The new season of Titans has Game of Thrones alum Iain Glen taking on the role of Bruce Wayne. As fans know, Batman has already made one memorable appearance on the first season finale of the hit show. In that episode, we got to see a nightmare version of the Dark Knight who’d gone rogue and displayed the deadly fighting skills and strategic mindset that fans have always clamored to see more of in movie versions of the hero.
With Glen being confirmed for the new season, fans were naturally looking forward to more Batman action. But showrunner Greg Walker has clarified that the upcoming run will place the focus on Bruce Wayne instead of his alter-ego, saying:
“Well Bruce was a huge character on our show last year, you just didn’t see him, I mean for the most part. For Dick, he was omnipresent and it felt like we really needed to dive into Dick’s relationship with Bruce to really understand Dick better. I was really excited as a writer to go into Bruce Wayne. There’s been so much done about Batman but there’s not a ton about being Bruce Wayne… Bruce is really awesome at being Batman, he’s kind of crappy at being Bruce.”
So, it sounds like we shouldn’t expect too many action scenes involving Iain Glen. Nor is there apparently much of a chance of Batman and Robin teaming up to save the day, because according to Walker, that’s not the dynamic that the two heroes share any longer.
“We wanted to work on Bruce Wayne trying to restore that relationship with Dick in a way get back to an updated version of father and son. It could never be the Batman and Robin version anymore because Dick has grown past that and rebelled against it, but what could it be if it goes past that? You have to deal with forgiveness and moving on and kind of adult themes, so I was really excited about writing that. Iain, he has so much stature, he is such a gifted actor with his grace and elegance and weight that he can handle the drama of a man struggling to deal with his estranged son better than anybody I could think of.”
Focusing on the father-son aspect of the relationship in the new Titans season between Batman and his young prodigy is a great way to dive deeper into the mind and motivations of Dick Grayson, and the aspects of his nature that make him such a compelling character even after he’s no longer Batman’s sidekick and has moved on to become his own man. And we’ll get to see how it all comes together when season 2 premieres on September 6th.