The Top 5 Best Actors To Play 'Nightwing' In A Batman Spinoff Movie

After some initial letdowns, 2017 has finally shifted gears for fans of Warner Bros.' DC Cinematic Universe. February's exciting news of director Matt Reeves taking over the studio's Batman franchise was accompanied by equally exciting -- and potentially revelatory -- word that The LEGO Batman Movie director Chris McKay is in talks with Warner Bros. to direct a Nightwing movie. Then came confirmation Joss Whedon is writing and directing a Batgirl movie for the DCU.

The past few months have also brought additional word that Suicide Squad 2 is courting top directing talents like Mel Gibson while Harley Quinn's spinoff picture Gotham City Sirens is on the fast track for hoped-for 2018 release. And this week, we learned a new DC digital platform will launch a live-action Titans series and revive the animated Young Justice. So DC fans have a lot to celebrate as they await the imminent June release of Wonder Woman and the arrival of Justice League in November, not to mention inevitable updates and news when Aquaman's production gets underway this summer.

Expanding the bat-family portion of the DCU makes a lot of financial sense, not to mention actual storytelling sense. Batman is by far the most lucrative of the film franchises and merchandising for DC and Warner, having taken roughly $4.9 billion in live-action and animated cinematic releases staring Batman as a lead or major supporting character (not counting his cameo in the $745 million-grossing Suicide Squad, which featured multiple Batman villains and included two scenes with the dark detective himself). As a lead-only, he's topped $4 billion in his own films.

Spinning off other characters in Batman's "family" allows for tie-ins with bat-villains, Batman cameos, references, and other things that will take these already great and popular characters and give them an added boost to ensure mainstream audiences show up to buy tickets. Meanwhile, the rest of the DCU is still getting attention, with not only Wonder Woman and Aquaman movies but also a Man of Steel sequel, Flash and Cyborg pictures, a Green Lantern Corps project, and other irons in the fire that continue to expand the DCU.

Batman occupies a large space within DC Comics publishing, so the cinematic rise of a large bat-oriented corner is merely a reflection of that storytelling reality and of financial realities. More successful Batman movies and tie-ins means more encouragement and financial viability for other non-Batman DCU movies, so remember that.

I recently brought you my list of the top casting candidates for the Batgirl movie, and today I've got another list of great performers who could join the DCU on the big screen -- this time, for the role of Nightwing in Chris McKay's movie. But first, a quick primer on the character and his potential place in the rebooted Batman cinematic landscape...

Nightwing is the superhero name of adult-age Dick Grayson, who as a teenager was Batman's first sidekick, Robin. In the comics, he grew up and left Batman's side to forge his own identity as a costumed hero, while Batman replaced him with a new teenage Robin -- real name Jason Todd -- who was later killed by the Joker. In Batman v Superman we saw a damaged Robin costume hanging on display in the Batcave, with a taunting message from the Joker sprayed across the outfit. That costume, plus word of a Nightwing film, confirm there were multiple Robin's in this cinematic world, one of whom grew to adulthood and one of whom was murdered by the Joker (portrayed by Jared Leto in Suicide Squad).

Will Nightwing have a strained relationship with Batman in the aftermath of the end of their partnership and the death of the new Robin? Is the new Robin still dead, or was he resurrected to become the Red Hood, as happened in the comics? Or will that resurrection story play out for us in live-action at a later date in the DCU? Only time will tell, but what we do know is this Batman has been active for a few decades and Nightwing would be in his early/mid 20s or early-30s by now, assuming he first joined Batman when Robin was a teenager and the Caped Crusader was in his 20s.

Which means the casting options for Nightwing could range from college-age Dick Grayson to someone even further along in adulthood -- a roughly one decade span of age ranges to pull from. I've put together a list of diverse acting talents who I feel comprise the best casting choices to consider for the role of Dick Grayson. Notice that if a late-20s or early-30s actor on this list were to play Dick Grayson, then one of the younger performers could portray Jason Todd, if that character is eventually revived on the big screen.

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 best actors to play Nightwing! [Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been my top pick for a long time, but his roles in several previous superhero films, plus my personal guess that he'll be reprising one of those roles again in an upcoming Marvel movie, makes me leave him off this list today -- but if he were to suddenly become realistically available again, then he'd obviously be on this list!]

Dev Patel -- My top choice for the role is this Oscar-nominated performer with a wonderful combination of on-screen charisma, intensity, and outstanding acting chops.

Lucas Hedges -- A talented Oscar nominee who would be terrific for a college-age portrayal, with sharp wit and severity combined with a disarming boyish charm.

Shameik Moore -- Another younger option with great talent and that combination of intensity and humor, and one of my picks for John Stewart aka Green Lantern as well (Moore is voicing Miles Morales in the animated Spider-Man movie, so he may not be interested in another superhero role so soon).

Taylor Lautner -- An underrated performer who brings a physicality and perpetual youthfulness to his roles, yet also capable of tapping into his darker side, he's been waiting for a chance to break into the superhero genre and is among my choices for Shazam as well.

Hayden Szeto -- Instantly likable and with an easy self-depreciating humor alongside a confident air, he's a new talent in Hollywood who fits the mold of a mostly "unknown" but has a solid performance under his belt in Edge of Seventeen (in which he stole plenty of scenes), and an easy physicality about him.

Some other excellent options are Armie Hammer, John Boyega, and Steven Yeun.

So that's my list of the top 5 best casting choices to play Nightwing in Chris McKay's new movie. What do you think of these choices, dear readers? I'm sure you have your own suggestions as well, so sound off in the comments below!

Box office figures and tallies based on data via Box Office Mojo, Rentrak, and TheNumbers.

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