entire dynamic? What does being invulnerable mean to a character that was already brash and headstrong? Will Damian become an even greater handful for his father/mentor?
That change has only just occurred, so it remains to be played out in the books and like Damian’s death is most likely a temporary deal. It could actually give Batman an edge against some of his more powerful foes. At at least for now, the “Robin the Boy Target” jokes will have to subside. And let’s not forget that Damian was raised by his mother Talia to already be a killing machine and that was without powers. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.
This is an unexpected twist, to bring super powers into the Batverse. Do you like this development or should the world of Gotham remain more grounded? How do you think this will play out? And are you happy to have Damian back in the role of Robin, with or without powers? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below.
