DC's New Nightwing Casting Confirmation From Peter Safran Is Exactly What The Batman Franchise Needs

Published Nov 3, 2026, 3:49 PM EST Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." DC has confirmed who will play Nightwing in an upcoming movie, and it comes with the perfect plan for what the studio should look for in the DCU's new Batman. Despite many fans' wishes, Robert Pattinson's Batman will not be crossing over to the DCU. That ship has sailed. A new actor will be cast for Batman's The Brave and the Bold movie. There is also a chance that DC's next live-action Dark Knight will be cast for another DCU Chapter One project before the aforementioned movie, given that Adria Arjona is heavily rumored to be playing Wonder Woman in the Superman movie sequel Man of Tomorrow. What is known about Batman's role in the DCU for now is that the Bat-Family will be involved. When DC Studios unveiled the DCU Chapter One's initial slate of projects in 2023, it came with the reveal that The Brave and the Bold would be about Bruce Wayne connecting with his biological son, Damian, one of DC Comics' Robins. Gunn has also confirmed that other members of the Bat-Family will show up in the DCU Batman movie, though he did not specify who they might be. A major contender for a role in The Brave and the Bold is Dick Grayson, aka DC's first Robin, and who goes by Nightwing after he becomes an adult superhero off on his own adventures. Before The Brave and the Bold glides by, DC has already cast someone to play Dick in another project. The movie in question is the animated Dynamic Duo, though a DCU casting is not ruled out for now. Peter Safran Has Confirmed DC Studios' Reported Nightwing Casting In September, The Wrap reported multiple castings for the animated Dynamic Duo, with the movie's two focal characters being the Robins known as Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, reportedly set to be played by Mason Thames (How to Train Your Dragon) and Logan Kim (The Walking Dead: Dead City). Now, talking to Collider for the release of the DCU's final movie of 2026, the R-rated Batman villain movie Clayface, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran addressed the casting reports. Safran confirmed that Thames will be voicing Dick Grayson in Dynamic Duo, and the rest of his comments were quite exciting as well. Check them out below: "We always talk about wanting volunteers and not recruits to be part of the DCU, to be part of DC Studios, and Mason always wanted to be Dick Grayson. He just did. And he came in, and auditioned the s*** out of it, and was awesome. He's a wonderful young actor, but boy, did he want this. He was just obsessed. When he came over to the DC offices, he came over with his dad at the time, and we’ve got tons of great archives and stuff in there, and wanted to take a picture of everything and with everything. He's a fan." The best part about the casting is not only that Thames is a charismatic actor known for hit projects — the young star had three movies debut at #1 at the domestic box office in 2025, including the live-action How to Train Your Dragon, the horror sequel Black Phone 2, and the Colleen Hoover novel adaptation Regretting You — but also how Safran describes him as a fan who "always wanted to be Dick Grayson." According to the executive, Thames was obsessed with getting the role and impressed DC in the audition process. Additionally, Safran said they want "volunteers and not recruits" for the DCU and DC Studios. The DCU's Batman Actor Should Ideally Follow The Mason Thames Nightwing Casting Pattern Image via MovieStillsDB Based on Safran's words, there is a decent chance that Thames will also play the Nightwing of Gunn's DCU, even if Dynamic Duo ends up being an Elseworlds project completely unrelated to the shared universe. That said, Thames' casting as Dick Grayson in the animated DC movie is also exactly what DC needs to do for the DCU's Batman. There are several actors vying for the role, but with the part coming as a long-term commitment in what is shaping up to be the closest live-action DC franchise to the comics ever, DC simply can't get its Batman casting wrong. Fans are hoping the DCU's Batman actor will come as the definitive Bruce Wayne casting. By choosing a talented actor who is also a major Batman fan and/or is extremely passionate about playing the role for several years, much like Thames seems to be with Nightwing and, in terms of the DCU, David Corenswet showed to be with Superman as he commented on his dream of playing Clark Kent years before the DCU ever existed, DC would be going for the best-case scenario. As such, this Nightwing casting confirmation by Safran increases hopes of the perfect Batman being right around the corner. Release Date September 22, 2028 Director Arthur Mintz Writers Matthew Aldrich, Michael H. Weber, Scott Neustadter Producers James Gunn, Lynn Harris, Matt Reeves, Peter Safran, Steve Pegram, Theresa Andersson Franchise(s) DC Animated Universe Cast Mason Thames Dick Grayson (voice) Logan Kim Jason Todd (voice) Lee Pace Red Hood One (voice)