Batman the Brave and the Bold Needs The Entire Bat-Family

In the coming years when the official DCU launches with Superman, Creature Commandosand Lanterns, one property that fans will be eager to learn more about is Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The proposed film that has little to no details given yet has one major reveal that has kept people eager for the film, and that is the inclusion of Bruce Wayne’s son Damian Wayne, bringing back not only the mantle of Robin to the big screen but allows for a far grander story to be told, one involving the entirety of the Bat-Family.

The Bat-Family has been the term given to the group of allies Batman calls upon to help him in his fight to save Gotham City. That family has grown exponentially over the years, beginning with his father-figure Alfred and his first adoptive son, Dick Grayson, to now a list that includes everyone from Harley Quinn and Clayface to Ghost Maker and The Batgirls. There has always been a weight of the world on his shoulders feeling for Batman, and his son is very similar, but they both have always had allies and a growing family that keeps them supported throughout the years. With how important that relationship is, Batman: The Brave and the Bold needs to feature the entirety of the Bat-Family in the DCU.

The Bat-Family, EXPLAINED

From the first moment that Bruce Wayne, heir to the Wayne fortune and survivor of the Wayne family after the tragic loss of his parents in Crime Alley, decided to don the cowl and become Gotham City’s Caped Crusader, his actions would inspire and create a wave of other heroes and anti-heroes to join his cause in their own ways. Dick Grayson, the 1st Robin and eventually his own hero Nightwing, became Bruce’s ward after his own parents, the Flying Graysons, fell to their deaths after a local gangster sabotaged their act. Jason Todd, a young man caught stealing the tires off of the Batmobile, would become the second Robin, then perish at the hands of the Joker, only to resurrect and become the vigilante Red Hood. Tim Drake didn’t start on a tragic path, instead using his intellect to deduce Bruce’s identity and offer his services as the third Robin to help inspire Batman to don the cowl again.

Damian Wayne would, of course, be the fourth Robin, earning the mantle after being raised by his mother, Talia al Ghul, and then being introduced to his father later in life. His skills as an assassin often clash with his father’s “no kill” rule. Then there are the Batgirls, women who have taken up the mantle to aid Batman’s mission and prove their own heroism in the process. Women like Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon, who not only fought for years as Batgirl but worked as the team’s computer expert as the hero Oracle. Stephanie Brown, daughter of the villain Cluemaster, fought her father’s legacy to take on the Batgirl mantle and also the title Spoiler, while her teammate and future best friend Cassandra Cain, daughter of the villain Shiva, became the 3rd Batgirl and the hero Orphan.

Since those initial heroes joined his cause, many others have appeared in recent years. Duke Thomas, a young man whose parents were infected by the Joker’s madness, used his meta human abilities to control light and dark to become the hero The Signal, while Bruce Wayne’s cousin Kate Kane took up the mantle of Batwoman, fighting in Batman’s mission using her military training and the aid of her father. Bruce’s longtime love Selina Kyle, sometimes villain and sometimes hero Catwoman to everyone else, often helps Batman in his quest, and recently the villain turned hero Harley Quinn joined Batman’s family, albeit on the fringes of that family, after the end of the Joker War. Many other heroes have joined Batman’s family, if even briefly, from larger heroes like Superman and Black Lightning to new heroes Ghost Maker and the faith-driven vigilante Azrael, but all have gathered under Batman’s mantle at one time or another.

Why The Bat Family Needs to Be in Brave and the Bold

The DCU’s version of Batman and Robin is a chance to take the character in new directions. Fans have seen Batman in live-action take on more grounded, realistic threats, and they’ve witnessed humorous, more sensational plots that are either cult classics or embarrassing moments in the Dark Knight’s history. Yet a genuinely comic book-accurate story, one that seamlessly blends detective work, action, magic and mystery, and even elements of horror, has to be realized fully, and a world in which Batman and Robin can face mad clowns and women who can control all plant life is not out of reach. Yet a Bat Family is needed to see this world come to life.

Some of Batman’s most incredible stories involve the members of his family. Seeing the Dynamic Duo in action alongside their allies and facing city-wide and sometimes even global threats should require Batman to utilize the tools at his disposal, including a fighting force that can carry on his mission if anything were to happen to him. On top of this, the emotional dynamics of Bruce and his son Damian often fall into how Damian fits into the rest of the Bat Family. From his childhood raised by assassins to his deep desire to earn his father’s love and respect, Damian has always clashed with the other members of the Bat Family and only recently has begun the process of discovering who he is outside his father’s shadow—having a family to have conflict with and later lean on is the best way to push these two heroes and their characters further and create a comic book driven feature Batman film in the DCU.

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