This isn't an announcement that Robin will appear in the next Batman movie (the release of which has to be a question of when, not if, given the boffo box office) but there's some discussion online today from the man who co-created the comic book that inspired The Dark Knight saying it might not be the worst idea. And, you know, he might not be wrong.

Much of the plot of The Dark Knight was, by Nolan's own admission, taken from The Long Halloween, a comic book written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale. Talking to Flavorwire, Sale discussed Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, and why it could work as a sequel to The Dark Knight, even though it includes Robin, who is generally considered poison to Batman movies. Thing is, he might not be wrong.

The Robin of Dark Victory is not the 20-something, rubber-nippled annoyance of the Joel Schumacher movies, but a kid who represents the only tie to humanity for a Batman whose become so singular in his mission eradicate crime that he's stopped caring about anyone. That could work with the ending of The Dark Knight, where Bruce Wayne decided he would accept Gotham fearing him because it meant they could believe in someone else. He'd get the job done, he just wouldn't get the glory.

Yes, both Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have said Robin has no part in their universe, but Sale said he needed persuading too. "Jeph had to drag me to the idea of Robin kicking and screaming," he said in the Flavorwire interview, "but then I started living with a single mom, and she had an 8-year-old boy who over the years became more Robin-ish. Jeph based Bruce and Dick’s relationship on mine with the boy, that push-and-pull. Dark Victory shows the change of Gotham from a town overrun by gangsters into a town that is governed by “freaks” (Jeph’s term). His creation of triumvirate of Batman/Dent/Gordon — what they saw happening to their city and how they were going to address it — pushed the story farther than before."

Would Robin be an easy addition to a third Batman film? No. But Nolan's taken no obvious paths in the films so far, so why not try the biggest possible challenge? Just don't put them on skates.

What do you think? Could Robin work, or would the little bird poop all over the Nolan Batmanverse?

Olly Richards