DC’s Biggest Mistake Was Making Damian Wayne a Hero

To say Damian Wayne didn’t cause an earthquake of drama for everyone in the extended Bat family would be a bold faced lie. Becoming Robin quickly after having Tim Drake forced out of the role, Damian has been drauma since the start. Born to be an assassin since birth by his mother Talia Al Ghul, the kid chose the take his father’s path instead. Having Damian join his father’s crusade, taking up the mantle of Robin in the process, was a natural choice in terms of integrating the character into the Bat family, but that doesn’t mean it’s been the best choice. Since his debut, Damian has clashed not only with his father but his brothers countless times, and it’s been difficult for the trained killer to fully find his footing in the more “normal” existence he gets to have in Gotham.

Now that he’s said he’s leaving the Robin mantle (and his father’s crusade) behind, Damian has been at something of a crossroads on the pages of DC comics and it’s something that gives DC a chance to deal with what might their biggest mistake with the character: making him a hero to begin with.

Assassin Instead of Sidekick

You’d think being born into the League of Assassins would have been his path but he chose to be a vigilante. Murdering criminals at age eight should have been the first sign that something was off with him. Yet everyone manages to forget that he straight up decapitated someone. It makes it hard to imagine he’d become Robin. The only character who openly defied the idea was Tim Drake but everyone saw that as him having his spotlight taken away. It wasn’t he was absolutely in the right on this one.

Given that Damian had a very different beginning and was literally trained to kill, seeing Damian fully as a hero is something that is always going to be a little bit of a hard sell. Yes, there is something to be said for a strong redemption story — comics are full of them. But Damian was literally born to be the perfect weapon for the League. Rather than forcing Damian into a hero role, the opportunity was right there to make him more villainous, presenting Batman with perhaps the most horrifying and challenging rogue he’s ever dealt with. It would have made for an incredible and deeply personal story to see father and son at odds, particularly if Damian actually grew into his role with the League.

Damian al Ghul

It’s not until much later that he could be Ra’s, but it seems like a waste that it isn’t heading there. The most we’ve gotten of the concept was Damian in the Batman Beyond comics as Ra’s. It’s up for debate how close those are to the main continuity, but it hasn’t stopped writers from making it a sort of reality. It’s really the closest thing we’ve gotten to Damian as a villain yet it doesn’t feel like it’s enough. The idea of being a hero alone feels off which is why Damian taking a darker turn just makes sense.

Red Hood and Redbird

The other missed opportunity that could have been cool with and evil Damian was also Jason Todd being a villain. Before the New 52, DC toyed with the idea of Jason strictly as a villain and even fought Dick Grayson as Batman. If Damian had gone evil, while Jason was also evil, we could have gotten the dark dynamic duo of sorts. It was an idea Grant Morrison had in their Batman and Robin book. Given that DC never really seems to know what to do with Jason and frequently leans into his fractured relationship with Bruce being, well, even more fractured, it would have been a deeply interesting path to have two Robins go to the dark side, in the process creating some very interesting family dynamics that would have huge implications for Gotham and the DC universe on the whole.

With how Damian Wayne has gone as a character it baffling that he never swapped sides fully. But as he stands now, Damian feels is a character that doesn’t really seem to fit very well and while, with what they’ve set up with him in recent stories and his disillusionment with being Robin, it feels like we’re set to see the character do some self-exploration and make some big changes, it just feels like DC missed a big opportunity to have Batman’s son be his biggest foe.

Should Damian have been evil? Let us know down in the comments.

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