DC ComicsHoly origin story, Batman!
The Caped Crusader's No. 2 is stepping out from the shadows of his Gotham-saving friend and into the limelight, with the CW announcing plans for The Graysons, a pilot centering on comicdom's top sidekick, Robin, in his pre-Bat-partnering days.
The Boy Wonder-centric show will follow Dick "DJ" Grayson before he donned the cape, according to Variety, much like Smallville centers on a pre-Superman Clark Kent.
The hourlong series, which will be set in present day, will follow Grayson as he navigates through family dramas, first loves and rivals.
There's no word yet on whether the show will follow the mythology of the character set forth in the DC Comics franchise, in which Grayson was part of a family acrobat act dubbed the Flying Graysons and later orphaned when his parents' trapeze equipment was sabotaged by some ne'er-do-wells.
(Aside from playing second banana to Batman, Robin was also the lead in Teen Titans, which ran as a kid-friendly animated series on Cartoon Network.)
McG, who has helmed episodes of Chuck, Supernatural and The O.C. in addition to big-screen fare like Charlie's Angels and the upcoming Terminator Salvation, is on board to executive produce the pilot, as are Smallville exec producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson.
While it has yet to be picked up by the network (not unlike a certain aquatic guy), the Robin pilot is already being groomed as a companion show and possible replacement for the older superhero-in-training series.