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‘Batman V Superman’: Dead Character Identity Has Been Confirmed [Spoilers]

By Aric Mitchell
Published on: 07:25 PST, May 22, 2016

Batman V Superman inexplicably left one of its few mysteries unsolved in the identity of the dead Robin memorialized by the defaced “HAHA” graffiti display during one of the film’s scenes.

While most fans were not at all in suspense, thinking it to be Jason Todd from the comics, director Zack Snyder chose to tease that out and not give the payoff.

Instead, Batman-News reports, the confirmation that dead Robin is, in fact, Jason Todd came from a Hollywood studio tour video.

It is important to note that this is from Warner Bros., so it can be taken as “official,” even though it is a pretty unorthodox way of revealing it (in an obscure video) instead of to paying customers.

That said, if you watch the video itself — not the one directly below but the one featured in the Batman-News exclusive (linked above) — you will see that the tour guide has a confident delivery of the dead Robin’s identity, while showing off newly-added props from the film.

It has barely been a day since the news dropped and spread like wildfire across the Internet. It seems that even though Batman V Superman is finished with its box office run (final tally at $870 million worldwide), the interest is still there.

Now, what does a dead Jason Todd mean for the DC Extended Cinematic Universe? For starters, it means that if Robin II is dead, and the defaced suit doesn’t belong to Dick Grayson, then the original Robin is still out there.

That amps up hopes for a possible Nightwing movie, provided that DC and Warner Bros. can right the ship after their disappointing box office tally (and critical reception) from Batman V Superman.

While Batman V Superman was a money-maker, the companies hoped for a billion-dollar gross since their rivals over at Marvel and Disney have been there and done it a few times, including with the recently released Captain America: Civil War, which has brought in $1.053 billion worldwide in just four weeks.

The estimated shooting budget of Snyder’s effort ran $250 million, but estimates of between $100 and $150 million have been quoted for marketing expenses.

An atrocious critical reception (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and one of the steepest drop-offs in motion picture history from week one to week two quickly crushed hopes of hitting the $1b to $1.5 billion expectations.

It has also brought future films in the DCEMU under closer scrutiny with extended reshoots for August’s Suicide Squad and a reduced number of films from now until 2020.

As for Jason Todd’s history with the DCEMU, there is the possibility of a Red Hood movie if DC and Warner can find success with subsequent films. After all, Todd’s death is a huge motivator for Batman, as evidenced in this earlier IGN interview with Zack Snyder, who explains that “Robin” (not Todd) was killed by a younger version of the Joker (Jared Leto) and that has turned Bats into a vengeful man who barely exists outside the cape and cowl.

Of course, Snyder has since had control of the DCEMU wrested away from him and reassigned to Geoff Johns. It isn’t clear which ideas Johns will keep and which he’ll throw out, but the fact Snyder is off the helm at all is quite telling that DC and Warner hope to go another direction.

What do you think, readers?

Is Batman V Superman a good start to the series, and which elements from it should the future films keep around?

Also, are you at all surprised that dead Robin turned out to be Jason Todd? Would you like to see Todd’s Red Hood character turn up in a future film? Sound off in the comments section below.

[Image via Warner Bros.]

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