CW Prepping Smallville-esque Series About Robin Called The Graysons

Posted by on October 1st, 2008   Filed under: Books/Comics, TV
Source: Screen Rant

With the knowledge that this may very well be the final season for Smallville (yes, apparently the show is still on and people are still watching), The CW network is in search of a suitable replacement to keep fans of the ever-popular teen superhero soap opera genre happy. After a failed attempt to get an Aquaman series off the ground, it seems that they have turned their attention to yet another underappreciated hero: The Boy Wonder himself, Robin.

Variety says that the network is currently developing a series based on the early years of Robin before he meets Batman, tentatively titled The Graysons. The show would follow Dick “DJ” Grayson in dealing with “challenges involving first loves, young rivals and his family as he grows up”, although it isn’t clear whether they will stick to the circus acrobat background that is part of the original Robin mythology. If that doesn’t raise alarm bells for fanboys, perhaps the name of the series executive producer will: McG. Yep, the guy behind Charlie’s Angels, The O.C., Chuck, Supernatural and Terminator: Salvation is bringing this to the small screen, along with Smallville writers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.

I won’t deny that there is a certain appeal to Smallville (I still can’t believe it has lasted 8 seasons), but I can’t see many people being interested in a young Robin TV show. The reason Mercy Reef failed is because Aquaman is a lame character, and no one wants to waste a cool superhero on a premise like this. Hey, remember The WB’s other failed Batman spin-off Birds of Prey? Yeah, exactly.



  • Paul Andrews

    I agree. They couldn’t have picked a worse premise for a series. Actually they could I suppose; it could have been based on Krypto the Superdog. Or Granny Goodness ( http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/heroes_and_villains/?hv=origin_stories/granny_goodness ). That would be disturbing. Paul

  • Ha ha! Actually I remember waiting for the Birds of Prey pilot to come on, watching the pilot, and realizing it was such total shit in about ten minutes.

    It is very possible to make a good show out of some acrobat detective family but I think fans (and definitely non-fans) will be turned off because its associated with Batman.

    People blindly hate Robin while in the early 90’s his solo book was really very fun and could be pitched as “Batman if he was a teenager and dressed like a jolly rancher”.

    Also, is that a pic from the show? If so there was phail. Actually though I don’t see this working as a plain clothes superhero like Smallville either.

  • The picture is from that Grayson short film that someone did a few years back.

  • Mitch

    Who would watch this?

  • I’m interested in superhereos when they’re… well superheroes.

  • Ian

    So if it’s about “The Graysons” I’d assume it’s about The Flying Graysons and so it’ll be a circus show which might be fun for a season or two. Just like a roadtrip TV show with a few mysteries on the way to show the early lessons of Dick. I just hope the elephant is in it too and makes regular apperances.

  • Dan from New Jersey

    They should make that Grayson movie that the fanmade trailer is from. Smallville worked (kind of) because Clark is a superhero. He always has his super powers. This show is about a gymnast. That’s what Dick Grayson was. Not a gymnast with heat vision and super speed. Just a kid. This is a terrible idea. CW SHOULD make an hour long series entitled “The Rise & Fall of the GasMan”

  • I’m a big-time comic book fan, but I’ve never seen an episode of Smallville, so something tells me that I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this.

    On another note, did Frank Miller direct that photo you used at the top of this post?