DC’s Answer To Into The Spider-Verse Features Two Fan-Favorite Sidekicks

By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 8 seconds ago

When Into the Spider-Verse came out, it was an absolute game-changer. The movie helped make beloved comic hero Miles Morales into a household name, all while unveiling some absolutely revolutionary animation. It felt a little surreal that such a great movie came from Sony, whose more recent Marvel projects had been completely embarrassing. The success of Spider-Verse also made Warner Bros. look like they were standing still. WB used to be the king of animation, rivaled only by Disney. However, under the disastrous leadership of David Zaslav, the company became infamous for killing off high-profile animated projects. For a long time, it seemed like we’d never get DC’s answer to Into the Spider-Verse.

Now, however, that’s finally changing. DC has revealed some juicy new details about Dynamic Duoa movie that, like Into the Spider-Versewill focus on two protagonists. Those protagonists are actually Dick Grayson, Batman’s original Robin, and Jason Todd, the darker sidekick who eventually took over. Additionally, the movie is being made using a pioneering animation style that may rival anything Sony has put out. Throw in the fact that it’s being produced by James Gunn and Matt Reeves, and Dynamic Duo is on track to be one of this year’s most exciting films.

A Very Different Origin Story

At the recent Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Warner Bros. revealed the first plot details for Dynamic Duo. Given the name, most fans initially assumed that the movie would revolve around Batman and Robin. In a twist, however, it focuses on two Robins. In this movie, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd start as a pair of street rats; they are close friends and name themselves “The Dynamic Duo.” Everything changes when Batman grows up and recruits Grayson to be his new sidekick. Todd, meanwhile, goes a much darker path and joins the Red Hood Gang.

This is very different from their comic origins. In the comics, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd were both taken in by Batman and trained to be Robin, just at different time periods. Later, Todd was killed by the Joker but was revived by some cosmic shenanigans and healed in one of Ras al Ghul’s Lazarus pits. Eventually, he appeared in the Red Hood persona as a murderous bad guy, but in a later continuity, he became more of a rough-around-the-edges vigilante. He’s still part of the Bat-family, as is Grayson, who went on to become his own hero: Nightwing.

A Bold New Animation Style

At first glance, the weirdest thing about Dynamic Duo is its animation style. The movie is being created by Swaybox using their “Momo animation” style, which combines puppets and stop-motion with live-action and CGI. When I first read this, my brain really seized on the words “puppets” and “stop-motion.” I had visions in my head of the next big DC movie looking like Thunderbirdsand I feared it would look absolutely awful.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I found the video above, which shows Swaybox recreating scenes from The Iron Giant in their signature style. As you can see, the animation is very immersive, bringing these puppets to life in new and exciting ways. While footage of Dynamic Duo has (as of this writing) only been shown at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, we hope the powers that be will release it online soon. It’s really awesome to imagine Batman and Robin being animated in this style. Plus, that video above is from 2017; nearly a decade later, there’s every reason to believe Swaybox has only gotten better at what they do.

Warner Bros. clearly has plenty of confidence in Dynamic Duo. The movie is being directed by Swaybox co-CEO Arthur Mintz, who previously worked on the Emmy-winning Netflix series Lost Ollie. It’s also being produced by DC Studios CEO James Gunn and The Batman director Matt Reeves. Sadly, the film won’t hit theaters until June 30th, 2028, meaning we’ll have to wait over two years to see DC’s answer to Into the Spider-Verse. Based on everything we’ve seen and heard about the film, though, that wait will be well worth it!