It's long been assumed that Robin met a terrible fate at the hands of the Joker sometime before the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. After all, why would Ben Affleck's Batman keep Robin's "jokerfied" costume as a memorial in the Batcave if Robin was still alive?
Turns out fans were correct: the Robin of the DC movie universe is dead, as has now been confirmed by director Zack Snyder. In a new interview with IGN, Snyder also shares a few more details on when exactly Robin died in the movie universe timeline.
"In my mind, it was that Robin had died about 10 years earlier in some run-in with a young Joker," Snyder says. "So, that was an interesting thing to me. Sorta a fun backstory to play with."
Snyder doesn't elaborate any further on exactly which Robin meets his end or how, but that hasn't stopped fans from speculating. The only Robin to die at the hands of the Joker in the comics is Jason Todd, who is brutally beaten to death with a crowbar by the Clown Prince of Crime. It's Batman's greatest failure, hence why he keeps Robin's costume as a constant reminder.
That matches up perfectly with what we've seen in Batman v Superman, so it seems safe to assume, then, that the dead Robin of the DC movie universe is probably Todd. However, we'll have to wait for confirmation from Snyder to be sure.
Some fans speculated that perhaps Jared Leto's Joker was actually Todd himself, but it looks like Snyder's comments have dispelled that theory. Might fans one day get to see the events of Todd's death and the Joker's rise to power on the big screen? It certainly seems a possibility. It's likely that Ben Affleck and Geoff Johns are working on the script for a solo Batman film, but it's not currently known if that film will take place in the present of the DC movie universe or in the past.
Much of that might also be determined by the popular reception to Leto's Joker. Fan response has been mixed so far, but considering the character is making his debut in Suicide Squad this August, the verdict is still out.
If fans do fall in love with this new version of the Joker, having a movie explore the character's rise to power and Robin's death could make for a compelling film.
