Titans Season 3: Who Is Tim Drake? New Robin, Explained - Collider

Titans has found a new home on HBO Max, and it looks all the better for it. The season 3 trailer showed off the sprawling cast of superheroes in action, including new cast members Savannah Welch as Commissioner Barbara Gordon, Vincent Kartheiser as Dr. Jonathan Crane/ Scarecrow, and Jay Lycurgo as Tim Drake. Tim Drake is the third Robin to partner with Batman, and he’s finally making his live-action debut on Titans. In the comics, the character was introduced by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Pat Broderick in Batman #436, and became the Dark Knight’s sidekick after the highly unpopular second Robin, Jason Todd, was murdered by the Joker.

The Titans trailer offers only a glimpse of Lycurgo’s character, and he isn’t in costume. According to the official character synopsis, Tim has near-genius intellect and street-smarts from growing up in the toughest streets of Gotham. When he’s introduced in the trailer, Tim is reacting emotionally to the news that "Batman’s ally" has been found dead. The footage in the trailer suggests Jason Todd/ Robin 2.0 (Curran Walters) is the "ally" who’s been killed, and Bruce Wayne/ Batman (Iain Glen) is devastated by his loss, leaving a Robin-shaped hole that needs to be filled in Gotham. Enter: Tim Drake.

Image via DC Comics

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Tim Drake was different from his comic book predecessors, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. Dick’s parents were killed in front of him, and he was taken in by Bruce Wayne as his ward. When Dick grew older and left to start his own team, Bruce adopted Jason Todd, a thief whose father had disappeared and whose mother had died from an overdose. Tim, on the other hand, came from an affluent, stable home. In his 1989 debut, Tim’s parents Jack and Janet Drake took him to visit Haly’s Circus, unfortunately on the same night the first Robin’s parents were killed. That was also the night Tim’s fascination with superheroes began.

Tim was properly introduced as a main character in the storyline Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying when he found Dick Grayson. Tim revealed to Dick that he and his parents visited Haly’s Circus and even took a picture of themselves with the famed Flying Graysons. Tim was mesmerized by Dick Grayson’s gymnastic skills, but unfortunately, those happy memories were destroyed when Tony Zucco murdered the Grayson parents in front of an adoring audience. Batman swooped in to save Dick, but Tim, who witnessed everything, was left traumatized for years.

However, the event played a huge role in Tim’s superhero journey. Tim was often left on his own, as his father, Jack, traveled a lot, and his mother, Janet, would often join him, so Tim was sent to a boarding school. A few years after the Haly’s Circus incident, Tim watched footage of Batman and Robin in action and noticed Robin complete the same quadruple somersault that Dick had performed at the circus. Tim put two and two together and deduced Robin’s true identity as Dick Grayson. Since Dick was Bruce Wayne’s ward, Tim realized who Batman was, as well. His theory was later proven by the appearance of Bruce’s second ward, Jason Todd, which coincided with the return of Robin.

Image via DC Comics

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Following Jason’s death, Batman became violent and erratic in the field. The newspapers didn’t know that Robin had died, but Jason’s death was publicized. Despite being only 13 years old, Tim knew that Batman needed a Robin by his side. He searched for Dick Grayson and pleaded with him to become Batman’s sidekick again. Unfortunately, Dick was an adult by then and had left Batman’s shadow – he didn’t want to give up his independent superhero gig as Nightwing. But Dick did agree with Tim; Batman needed a Robin, and who better than the young man who had proven to have detective skills that rivaled The Dark Knight? Tim went on to save Batman and Nightwing on his very first mission.

Tim is both the brains and the heart of the Bat-family. In Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying, one of the main reasons Tim insisted Batman needs a Robin is to keep up the façade that these superheroes are unkillable – that way they can continue to keep the criminal element in Gotham in check. All this is evident in Tim’s earliest comic book appearances, especially the 1993 crossover event, Batman: Knightfall, which saw the Bat-family reckoning with Bruce Wayne's broken back at the hands of Bane.

It was several months before Tim became Robin, as Batman was too afraid to see another child die in the field. By the time Tim took on the moniker, his mother had been killed and his father had been paralyzed in an attack. Many of Tim Drake’s comic book appearances show him trying to balance his crime-fighting career with his regular life, while maintaining his secret from his father and his girlfriends. Tim’s most frequent girlfriend in the comics is Stephanie Brown, also known as the superhero Spoiler and briefly the fourth Robin. Stephanie appeared in one episode of The CW’s Batwoman, played by Morgan Kohan. Crossover anyone?

Image via HBO Max

Tim not only grows into Batman’s tech-savviest Robin, but he later goes on to lead the Teen Titans and is a founding member of Young Justice. Tim was such a popular character that he headlined several mini-comic series, such as Robin (Volume 1) by Chuck Dixon, Tom Lyle and Bob Smith, before getting a solo ongoing comic series, Robin (Volume 2) which was initially written and illustrated by Chuck Dixon, Tom Grummett, Ray Kryssing and Adrienne Roy, and ran from 1993 to 2009. Tim has been the Robin to different versions of Batman, including Bruce Wayne, Jean-Paul Valley, and Dick Grayson.

Tim has undergone a few codename changes in the DC comics universe, especially after the introduction of Bruce Wayne’s biological son, Damian Wayne, who felt it was his birthright to be Robin. Tim became “Red Robin” after being ousted from his sidekick role. During The New 52 reboot, Tim’s backstory was retconned, and he had no connection to Haly’s Circus or Dick Grayson. He was still smart, a computer genius determined to find out Batman’s true identity. Tim continued being Red Robin in this comic run. In the Rebirth comics, Tim’s origin story was restored, and he reverted to being Robin. But then he was presumed dead before being discovered again (in actuality he was captured and imprisoned by Mister Oz/ Jor-El). In the Young Justice comics, he briefly renamed himself Drake. That was an unpopular choice for a superhero name, and Tim is now back to being Robin again.

Image via HBO Max

Tim is considered to have the best traits of all the Robins. Along with his intellect, deduction skills and computer abilities, Tim is also a skilled martial artist and fighter. He was the first Robin to employ a Bo staff as his trusty weapon. The same weapon has been adopted by Javicia Leslie’s Ryan Wilder on Batwoman and Dick Grayson’s Robin also used the staff on Titans. In fact, much of the first Robin’s costume on the show borrowed heavily from Tim Drake’s comic book look.

Traditionally, Tim Drake has always been drawn as a Caucasian character within the pages of the comics, but the Titans showrunners continue to expand representation on the show by selecting an actor of color to play the character. When Lycurgo finally gets in costume, he will be the first actor of color to play the superhero Robin in a live-action property.

So far, Titans has been faithful to the Robins’ origin stories, even if the origins have mostly taken place off-screen. It’s possible that the show will follow Tim’s comic book origin story closely, with Tim seeking to step into Robin’s shoes after deducing Batman and Robin’s true identities. In Season 3, Jason Todd is set to adopt his villainous alter-ego, Red Hood, while the first Robin, Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) is settling into his new role as Nightwing, and perhaps even considering taking on the mantle of Batman. Lycurgo is more than ready to step in as the Dark Knight’s brilliant new sidekick, Tim Drake.

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