New Nightwing Lore Rewrites His Most Controversial Era

Warning! Contains spoilers for Nightwing 2024 Annual #1!

Summary Bea Bennett's origin revealed: she's Destiny Alston, a spy trained by Spyral to watch over Ric Grayson.

Bea fell in love with Ric despite her spy mission; their relationship ended due to tragic circumstances.

Bea returned to her previous life as a pirate queen after keeping an eye on Nightwing post-breakup.

One of the most widely disliked eras in Nightwing's history is the time he was Ric Grayson. After being shot in the head by KGBeast, Dick lost most of his memories, and what followed was a bizarre era: Dick wasn't Nightwing anymore, but instead a cab driver who was sometimes a vigilante. Now, this era has just experienced a complete rewrite with the new history of Ric Grayson's lover, Bea Bennett.

This year's Nightwing 2024 Annual #1 by Travis Moore took a deep look into the origin of Bea Bennett. Bea first showed up in Nightwing's life during the Ric Grayson arc and quickly became one of his major love interests. The two were together for almost the entire duration of Ric's story, but it's revealed in this annual that her presence wasn't a coincidence.

Surprise: Bea Bennett actually grew up as Destiny Alston, the daughter of Nicole Alston, who was the president of a major company. After the murder of Nicole, Bea ended up being trained as a secret agent of Spyral, which put her on a path where she'd meet Dick Grayson, completely rewriting one of Nightwing's most controversial eras.

Bea Bennett first appeared in 2018's Nightwing #50 and was co-created by Moore and Benjamin Percy.

Related Nightwing Hits His Lowest Moment in Dark Vision of Dick Grayson's Future Nightwing has been doing great in life recently, but it seems that his life is about to come crashing down as DC releases a dark look at his future.

Bea Bennett's Most Important Mission: Spying on Ric Grayson

Bea Bennett, Agent of Spyral, Is More Connected to Nightwing Than Fans Knew

While trying to discover who was behind the murder of her mother, Bea/Destiny is recruited into the spy agency known as Spyral: the exact same agency Nightwing joined when he was a spy. Despite them working in the same agency, they never actually met, with Destiny even refusing to take Dick as her partner, as she didn't find him attractive. She would be forced to watch over him, though, after Dick was shot in the head by KGBeast and Spyral worried Ric Grayson would spill their secrets. Destiny also suspected KGBeast had killed her mother, so she accepted the mission, reasoning that KGBeast would show up again to finish the job.

Bea's Spyral code name is "Siren," which is a perfect nod to her nautical connections to Blüdhaven and the Captain Blüd title.

But as is often the case in stories like this, while Destiny started out just wanting to watch over Dick, her feelings grew into something much more, especially as she came to accept her new life under the pseudonym Bea Bennett. Bea and Ric started off as just friends, but the two quickly fell in love. Bea became Ric's long-term girlfriend and was behind a surprising number of events in his life, such as helping Ric break through mind-control when the Court of Owls brainwashed him into becoming a Talon. While Ric and Bea would eventually break up, this almost wasn't the case, with just one major DC event sealing the fate of their relationship.

Nightwing's Romantic History Has Changed Forever with New Lore

Ric and Bea's First Meeting Was Planned from the Start

Torn between her duty to watch over Ric and report back to Spyral and her growing genuine feelings for Ric, Bea eventually decided she had to tell him the truth about her connection to the agency. It's unknown how Ric would've taken this information, as she never got around to actually spilling her secret. Before Bea could confess her true origin to Ric, many of the world's intelligence agencies had suddenly been destroyed due to the machinations of Leviathan. With Spyral seemingly gone, Bea felt no need to continue with her old life as a spy, preferring to simply live life as Bea Bennett full-time.

Readers can learn more about the destruction of Spyral in Event Leviathan #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Josh Reed!

With Spyral out of the picture, Bea simply embraced life with Nightwing fully and entirely. Who knows: the two may have even ended up getting married, but after Ric regained his memories as Dick Grayson, he no longer felt comfortable with Bea Bennett. Completely unaware of her history as a super-spy, Dick was under the impression she was just a regular civilian and parted ways with her none-the-wiser.

With Dick constantly being attacked by KGBeast, the Joker, and even the Court of Owls, he made the difficult choice to break up with her. Despite having residual feelings for her from his memories as Ric, he ultimately had to let her go. Had he known who she really was, it's unknown if he would've made this heart-breaking choice or not.

Bea started out as just a one-off love interest for a bizarre era of Dick Grayson's history, and now she has been transformed into a woman with her own story and origin.

Related "Boatwing": Nightwing's Newest Vehicle Suggests His Pirate Era Is Here to Stay Forget the Batmobile - the Boatwing has arrived! After recently exploring the deep sea, it looks like Nightwing's pirate days are not behind him yet.

Nightwing and Bea's Relationship Ended Due to Tragic Circumstances

Bea Could've Stayed in Nightwing's Life — If She Told the Truth

Bea continued to keep eyes on Dick Grayson after their break-up. She was in the crowd as Dick pledged to use his inherited fortune to try and improve Blüdhaven and the lives of everyone in it — an idea they'd often discussed when he was still Ric, but without the resources needed to make a difference. Bea still harbored feelings for Dick, but after seeing Dick Grayson with Batgirl Barbara Gordon, Bea knew it would be a complicated love-triangle. Not wanting to deal with that, but still wanting to help Dick, Bea ended up returning to her previous life — as a pirate queen.

Readers can see Nightwing's reunion with Bea Bennett — now known as Captain Blüd — starting with Nightwing #106 by Tom Taylor, Stephen Byrne, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott.

This is one of the better examples in comics of fleshing out a character's backstory long after they've been introduced. Bea has been in comics now for around six years, and while most fans of Nightwing knew who she was, none of them knew the actual extent she was entangled in Nightwing's life. Bea started out as just a one-off love interest for a bizarre era of Dick Grayson's history, and now she has been transformed into a woman with her own story and origin. While Bea Bennett is deeply entangled with Nightwing's history, she still has her own goals and motivations.

Bea Bennett Has Quickly Become One of Nightwing's Most Important Loves

Does Bea Bennett Have a Future in DC Comics?

While it's not unusual for Nightwing's love interests to fail for one reason or another, Bea's one of the few relationships that fell apart because of tragic circumstances. Dick has admitted that he still has residual feelings for Bea, and it's clear that Bea still has feelings for Dick. But with both of them moving in different directions in life, it's unlikely they'll ever be together again — especially with Dick now being in a committed relationship with Barbara Gordon.

While the future of their friendship is unclear, it's obvious that Bea Bennett isn't leaving Nightwing's life anytime soon, and while there's nothing planned yet, hopefully there are more Bea stories in the future. Until then, readers and Bea Bennett fans can check out Nightwing 2024 Annual #1, available now from DC Comics.

NIGHTWING 2024 ANNUAL #1 Writer: Travis Moore

Artist: Travis Moore

Colorist: Ivan Plascencia, Alex Guimarães

Letterer: Wes Abbott

Cover Artist: Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain