Who Is Damian Wayne?
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James Gunn recently announced his slate for the new DCU, and one of them was The Brave and the Bold, a film that will explore the family dynamics between Bruce Wayne and his son, Damian Wayne. To many non-comic fans of Batman, it may come as a surprise that Batman even has a son. So, who exactly is this estranged son of the caped crusader?
Damien’s Origins
Damian is the child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. He was conceived through a brief fling between the two shortly after Batman became a public hero. However, the caped crusader was unaware of the conception of the child and went back to crime fighting for several years. Talia, however, took advantage of what she believed to be the perfect genes and believed the child to be the perfect heir. She named the child Damien and took advantage of the League of Assassins to inorganically speed up his ageing, giving him the physiology of a 10-year-old in five years. The boy was raised in his formative years by Talia and the League and became a skilled assassin at a very early age. Due to his lineage and natural talent in the art of assassination, the boy soon became a respected member of the League.
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Eventually, Talia deemed Damian ready to meet his father, Bruce Wayne. Despite being surprised that he had a son with a supervillain, Bruce sought to learn more about his son anyway. Though he was trained to become a remorseless assassin, Damien was sympathetic to Bruce’s vigilantism as Batman and volunteered to become his next sidekick, to which Batman agreed, granting Damien the mantle of Robin, Bruce’s fourth ward to use that name (though the fifth Robin in total).
The father and son duo were not together for long, however, as Batman is seemingly killed (though in actuality sent through time), leaving Batman’s first Robin, Dick Grayson, to take over the mantle of the caped crusader. Not wanting to give up his father’s missions, agreed to become Grayson’s Robin. The two initially did not have the best relationship but eventually formed a brotherly bond. Bruce eventually returned from the dead after traveling through time, reuniting the father-son Batman and Robin duo.
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Damian has been affiliated with the Teen Titans after forming a new iteration of the team consisting of Starfire, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, and Raven. However, perhaps the most interesting of his alliances is that which he has with the son of Superman, Jonathan Kent. The two did not get along initially, with a fight breaking out between them when they first met. Batman and Superman, to discipline their respective sons, put the boys through a series of challenges intended to teach them the value of teamwork. Of course, since the boys hated each other's guts, they failed every challenge. They did, however, put their differences aside to save their fathers from an apparent threat in the Batcave that turned out to be a ruse. It was at this point that Alfred Pennyworth declared them the Super Sons.
The character of Damian is vastly complex and can be explored in a variety of ways. Only time will tell how James Gunn decides to introduce the character in The Brave and the Bold. For now, fans can follow the boy wonder’s journey in the pages of the various comics he has appeared in. Damian currently appears prominently in Batman Kinghtwatch, Batman Vs. Robin, and Lazarus Planet Alpha but has also graced the pages of several more! Are you excited to see Damian on the silver screen?
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Sources: DC Database, DC.com, [1], [2], [3]
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