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Among the big announcements from James Gunn about the future of the DCU was news of a new Batman in a film called The Brave and the Bold. This movie would have our first big-screen Robin in 25 years. But that Robin won’t be Dick Grayson, but Damian Wayne, Bruce’s biological son. Gunn described Damian as “a little son of a bitch.” This might confuse some out there who remember Robin as just a fun kid in a colorful costume. But before we get into the history of the fifth Robin, we’ve got a brief history of his four predecessors.
A Brief History of the Robins
Robin has been synonymous with Batman since 1940. The original Robin, Dick Grayson, became a household name thanks to the Batman ’66 TV show. He filled the sidekick role for 44 years. Until DC finally allowed him to grow up and become Nightwing in 1984. His successor as Robin, Jason Todd, had a far more brief career. Fans disliked him, and actually voted to have him killed in 1988. But only a year later, Batman had another new Robin, in the form of teenage genius Timothy Drake. That Robin proved popular with fans, and remained as the main one for 15 years. For a brief time, his girlfriend Stephanie Brown was Robin too. This brings us to Robin #5, the only Boy Wonder who is Batman’s biological son.
Son of the Demon: The Early Origins of Damian Wayne
Although he did not officially appear until 2006, Damian Wayne’s origins actually go back further. They began in the 1987 graphic novel, Batman: Son of the Demon. In that story, Batman and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of his enemy Ras al Ghul, finally became an official couple. She got pregnant, and Bruce Wayne vowed to quit his Batman career and raise the child. But realizing that the world needed a Batman, Talia fakes a miscarriage and asked Bruce to leave.
The epilogue of that story showed that nine months later, Talia gave birth to a baby boy, who she gave up for adoption. The child was never seen or heard from again in any Batman title. Eventually, one of DC’s multiversal crossovers, Zero Hour, erased this whole story from continuity. Although a few Elseworlds stories and alternate futures would feature different characters as grown-up versions of Bruce and Talia’s child. None were named Damian, and remained out-of-continuity characters.
Batman and Son: Damian Wayne Enters Mainstream DC Continuity
In 2006, writer Grant Morrison began an epic run on Batman, starting with the story “Batman and Son.” In this story, Talia reappeared and revealed to the Dark Knight that their tryst a decade prior had resulted in her becoming pregnant. Whether or not that tryst was consensual remains the subject of much debate, as the implication was that Talia drugged Batman. That child was Damian Wayne, trained by Talia and her father’s League of Assassins to be the ultimate warrior. By the age of ten, he was one of the world’s deadliest killers, and worthy of inheriting the al Ghul legacy. But she wanted him to know his father, so she left Damian in the care of Bruce Wayne.
Damian was rude, entitled, and ready to kill an enemy at the drop of a hat. He believed his intense training since he was a toddler meant he was the superior Robin. He beat the snot out of the then-current Robin, Tim Drake, and essentially took on the Robin mantle without his father’s permission. Bruce agreed to train him, and guide him away from becoming a horrible little murder brat. But not long after that, DC Comics’ God of Evil, Darkseid, killed Batman (spoilers: not really). During the time the world believed Batman dead, Dick Grayson became the new Caped Crusader. He took on Damian as his Robin, and the two formed a special bond, despite Damian’s initial dislike for his father’s original partner.
The New Dynamic Duo
Damian and Dick made for an interesting Batman and Robin. After all, Dick was essentially Damian’s older brother. And unlike Bruce, he was a Batman who understood what it was like to be a Robin. Even when Dick returned to his Nightwing role, their time together as partners forged a bond between them. When Bruce returned from the grave, he and Damian officially became a father/son Dynamic Duo.
But Bruce always kept a watchful eye on Damian, fearing he might give in to his original training and kill one of his enemies. Batman and the whole Bat-family did everything they could to curb Damian’s natural tendencies toward killing. Not to mention his propensity to just be a selfish little brat. He even talked back to Alfred. Under their watch, Damian truly became a better person, and ultimately rejected the ways of his mother and grandfather, choosing his father’s path in life.
Damian Wayne’s Death and Rebirth
Batman and Robin became a real team, both as superheroes and as father and son. It’s during this time that fate took Damian away from Bruce. Realizing that her son had chosen her father’s ways over her own, Talia created a clone of Damian’s who was force-grown into an adult. The clone, named Heretic, does battle with Damian, and he killed the younger version. A broken Bruce Wayne buried his son, but before long, his mother and grandfather stole the body, hoping to resurrect him in one of Ra’s’ Lazarus Pits.
Although Bruce stopped then from bringing his son back, during this time he was given the choice to use the Chaos Shard, a crystal that once belonged to Darkseid. Fueled by the power of the Omega Sanction, it allowed Bruce Wayne to make a terrible “Sophie’s Choice” — to bring back his parents, whose death caused him a lifetime of pain, or bring back his son. He realized he loved his son more than he missed his parents, and Damian Wayne returned, restored. (He also had superpowers for a time, but they faded).
Making Friends His Own Age
Realizing that Damian needs friends close to his own age, Nightwing suggested he join the Teen Titans. Despite being younger than his teammates, he quickly became team leader. While his partnership with the Titans was always fraught with tension, he found a true friend in Jonathan Kent, the son of Superman and Lois Lane. The kind-hearted Jon saw past Damian’s rough exterior. Much like their respective fathers, they saw past their night and day differences and became best friends, known as “the Super Sons.”
Recently, Damian, now a teenager, split from his father and went off on his own again, making Tim Drake Batman’s partner once more. But it won’t be long, in our humble opinion, before Damian Wayne is back at his father’s side. We are pretty sure that this is one Dynamic Duo that is in for the long haul. Especially once he makes his cinematic debut.
The post Damian Wayne, Batman’s Son and the Current Robin, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.
Among the big announcements from James Gunn about the future of the DCU was news of a new Batman in a film called The Brave and the Bold. This movie would have our first big-screen Robin in 25 years. But that Robin won’t be Dick Grayson, but Damian Wayne, Bruce’s biological son. Gunn described Damian as “a little son of a bitch.” This might confuse some out there who remember Robin as just a fun kid in a colorful costume. But before we get into the history of the fifth Robin, we’ve got a brief history of his four predecessors.
A Brief History of the Robins
Robin has been synonymous with Batman since 1940. The original Robin, Dick Grayson, became a household name thanks to the Batman ’66 TV show. He filled the sidekick role for 44 years. Until DC finally allowed him to grow up and become Nightwing in 1984. His successor as Robin, Jason Todd, had a far more brief career. Fans disliked him, and actually voted to have him killed in 1988. But only a year later, Batman had another new Robin, in the form of teenage genius Timothy Drake. That Robin proved popular with fans, and remained as the main one for 15 years. For a brief time, his girlfriend Stephanie Brown was Robin too. This brings us to Robin #5, the only Boy Wonder who is Batman’s biological son.
Son of the Demon: The Early Origins of Damian Wayne
Although he did not officially appear until 2006, Damian Wayne’s origins actually go back further. They began in the 1987 graphic novel, Batman: Son of the Demon. In that story, Batman and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of his enemy Ras al Ghul, finally became an official couple. She got pregnant, and Bruce Wayne vowed to quit his Batman career and raise the child. But realizing that the world needed a Batman, Talia fakes a miscarriage and asked Bruce to leave.
The epilogue of that story showed that nine months later, Talia gave birth to a baby boy, who she gave up for adoption. The child was never seen or heard from again in any Batman title. Eventually, one of DC’s multiversal crossovers, Zero Hour, erased this whole story from continuity. Although a few Elseworlds stories and alternate futures would feature different characters as grown-up versions of Bruce and Talia’s child. None were named Damian, and remained out-of-continuity characters.
Batman and Son: Damian Wayne Enters Mainstream DC Continuity
In 2006, writer Grant Morrison began an epic run on Batman, starting with the story “Batman and Son.” In this story, Talia reappeared and revealed to the Dark Knight that their tryst a decade prior had resulted in her becoming pregnant. Whether or not that tryst was consensual remains the subject of much debate, as the implication was that Talia drugged Batman. That child was Damian Wayne, trained by Talia and her father’s League of Assassins to be the ultimate warrior. By the age of ten, he was one of the world’s deadliest killers, and worthy of inheriting the al Ghul legacy. But she wanted him to know his father, so she left Damian in the care of Bruce Wayne.
Damian was rude, entitled, and ready to kill an enemy at the drop of a hat. He believed his intense training since he was a toddler meant he was the superior Robin. He beat the snot out of the then-current Robin, Tim Drake, and essentially took on the Robin mantle without his father’s permission. Bruce agreed to train him, and guide him away from becoming a horrible little murder brat. But not long after that, DC Comics’ God of Evil, Darkseid, killed Batman (spoilers: not really). During the time the world believed Batman dead, Dick Grayson became the new Caped Crusader. He took on Damian as his Robin, and the two formed a special bond, despite Damian’s initial dislike for his father’s original partner.
The New Dynamic Duo
Damian and Dick made for an interesting Batman and Robin. After all, Dick was essentially Damian’s older brother. And unlike Bruce, he was a Batman who understood what it was like to be a Robin. Even when Dick returned to his Nightwing role, their time together as partners forged a bond between them. When Bruce returned from the grave, he and Damian officially became a father/son Dynamic Duo.
But Bruce always kept a watchful eye on Damian, fearing he might give in to his original training and kill one of his enemies. Batman and the whole Bat-family did everything they could to curb Damian’s natural tendencies toward killing. Not to mention his propensity to just be a selfish little brat. He even talked back to Alfred. Under their watch, Damian truly became a better person, and ultimately rejected the ways of his mother and grandfather, choosing his father’s path in life.
Damian Wayne’s Death and Rebirth
Batman and Robin became a real team, both as superheroes and as father and son. It’s during this time that fate took Damian away from Bruce. Realizing that her son had chosen her father’s ways over her own, Talia created a clone of Damian’s who was force-grown into an adult. The clone, named Heretic, does battle with Damian, and he killed the younger version. A broken Bruce Wayne buried his son, but before long, his mother and grandfather stole the body, hoping to resurrect him in one of Ra’s’ Lazarus Pits.
Although Bruce stopped then from bringing his son back, during this time he was given the choice to use the Chaos Shard, a crystal that once belonged to Darkseid. Fueled by the power of the Omega Sanction, it allowed Bruce Wayne to make a terrible “Sophie’s Choice” — to bring back his parents, whose death caused him a lifetime of pain, or bring back his son. He realized he loved his son more than he missed his parents, and Damian Wayne returned, restored. (He also had superpowers for a time, but they faded).
Making Friends His Own Age
Realizing that Damian needs friends close to his own age, Nightwing suggested he join the Teen Titans. Despite being younger than his teammates, he quickly became team leader. While his partnership with the Titans was always fraught with tension, he found a true friend in Jonathan Kent, the son of Superman and Lois Lane. The kind-hearted Jon saw past Damian’s rough exterior. Much like their respective fathers, they saw past their night and day differences and became best friends, known as “the Super Sons.”
Recently, Damian, now a teenager, split from his father and went off on his own again, making Tim Drake Batman’s partner once more. But it won’t be long, in our humble opinion, before Damian Wayne is back at his father’s side. We are pretty sure that this is one Dynamic Duo that is in for the long haul. Especially once he makes his cinematic debut.
The post Damian Wayne, Batman’s Son and the Current Robin, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.
Prime Video’s fantasy series Carnival Row introduces us to a brand new, original world to play in. Untethered to an adapted work or rebooted original, the ambitious series has a lot of world-building ground to cover. To help you explore this strange new world, we’ve assembled this quick primer of some of the major groups and locations you can expect to see in Carnival Row seasons one and two.
The Fae of Carnival Row
In the world of Carnival Row, the Fae are races of beings whose history extends well prior to that of humanity. Their homelands, such as Tirnanoc, were long considered a place of myth and legend. While the Fae races mostly kept to their ancient traditions, human technology grew. Eventually, the humans began to invade and plunder the Fae lands for resources. This ultimately led to a war between human nations. The Fae we encounter on Carnival Row are refugees from that war, living in the human city known as The Burgue, mostly laboring as indentured servants, paying off debts to humans who sponsored their voyages there.
Carnival Row‘s Fae Races
The first season of Carnival Row primarily focuses on two races of the Fae: the “Pix,” full-sized pixies who would pass for humans if it weren’t for their fluttery wings, and the “Pucks,” satyr-like beings with horns and hooves. It’s unclear if either term originates from their own culture or are human slang terms they’ve had to begrudgingly adopt. But the term “Critch” is a collective slur term for all Fae in Carnival Row‘s universe.
We do get glimpses of at least three other Fae races on the show. We meet Carnival Row‘s “Trows,” likely another slang term meaning troll, Kobolds, small, almost gremlin-like spritely creatures, and Centaurs who are, well, centaurs, varying from their more classic look with fur over the more humanoid parts of their body.
The Burgue: Carnival Row‘s Primary Location
The primary setting for Carnival Row is called The Burgue. The Burgue is a sprawling city that resembles Victorian-era London and serves as the capital for a larger nation known as the Republic of the Burgue. This republic is led by a parliamentary-style government that meets in a shouty chamber full of Proctors, with clashes between its Chancellor, Absalom Breakspear (Jared Harris), and the leader of the opposition minority party, Ritter Longerbane (Ronan Vibert). Like London, the city has stark class divides, with living conditions ranging from aristocratic splendor to polluted squalor. The Burgue’s religion vaguely resembles Christianity, with iconography focused on a figure referred to as “The Martyr.”
The Burgue allows Carnival Row‘s Fae are to reside in the town, but heavily polices them and treats them as second-class citizens. Businesses won’t allow Fae to enter unaccompanied. Pix are prohibited from flying. Many working off debts must wear corsets designed to lock their wings down. Their magic is frowned upon and considered sinful by those who worship the Martyr. At the end of season one, all the fae in the Burgue were confined to The Row, setting the stage for conflict to come.
Tensions are high. The fragile peace between the humans and Fae of the city is on the verge of collapsing. An overworked Constabulary is barely keeping order in Carnival Row‘s world.
The Constabulary
The policing organization of the Burgue has the name of Constabulary. The precinct tasked with patrolling the area nearest the Fae-inhabited Carnival Row is Constabulary No. 6. Most officers of the constabulary don’t tend to have much concern for the well-being of the Fae unless they can make a quick dollar off of them in the form of bribes, with the exception of Inspector Rycroft Philostrate (Orlando Bloom). Murdered Fae aren’t even given the courtesy of an autopsy. The Constabulary won’t risk squandering resources that could be focused on human victims. The Constabulary, however, become very aware of the Fae whenever they commit a crime, of course.
Carnival Row
Carnival Row is where most of the Fae residents of the Burgue live. Originally a place of wonder and fascination, ‘The Row’ is now equal parts immigrant quarter and red-light district. Fae merchants hope to avoid bribe shakedowns from the uniformed constables. Street performers try to make some quick coin. Fae sex workers with brightly dyed hair catcall potential customers from the balconies of the Tetterby Hotel, a popular yet scandalous haunt for humans with money to burn seeking winged companions for the evening. The Fae residents of Carnival Row expect the constabulary to turn a blind eye to violence committed against them. Some, like the Black Raven’s underground criminal network, have taken up their own forms of justice.
Other Places in Carnival Row‘s World
Tirnanoc
Tirnanoc is one of the ancestral homelands of the Fae, long considered a place of myth and legend to the nations of man, and the original home of Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevigne). Seven years prior to the start of Carnival Row, The Burgue withdrew from the Great War. Tirnanoc fell under the harsh control of their rivals, The Pact. Bullets and barbed wire traps fill the air of the once-idyllic land. The Pact violently slaughter the Fae, forcing them to flee to the Burgue.
The Pact
We don’t know much about the Pact, the chief rivals of the Burgue on Carnival Row, and the apparent victors of the Great War for Fae lands like Tirnanoc. Their soldiers’ uniforms resemble the Russian military uniforms of the same period. A nod to the Crimean War as an inspiration for the Great War over the lands of the Fae, perhaps. The Pact have far less regard for the lives of the Fae than even the Burgue. Or at least the Fae that fought against them in the war. Their tactics are far more brutal as well. The Pact shooting faeries on sight. They line the trees with barbed wire traps to tear them apart if they attempt to fly. They even utilize werewolf-like savage beasts in battle.
We’ve only just scratched the surface of this new world, and who knows how different Carnival Row will look as we enter season two. In a world of faeries, anything could happen. Carnival Row and its world return for more episodes on February 17.
Originally published on August 27, 2019.
Editor’s Note: Carnival Row is a co-production of Amazon Studios and Legendary Television. Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.
The post A Guide to the World of CARNIVAL ROW appeared first on Nerdist.
It’s the age of change, and it’s enough to make your head spin. Streaming platforms and network television have been at odds since their inception. By and large, streaming is now a part of most people’s everyday lives, but despite rumors of its demise, network and cable TV continues to hang in there. But that doesn’t mean everything stays just the same, as we saw on Deadline. In a mind-bending move, the Paramount+ streaming channel and the Showtime network channel will merge together to create two platforms named Paramount+ with Showtime. Are you with me?
Right now, on the streaming side, there’s the Showtime streaming service and the Paramount+ streaming service. And both those products are going to come together to create Paramount+ with Showtime (the streamer). The premium tiers of Paramount+ with Showtime will have Showtime content available alongside Paramount+ content.
Meanwhile, Showtime is also currently a cable network. That network will no longer be Showtime and will instead become Paramount+ with Showtime (the TV channel). On that end, the TV network’s profile will receive a boost by also airing “Paramount+ originals in addition to the SHOWTIME originals, as well as Paramount Pictures movies that come to the services.”
How all this will roll out for users and what it will mean price-wise for streamers isn’t yet clear. Content-wise, cancellations at Showtime have begun to occur, according to Deadline. The shows Three Women, Let the Right One In, and American Gigolo are reportedly canceled or heading for cancellation. Additionally, it is now reported that Dexter: New Blood is canceled at Showtime and will not receive a season two. However, it sounds like a Dexter prequel series, focusing on a younger version of the character, could be in the works alongside other possible Dexter spinoff series.
Luckily, our personal favorite Showtime offering, Yellowjackets, seems thankfully safe. According to executive Chris McCarthy, it exemplifies one of Showtime’s strengths (complex characters) alongside shows like Billions. Well, we like the sound of that, anyway. Because we need Yellowjackets season two, and we will not take no for an answer. Angry buzzing will ensue.
Now that we’ve mostly wrapped around this change, we’ll have to wait and see what these latest landscape shenanigans bring to all of us. We’ll cross our fingers for only good things.
Originally published on January 30, 2023.
The post Showtime and Paramount+ Merging Across Streaming and Network Channels appeared first on Nerdist.