Nightwing Movie Director Defends Film's Absence From Comic-Con

08/05/2017 02:59 pm EDT

Nightwing movie director Chris McKay is cautioning fans not to panic over the film's absence from the Warner Bros. Comic-Con International: San Diego presentation.

At Comic-Con, during a panel in Hall H, Warner Bros. laid out its plans for DC Films releases over the next few years. The Nightwing movie wasn't mentioned, leading some fans to believe the film was in trouble. McKay says it's quite the opposite.

"I've turned down films because they were backed into a release date that made it difficult to make a great film," McKay says on Twitter. "This isn't going to be like that. I want this movie to blow you away. We need time to get it right."

The Nightwing movie isn't the only DC Extended Universe film searching for a release date. The entire Batman subgroup of DC Extended Universe movies still lakes a firm release schedule, with the Nightwing movie, Matt Reeves' The Batman, and Joss Whedon's Batgirl all in the planning stages.

Warner Bros. announced the still officially untitled Nightwing movie in February with McKay signed on to direct. Bill Dubuque (The Accountant) is writing the script.

McKay made his feature film directorial debut on The LEGO Batman Movie, which released earlier this year. Nightwing will be his live-action feature film directorial debut.

Dick Grayson has not been cast yet, but McKay did hint publically at what he's looking for in a lead actor, including the physicality to pull off Nightwing's unique blend of gymnastics and martial arts.

In the DC Comics universe, Nightwing in Dick Grayson, the original Robin created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Grayson was an acrobat in the circus until the mob murdered his family. Bruce Wayne took the boy in as his ward and trained him to become Robin, the Boy Wonder.

After years acting as part of the Dynamic Duo, Grayson began to lead his own team of superhero sidekicks, the Teen Titans. Eventually, Batman grew tired of Grayson splitting his time and forced him to make a choice. Grayson chose the Titans, leaving his Robin name and costume behind and creating a new superhero persona of his own, Nightwing. Since then, Nightwing has been determined to show that being an effective hero and vigilante doesn't mean allowing it to consume your entire life and becoming as paranoid and grim as Batman.

Following a successful miniseries in 1995, Dick Grayson has starred in his own solo Nightwing series nearly uninterrupted since 1996. The series was put on a hiatus for a time when Bruce Wayne was believed dead and Dick Grayson took over the mantle of Batman to protect Gotham. It was replaced again years later with Grayson, a series that followed Dick Grayson's career as a super spy after he was unmasked and apparently killed by the Crime Syndicate. He's also continued to lead the Titans and, for a time, the Outsiders.

Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.