Robin Begins

With “Smallville” seemingly about to wind-up -  as it should, it’s soooo running out of steam, and, quite frankly, the network probably should’ve chopped it once Michael Rosenbaum quit the show, he was the best thing on it- The CW will be looking to fill their teenie-superhero show quota.

The solution could be “The Grayson’s”, a prequel series fixing on the younger years of Dick Grayson aka Robin, says Variety.

“Smallville” exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as “Supernatural” exec producer McG, are behind the show, which has landed a pilot commitment from the network.

In the one-hour “Graysons,” which will be set in modern times, young DJ will face challenges involving first loves, young rivals and his family as he grows up. Souders and Peterson have come up with an original take on the character.

In the original Batman mythology, Grayson was a young acrobat and part of the family act called “The Flying Graysons.” He was orphaned when a gangster sabotaged his parents’ trapeze equipment. Bruce Wayne took him under his wing and trained him to help fight crime.

Look, sounds interesting-enough, but haven’t we been here before? And more to the point, hasn’t there already been enough potentially promising “Smallville” replacement shows given the thumbs down? (“Aquaman” and “Supergirl” to name but two).

In addition, and rather ironically, a few years back the network was pitched a series centering on a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne (you can read a review of the pilot script at KryptonSite). One would’ve assumed that’d be a little more interesting than a Dick Grayson series, right?

I assume the only reason the network may be going with a Grayson series is because Warner Bros have no plans to use the ‘Robin’ character in the current “Batman” film series, so pretty much have free reign to do whatever they want with the character – as opposed to say Batman, where they’d be running into all sorts of obstacles and demands on behalf of those worried it may butt heads with Chris Nolan’s film series. Still, why Grayson – – why not a “Green Arrow” or “Supergirl” series?  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this one hasn’t been picked up yet either – at this stage, it’s only a pilot.