The constant uncertainty that plagues Warner Bros. and DC Films’ superhero output means that several exciting projects have become lost in the shuffle, but Chris McKay remains dedicated to eventually bringing Nightwing to the screen.
The filmmaker has been attached to the project for almost four years at this point, but the complexion of the DCEU has changed drastically since then. When The LEGO Movie and The Tomorrow War filmmaker first boarded Nightwing, the SnyderVerse was still very much in play, but it’s unclear whether or not the script being written by Ozark creator Bill Dubuque would have connected to any of Zack Snyder’s movies, even if McKay did recently reveal that the shadow of Batman would definitely be felt.
Not long after insisting that Nightwing hasn’t been canceled by WB as of yet, McKay once again outlined his hopes to see his story brought to the screen one day. In a new interview, he offered up some even more tantalizing tidbits about a father and son revenge story set against the backdrop of an expansive superhero blockbuster.
“Nightwing is still a movie that I really want to do. I love the character of Dick Grayson as a young adult, becoming his own kind of superhero character. That was gonna be a father and son story and also a revenge movie, which I was really excited about because there’s a lot going on in that script. It was gonna be really primal and pared down and like a real red meat movie in the best way.”
The only downside is that, until McKay hit the promotional trail for The Tomorrow War, we hadn’t heard a peep out of Nightwing for over three years. On top of that, he’s also set to helm Robert Kirkman’s violent and comedic Dracula spinoff Renfield having taken over from Dexter Fletcher behind the camera. He’s also working on his long-gestating live-action version of Jonny Quest.
Maybe one day Nightwing will finally emerge from the shadows, but trying to predict what Warner Bros. will do next has become an increasingly difficult game over the last few years, especially in regards to the DCEU.