Robin's New Sci-Fi Costume Gives the Boy Wonder His Most Drastic Redesign Yet

Summary Robotic Robins could solve Batman's issues with sidekicks growing up or dying in action.

The idea of Batman having a robotic Robin pops up frequently, offering a potential solution.

The story in Wonder Woman #8 explores the chaos caused by time travel and introduces RoboJon and RoboDamian.

Warning! Contains spoilers for Wonder Woman #8!The mantle of Batman's sidekick Robin has been worn by several different boys and girls over the decades but they've all eventually moved on from the position in one way or another. But the recurring idea of Batman having a robotic Robin continually pops up, and it could just solve most of Bruce's issues.

In the story "Trinity: World's Finest part 5" by Tom King and Belén Ortega from Wonder Woman #8, Wonder Woman's daughter Lizzie is being babysat by Damian Wayne and Jon Kent. When Lizzie has to study for a history essay on Samurai, instead of Damian helping her with her report, he simply allows her to travel back in time to meet a real Samurai. Naturally, this causes all kinds of havoc with the time stream.

Thanks to Lizzie's time-travel shenanigans, Jon and Damian undergo a number of changes. The boys are changed from apes to women, to Starro-possessed versions of themselves. There are tons of different timelines that readers see, but one that stands out is RoboJon and RoboDamian, robotic versions of themselves, which seems to be a recurring theme in DC.

Related The Bat-Family's Biggest Rivalry Is Redefined by New Robin/Robin Team-Up Damian and Tim have famously had a rocky relationship, and now DC is forcing the two to team up for a major mission that they can't afford to fail.

Batman Always Needs A Robin - Human Or Otherwise

For the first few years of his career, Batman acted entirely as a solo character. Robin was one of the first supporting characters he got, appearing even before classic characters like the Joker or Alfred Pennyworth. Dick Grayson was one of the first Robins and completely changed who Batman was as a character. While Bruce always had a darkness in him, Robin was meant to be the light that would offset that darkness. It's a theme that has been explored time and time again, with Tim Drake actively seeking out Batman to become Robin, for fear that Batman would be lost in darkness without one.

Robin has always been good at keeping Batman from going too far.

Because of his need for Robin, Batman has continually recruited more and more over the years, with him even naming the newest official Robin recently. Robin has always been good at keeping Batman from going too far, but since Robins are usually children, they often grow up and move on to other things. Dick was the first and greatest Robin, but eventually he grew out of the role for one reason or another and became Nightwing. Another unfortunate reason that Robin may leave the role is death, as was the case with Jason Todd.

A Robotic Robin Could Solve Batman's Biggest Issues

Death is a constant looming threat in Batman's line of work, and this is especially true for Robin, who doesn't have nearly the same amount of experience or just the pure muscle mass that Batman has. All the Robins have been put in life-or-death situations more times than anyone can count, and a few Robins, such as Damian Wayne and Jason Todd, have actually ended up dying. But a robotic Robin would completely solve this issue, which other versions of Batman have learned. In one distant future, Batman programs a Robotic Robin called the Toy Wonder specifically to act as his conscience to make sure he never goes too far in his war on crime.

The Toy Wonder can be seen in Young Justice #1000000 by Peter David, Todd Nauck, Angel Unzueta, Craig Rousseau, Roberto Flores, Lary Stucker, Norm Rapmund, Sean Parsons, Wayne Faucher, Jason Wright, and Ken Lopez!

A robotic Robin would eliminate two of Batman's biggest issues with Robin. Batman would no longer have to worry about Robin growing out of the role and leaving him, as robots don't age, and he'd never have to worry about Robin being killed in the line of duty, since he can simply be rebuilt. It's not like Batman hasn't created robotic sidekicks before either, as he infamously created the satellite Brother Eye to spy on the superhero community.

While there's no denying that Batman would lose out on the warmth of actual human companionship, it's not exactly out of character for Batman to shun those things. He has famously pushed his family away at different times and has often gotten into physical conflicts with the former Robins due to the darker side of his personality. It would be significantly harder to push away a non-human Robin, especially one that could house his very own conscience, as the Toy Wonder from the future does.

Related Batman Officially Crowns Gotham's New Robin, In a Moment No-One Expected It's always a big event when a new Robin appears on the scene, and now Batman has confirmed that he considers one new hero to be a true Robin.

Robotic Robins Have Been Used By Many Different Batmen

The Batman Of China Also Had His Own Robotic Robin

There have been several robotic Robins throughout Batman's history. In Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the Joker surprisingly becomes a Robin housed in a robotic body. The Batman of China has the Robinbot as well. Having a robotic Robin would also benefit the current Robins in a major way, in that it would finally let them grow up. Currently, there are three characters all using the Robin mantle, simply because DC isn't ready to let them move out of the role yet.

Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, and Maps Mizoguchi are all currently Robin in various Batman comics. While there are plenty of instances of more than one character sharing the same mantle — for example, Batman and Dick were both Batman at the same time once — it's a bit absurd to have three separate people operating under the name "Robin" all at the same time. If Batman created his own robotic Robin, then Tim and Damian would finally be able to move on from the mantle, getting their own identities. In fact, Tim has tried out a couple of different monikers, including "Red Robin" and "Drake," but always seems to revert back to regular old "Robin."

All The Robins Will Eventually Grow Up, But Batman Always Needs A Sidekick

In Batman's history, there have currently been six characters in the main continuity that have claimed the mantle of Robin. All of these characters will eventually grow up and likely move onto different mantles. Readers already know that Maps Mizoguchi will eventually become Meridian instead of Robin. This puts Batman in the weird position of simply having a never-ending roster of Robins who will continue coming and going, and one of the solutions to this would be simply letting Batman have his own robotic Robin as DC keeps bringing up the idea over and over.