2 Attachment(s)
Zack Snyder Wanted Carrie Kelley as the Next DCEU Robin
Zack Snyder keeps teasing his original DC movie plans, revealing Carrie Kelley could have been the new Robin, possibly in a future Batman movie. It was heavily rumored leading into the release of Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 that Jena Malone was playing Carrie Kelley, the Robin from Frank Miller's influential The Dark Knight Returns comic book series. However, that wasn't the case.
It the end, it was revealed that Malone was actually playing S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Jenet Klyburn. She was Lois Lane's (Amy Adams) contact, and she helped the intrepid reporter uncover more information about the bullet that was lodged into her booklet in Nairomi. What's interesting, Malone wasn't even featured in the film's theatrical cut, instead first popping up in the Batman V Superman Ultimate Cut later that year on home video. Still, many Batman fans were disappointed when the Carrie Kelley rumors turned out to be false, but that doesn't mean the character wasn't on Snyder's mind.
On Vero, Sam Leggett asked Zack Snyder (via ComicBook Debate) if he had planned on bringing back Dick Grayson after the Flashpoint movie, or if he was always supposed to stay dead (Snyder also revealed that Dick Grayson was the dead Robin in BvS). Snyder responded with another surprising revelation, stating that Grayson would "stay dead... till Carrie." The director didn't indicate when DC's female Robin would make her debut, however. Still, it may not have been until much further down the road in the DCEU.
While Zack Snyder seems to indicate that he wouldn't have introduced (or, perhaps, brought back) Dick Grayson into the DCEU without first introducing Carrie Kelley, it doesn't look like it's something that was actually planned. Rather, it seems Snyder had a vision - a nascent idea - about adapting Miller's Robin into live-action at some point down the line, possibly in one of the final Batman movies, in keeping with the story arc from the comics.
Of course, these details are now moot since Snyder no longer has an active role in the shared universe, aside from producing future solo movies for Justice League characters, that is. However, these brief tidbits do provide context for DCEU fans who still have burning questions about Snyder's vision. But again, it sounds like Snyder's vision for Robin wasn't fully developed. Kelley doesn't easily fit into any of the current movies on the DCEU slate, after all. While it's entirely possible that Carrie Kelley will be featured in the DCEU at some point, given the franchise's state of ever-changing flux, whatever ideas or plans Snyder had before his exit no longer seem to be on the table.
