DC Studios got their new era of DC films off to a stellar start with James Gunn’s Superman, which has already been green-lit for a sequel in Man of Tomorrow. While the Man of Steel is set, there are still plenty of questions regarding Wonder Woman and Batman. Whenever Batman does get brought into the mix, he will likely join the universe alongside a Robin, and How to Train Your Dragon star Mason Thames has expressed in the past that he would love to play Robin on the big screen. ComicBook caught up with Thames to talk about possibly playing Robin in the new look DCU compared to the previous era, the superheroes that first got him into comics, and seeing Robin return to the big screen.
Thames has loved the character of Robin for a long time, so the possibility of suiting up in James Gunn’s DCU is a compelling one, especially since it would be Robin’s return to the big screen after a lengthy absence. “Yeah, what I love so much about it is, what I hope they do is, they have a chance to lean into such a fantastical world of Batman and Gotham and his Rogues, and just Robin himself because we’ve only, pretty sure we’ve only seen him on the big screen once,” Thames said. “I mean, technically, if you count Dark Knight Rises and Titans of course, but I think there’s a really cool chance they could do something really, really cool with it, and I’m just excited to see what they do with it. Whether I’m in it or not. I trust James Gunn. Gunn never jams. So yeah.”
Thames loves how expansive and inventive the world of comics can be, and when those stories are adapted well, they result in films like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies and Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and both franchises quickly became favorites. “I’ve just always loved comic books. That’s my thing. Spider-Man itself, I remember when I was a kid I used to go to my grandparents’ house, and they had like three DVDs, and it was Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, Tobey Maguire, and I watched those religiously, and I watched The Batman in theaters like four times with my dad consecutively,” Thames said.
“There’s something about it, there’s a wonder to it. I mean, it’s going to that theater and sitting down and going into this world, like the new Superman movie. It gave me a lot of hope, and that’s exactly what it meant to do. I think comic books in general, whatever you’re looking for, they can give it to you, you know. Like literally what you’re saying, if you want horror, if you want a romance, if you want this crazy, crazy event, it can give it to you, and I think it’s definitely a safe space for me,” Thames said.
Recently, the comics world has seen the rise of DC’s Absolute Books, including what feels like a 10-foot-tall Batman at times, and Thames loves the swings the teams are taking with each book. “Love it. I remember I saw the first page of what Joker looked like, oh God, just like his jacket itself. It’s wild. And I love just the, I think it’s just so cool that we can go any route with comic books and just seeing where they’re taking Superman and Wonder Woman,” Thames said. “I’ve been watching the Wally West Flash they’re doing and Batman himself, just the fact they’re taking all the important parts that make Batman Batman and taking that away and seeing what happens, it’s really cool. It’s really fascinating what they’re doing with that.”
Perhaps we’ll see Thames have a chance to bring Robin to life on the big screen, and there’s certainly a case to be made that he would be a perfect Dick Grayson. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, you can catch Thames in The Black Phone 2 and How to Train Your Dragon live-action on VOD and streaming.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!