Zack Snyder may have just confirmed a fan theory about how The Joker brutally killed Batman’s sidekick Robin in the DC Extended Universe.
While Robin aka Dick Grayson hasn’t appeared in the DC Extended Universe, viewers saw his weathered superhero suit in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice as the Dark Knight looked to it for inspiration.
The suit was covered in the words, “Hahaha joke’s on you Batman” written in green graffiti, so we know The Joker was responsible for Robin’s death. It was also later suggested in Suicide Squad that Harley Quinn was an accomplice in the murder.
Other than that, we don’t know too much about Robin’s life – or his death – in the DCEU series of movies. But a new fan theory about the shocking way the character was murdered has been ‘liked’ by director Zack Snyder, which some fans have taken as confirmation that it’s really what happened.
Is this how Joker killed Robin in the DC Extended Universe?
The theory goes that Joker beat Robin to death and set his body alight in Wayne Manor, which is what left the building looking decrepit in the DCEU. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the storyline in 1988 comic A Death In The Family, where Joker brutally beat Robin and left him to die in a building explosion.
“If Zack and David stick with the story of having Joker brutally beat Robin to death, then set his body on fire then there’s no doubt it happened in Wayne Manor and the fire is what left the house looking like that,” a fan called Shay Lonsdale tweeted.
“Another thing to think about with this if true is that Joker probably knows Batman’s true identity but chooses to keep it a secret as he doesn’t want his twisted back and forth relationship with Batsy to end.”
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The tweets were shared to social media platform Vero, which is where Snyder responded with a ‘like’ on the post. Could this be confirmation of the theory? Or is he just enjoying the fan speculation?
SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!! #ZackSnydersJusticeLeague @sylabdul_inc @LightCastPod pic.twitter.com/36skHYEkcK
— jeffery warfield jr. (@JefferyWarfiel2) November 8, 2020
Snyder previously explained the decision to have Robin appear only as a deceased character in the DC Extended Universe was to help provide backstory for Batman, and give a reason for his jaded, cold exterior.
“I felt like the whole idea was that there had been loss and there had been sacrifice,” he said. “In a weird way, he had sacrificed everything to be Batman. He doesn’t really have a life outside the cave. I thought that including Robin, a dead Robin, was helping us understand that he’s been on quite a journey.”
Snyder has also teased that his upcoming Justice League cut will dive deeper into the background of Robin’s death. Asked by a fan on Vero whether we’ll get an explanation about his murder, he simply replied that there will be “a hint in [Justice League]”.
Hopefully, we’ll find out what really happened to Robin when Zack Synder’s Justice League cut premieres exclusively on HBO Max in 2021.