James Gunn has surprised everyone by announcing the first theatrically released animated film by DC Studios. Dynamic Duo will center on two different heroes who have adopted the alias of Robin in DC Comics. Gunn revealed on X/Twitter that DC Studios and Warner Bros Pictures Animation has greenlit the new movie, which will be putting the spotlight on one of the most famous sidekicks in comic book history.

Robin is one of the most important parts of Batman’s history, having been part of the comics before even Joker or Catwoman. Yet, ever since 1997’s Batman & Robin, most live-action Batman adaptations have ignored the character entirely. It appears, though, that James Gunn is looking to put not just one but two Robins back into the franchise, the original Robin, Dick Grayson, and Jason Todd, who later takes on the identity.

The film will be the debut feature film for the animation studio Swaybox, which Gunn says will be “a mix of animation, puppetry, and CGI.” Matthew Aldrich, who previously worked on Coco and Lightyear, will pen the script, and Swaybox co-founder Arthur Mintz will direct the movie. Matt Reeves has been signed on as a producer, but the project is not connected to Reeves The Batman or The Penguin.

DC Studios Will Have Plenty of Robin

This is one of many DCU projects that seems to be putting emphasis on Robin, the Boy Wonder. The upcoming Batman film The Brave and the Bold will feature Bruce Wayne training his son Damian Wayne to become the new Robin and will feature the Bat Family. In addition, Teen Titans is also in development, and Robin, be it Dick Grayson or Damian Wayne, typically is on the team, so Dynamic Duo will likely tie into that project as well. This new announcement comes just days after it was revealed that a Bane and Deathstroke DC Film is also being developed. Based on Gunn’s original manifesto that there would be one vision and many projects to come in his and Peter Safran’s new DCU, it seems that these projects will all be connected in some way.

DC has released theatrically animated films before, like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm or DC’s League of Super-Pets, but they have been disconnected from the main live-action feature films. Gunn has made it clear that it does not matter if a project is animated or live-action, or whether it is made for the big or small screen, there will be continuity across the franchise. This suggests that Dynamic Duo could be a prequel to Brave and the Bold, telling the story of two of Batman’s previous Robins, with whoever is cast to voice the characters set to reprise their roles in live-action.

While Creature Commandos is a traditional 2D animated series, Dynamic Duo will be a little more experimental with its mix of CGI and puppetry. This may mean that even if the cast is uniform across projects, DC Studios will be looking to tell its stories through several different mediums. It is a bold, creative swing, one that makes it an exciting time to be a DC fan.