One of DC’s Most Underrated Characters Was Only Good When He Was Dead

Red Hood is one of DC’s most popular characters, with a fanbase that is hungry for new stories about him. Having started as the first ever successor to the Robin mantle, become famous for being the first one to die in the costume, and forged his own bloody path as a deadly version of Batman, Red Hood had everything set up for a soaring career in comics. And yet, despite all of this potential, he’s been languishing in character limbo for years, repeating the same tired cycle of fighting Batman because he’s mad Batman won’t kill, growing past that and forgiving him, and then getting mad again for no reason.

The sad truth is, DC hasn’t known what to do with Red Hood since bringing him back. Jason Todd used to be a symbol that carried tons of weight, being Batman’s greatest failure and a constant reminder that even the Batman Family are people at the end of the day, and people can be killed. And yet, ever since coming back, not only has Jason lost that symbolic weight, but he’s been an active detriment to Batman’s character and his own. I’m not the type of fan that says Jason never should have come back, I think he has infinite good story and dynamic potential, but Red Hood was legitimately a better character while dead.

A Neverending Cycle

When Jason first came back from the dead, he was a villain hellbent on proving that Batman’s way of doing things didn’t work. He rode the line between villain and antihero for a good while, though mainly just did a lot of murder, before eventually starting on a path towards redemption, and was fully reintegrated into the Bat Family with the start of the New 52.

He had a spot as the resident bad boy of the Bat Family for a while, before breaking off from them because he got angry over villains continuously coming back. Then he decided to stop killing and rejoin the Bat Family. Then he got angry about this again. Then he came back, and now he’s gone rogue again. This is the same plot over and over again, and it clearly stems from the fact that DC can’t decide what to do with Jason.

“Under the Red Hood” showing the revived Jason was a major plot twist and added incredible drama by forcing Batman to confront what he considers his greatest failure, turned vengeful, but it’s clear the consequences for bringing him back and keeping him were never thought through. No Red Hood story after that had anywhere near as much drama or heart in it. Jason just kind of bumbled around and fought the Bat Family, and even his original mission of proving Bruce wrong seemed to fall to the wayside of just doing standard villain stuff and acting more like the Punisher than Red Hood. Jason never hated Batman; he was only angry because he loved Bruce, and if Bruce died, he would have murdered Joker. Jason saw him letting Joker live as Batman, saying he didn’t love Jason as much as Jason loved Bruce, which was the ultimate betrayal to him.

Modern Red Hood stories don’t have that kind of heart, though. Half the time, he hates Bruce for not killing Joker despite having already gotten over it before. They didn’t have any interesting stories to tell with him, so they forced him to be a hero struggling to be a hero, but instead of letting him evolve they trap him in that struggle, forcing him to always be on the edge on going too far and then sometimes doing it, but for no dramatic payoff because we’ve seen exactly how this cycle goes.

Red Hood Lacks an Identity

The main problem with Jason Todd is that DC seems unwilling to commit to one thing with him. They constantly flip-flop between wanting him as an antagonist to the Bat Family and being a member of it, which just brings down both his and the Bat Family’s characters. When he was Robin, he filled a very important role as Batman’s sidekick. When he was dead, he was a symbol of Batman’s darkest failure and a beacon calling everyone to do better. When he came back, he was meant to shock everyone, and that’s it. Ever since, he hasn’t had a defined purpose, so he’s just sort of there.

Jason Todd can be many things, from an antihero to a villain trying to prove Batman wrong, but DC has to commit to something with him. He can’t go anywhere if they don’t give him a solid, lasting push in any direction. Until they decide who they want Jason to be, he will never have the impact or importance that his character deserves, or that the writers feel that he has. They have to pick, and soon. Otherwise, we’re just going to see Bruce and Jason fight again for no reason in like six months, which is something everyone’s tired of at this point.

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