Netflix star throws his hat in the ring to play bisexual Robin in new Batman films
Tanner Buchanan attends Netflix’s premiere of “He’s All That” at NeueHouse Los Angeles on 25 August 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Getty/Amy Sussman)
Netflix star Tanner Buchanan is interested in playing Robin in the upcoming Batman films, and he’s said he’d love to play a bisexual Boy Wonder.
Buchanan, who has starred in Cobra Kai and He’s All That, has repeatedly shared his aspirations to play Batman’s vigilante partner opposite Robert Pattinson in DC’s upcoming reboots.
The 22-year-old actor opened up about his superhero dreams on Variety’s Just for Variety podcast, adding he wouldn’t mind honouring the character’s newly revealed LGBT+ identity.
“If I have the opportunity to represent something like that, that’s incredible,” Buchanan said. “If they’re willing to write it, then you know what? Of course, I’m going to play it.”
Batman’s long-running sidekick Robin came out as bisexual in a recent issue of the anthology series Batman: Urban Legends. In the comic, Tim Drake – the third character to take on the mantle of Robin – explored his close friendship with another male character named Bernard.
Bernard is kidnapped by a villain, and Drake comes to his friend’s rescue. After the pair make it to safety, Bernard asks Tim out on a date, which the young hero eagerly accepts.
Batman’s sidekick Tim Drake has come out bisexual, and DC comics fans are absolutely elated. (DC Comics/Batman: Urban Legends #6/Twitter/@NebsGoodTakes)
Comic writer Meghan Fitzmartin, who wrote the issue, told BBC Radio 4’s Today that Drake’s bisexuality felt like the “missing piece” of his narrative.
She shared that the comic book’s creative team were thinking about the stories they wanted to tell since “it’s been a while since he’s had his own story”.
Fitzmartin explained: “I went back and I read a bunch of the comics that I grew up with and just really spent some time with that character to figure out what stories did I want to tell and there were these pieces that kept coming together that felt that they didn’t have context without this final piece of having him realise his own sexuality, that this is part of who he is as a person and as a character.
She continued: “It felt like this was a missing piece in the understanding of this character, so it was sort of moving forward in that direction.”
In an interview with CinemaBlend last month, Tanner Buchanan revealed his deep love for comic books and superheroes. The Designated Survivor star shared that he is a “big comic guy” and has been a “superhero fan my entire life”.
His favourite superhero? Unsurprisingly, it’s none other than the Boy Wonder himself. And he said he’s already got an idea about which direction he would want the character to go should he ever take on the role.
“I’m very specific about what I want to do with that and then maybe go on to play Nightwing,” Buchanan said. “I’ll go down a deep hole if I keep talking about superheroes, so I’ll leave it at that.”
Matt Reeve’s The Batman is currently set for a 2022 release. The gloomy-aesthetic filled movie stars Robert Patterson as Bruce Wayne, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Andy Serkis as the superhero’s butler Alfred and Colin Farrell as the crime lord, the Penguin.
There’s no news yet whether Robin will appear in the upcoming film, its planned two sequels or the announced spin-off TV series for HBO Max.
So there’s every possibility that a bisexual Robin played by Tanner Buchanan could happen in the future. But only time will tell.
