Mason Thames Is Officially Robin: DC Studios Locks In Its Dick Grayson
DC Studios has spent the past few weeks assembling the voice cast for one of its most unusual projects, an animated look at Batman’s first two sidekicks. ‘Dynamic Duo‘ flips the usual superhero formula by putting Dick Grayson and Jason Todd at the center instead of the Dark Knight himself. Now the studio has made the biggest casting call official.
The film is a joint effort between Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, DC Studios, Matt Reeves’ production company 6th & Idaho and the New Orleans studio Swaybox. It blends puppetry and animation, and it is directed by Arthur Mintz from a script by Matthew Aldrich, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. James Gunn and Peter Safran are among the producers.
The news first surfaced in late September, when a report said ‘The Black Phone’ and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ star Mason Thames had landed the part. TheWrap and Deadline later backed it up, and Thames appeared to acknowledge it by sharing Nightwing comics and DC Studios merchandise on his Instagram story. At the time, DC had not formally confirmed the casting.
That has now changed. DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO Peter Safran confirmed to Collider that Thames will voice Dick Grayson, the original Robin. Safran said the studio often talks about wanting volunteers rather than recruits, and that Thames had long dreamed of playing the character.
Safran also described Thames’ audition in glowing terms, saying the young actor came in and delivered an outstanding performance. It is a notable endorsement for a 19-year-old who is already tied to two major franchises. It also fits a pattern of DC leadership emphasizing fans-turned-collaborators.
Thames is joined by Logan Kim, who voices Jason Todd, the second Robin who later becomes Red Hood in the comics. Lee Pace and Steve Buscemi are also on board, voicing the characters billed as Red Hood One and Red Hood Two. Those roles place the two veteran actors as the leaders of the criminal Red Hood Gang.
The story takes a different route from comic canon. Dick and Jason are portrayed as orphans and childhood friends, and their bond is tested when Bruce Wayne takes Dick in while Jason becomes entangled with the gang. According to the official description, their friendship is strained by competing visions of the future, out of which a new Dynamic Duo emerges.
Another notable detail is how the film treats its famous title. In most Batman stories, the phrase refers to Batman and Robin, but here it describes two street kids who first name themselves the dynamic duo. Batman is expected to play a supporting role rather than headline the picture.
‘Dynamic Duo’ now arrives in theaters on Sept. 22, 2028, after Warner Bros. moved it from its earlier June 30 slot. That makes it DC Studios’ second Batman-focused theatrical release of that year, coming roughly 4 months after Reeves’ ‘The Batman – Part II’. The shift also steers it away from a crowded summer weekend that included Paramount’s ‘Call of Duty’ adaptation.
Where the film sits in continuity remains an open question. Gunn has said it could potentially fit within the wider DC Universe, while acknowledging that its distinct story may place it elsewhere. TheWrap notes that if it were treated as an Elseworlds project, Thames’ and Kim’s characters would exist outside the main continuity.
Thames’ Nightwing-themed Instagram post has understandably fueled speculation about a future live-action role. Still, coverage has been careful to point out that DC Studios has not announced him as the live-action Dick Grayson. For now, his confirmed role is limited to voicing a young Robin in this animated feature.
Thames has built momentum quickly, from horror breakout to the lead in the live-action remake of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, and he is slated to return for its sequel. Voicing a beloved DC hero adds a very different kind of role to his résumé. It also puts him at the center of a film that DC is positioning as a family-friendly, visually distinctive Batman-universe story.
The ensemble around him gives the movie further weight. Pairing a rising young star with Pace and Buscemi suggests DC is aiming for a mix of heart and menace, which could help the film stand apart from the live-action slate. Mintz’s puppetry-driven style should also give it a look unlike any other superhero release.
With the Robin question now settled, attention turns to who will voice Batman and how much of the Dark Knight audiences will actually see. Until then, the strong pairing of Thames and Kim gives ‘Dynamic Duo’ a promising foundation, and the long wait until 2028 has at least a little more to look forward to.
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