An iconic storyboard from the Batman 1989 movie has gone to auction, featuring Tim Burton’s Robin. Batman’s famed sidekick was originally considered a must-have for any Batman film adaptation, and Robin featured in early scripts; in fact, Michael J. Fox and Eddie Murphy were considered for the role in the 1989 film. Burton was against the idea, but the studio initially got its way, and storyboards were even prepared.
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Now, some of those storyboards have actually gone up for sale at Heritage Auctions. Prepared by the David Russell Group, this storyboard shows Robin struggling with the Joker while Batman is trapped. It’s an alternate scene that shows what might have been, had the studio’s approach won through.
Why Didn’t Robin Appear in The Batman?
Early drafts of The Batman had a large role for Robin, with the Joker responsible for the accident that killed Dick Grayson’s parents, but director Tim Burton and screenwriter Sam Hamm disagreed. In the end, there were simply too many characters and plots, and the entire Robin arc was pulled. Incredibly, the same fight happened over Batman Returns, with the studio wanting Robin in the hopes he’d generate action figure sales. Marlan Wayans was cast, which would have made him the first-ever Black superhero in a DC film. That said, it was only ever a cameo; he was just Batman’s car mechanic, of all things.
This storyboard shows Dick Grayson as a definitive Robin, playing a much more active role in Batman. In truth, though, it’s undeniably for the best he was cut; it would have taken the focus off the actual main characters of Batman and the Joker. Batman featured an inspired choice, weaving the Joker into Batman’s own origin story, and that wouldn’t have really worked if he’d been the one who killed the Flying Graysons as well. The film’s tight narrative focus would have been broken, and Batman would have been the weaker for it. Unsurprisingly, Tim Burton was right.
Looking back, it’s quite fascinating to see that history has proven Warner Bros. bosses wrong about Robin; as important a character as he is in the Batman mythology, he really isn’t indispensable until you get to an older, more established Batman. Christopher Nolan proved that in his iconic Dark Knight trilogy, and Matt Reeves is demonstrating the same principle over in The Batman‘s ever-expanding universe. Even Zack Snyder chose not to use Robin in the DCEU, although he did implicitly turn Robin’s death into the trigger for Batman’s becoming a killer.
Still, this storyboard makes for a fascinating glimpse of the world that almost was. Somewhere in the multiverse, there’s a timeline where Robin made his debut in 1989 as part of Tim Burton’s iconic Batman film. In that scenario, it’s quite possible nobody ever realized Batman could stand strong without a Robin at his side, and the Boy Wonder became as popular to adapt as his mentor.
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