Nightwing Comic Writer On What He Wants in the Film

A Nightwing movie to be directed by Chris McKay has been announced, but comic writer Tim Seeley has his own ideas for the film. While there hasn't been any information available beyond that, it hasn't stopped people from discussing the various directions the movie could take. It looks like even current Nightwing comic book writer has given it a lot of thought, claiming that he would make the film based on the Raptor storyline, as seen in the first six issues of Nightwing.

The DCEU is still in a development phase. Following the critical failures of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, many wrote this universe off - despite both films being financially successful. But just as people were turning their heads away, Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman dominated the global box office for weeks and was a hit amongst critics. At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con in July, Warner Bros. confirmed or announced eight new films, including The Batman, Shazam, Suicide Squad 2, Wonder Woman 2, The Flash: Flashpoint, Justice League Dark, Batgirl, and Green Lantern Corps.

Related: Nightwing Director Praises WB’s DCEU Model

Interestingly enough, there was no mention of a Nightwing movie at SDCC 2017, despite it being in development (director Chris McKay did later clarify that the movie is still in the works). Whether it's concerning casting - Armie Hammer's name has popped up on numerous occasions - or predicting when exactly the character will be making his first appearance - many say in Justice League this November - or discussing the various comic book storylines potential filmmakers can adapt, people simply love talking about Nightwing. The same goes for Nightwing comic book scribe, Tim Seeley. In an interview with ComicBook.com, Seeley provides his thoughts on the direction a Nightwing movie could take.

I have it in my head actually. I would do a very similar thing to what we did in the first six issues of Nightwing — the Raptor story. If the story is going to have to be about a guy who was trained by Batman going off to fight on his own, then having him fight a guy who wants to be his new mentor and changes, I think that’s the perfect story for it. I think the first act is, he’s dealing with a villain — it could be the Court of Owls or something but it could be anything else. The threat is a threat that affects Batman and the family, because you want to have some relationship with that, then he gets corrupted, and has to fight Raptor. I think that’s your three-act movie.

Besides Raptor, Seeley also thinks that Deathstroke could be an interesting villain for Nightwing to go up against. He said, "I think you could do a very similar storyline with Deathstroke if you wanted to — although the hard thing about Deathstroke is that he’s an assassin so believing that Dick would follow him is tough." However, Seeley goes on to reiterate that ultimately, Raptor would be the best storyline to launch a Nightwing movie.

I think making it Raptor and having him be somehow attached to Dick’s past, to his mother, I think that’s how you do superhero movies. I think it would work pretty well.

Although a Nightwing movie is in the works as part of the DCEU, it remains to be seen what it will involve and whether McKay will tackle the Raptor storyline. While it's always fun to speculate, perhaps it's best to take things one step at a time, especially considering DCEU's track record. If the "collaborative" effort between Joss Whedon and Zack Snyder works out and Justice League turns out to be great, then we can confidently look to seeing more DC Comics characters come to life in the DCEU.