Monday 20 October 2014

'Batman v Superman' Casts Jena Malone; Is She Robin?

(Tread carefully; there are MAJOR SPOILERS ahead!) This morning, a news report from Channel 10 WILX in East Lansing, Michigan, confirmed that a female Robin will be appearing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The news came from an extra who wished to remain anonymous. This matched up with earlier reports that actress Jena Malone had dyed her hair red to play Carrie Kelley, the Robin in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. Now The Hollywood Reporter is confirming that Jena Malone has indeed been cast in director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel follow-up. But is she playing Robin?
There is no confirmation from Warner Bros. or DC about this late addition to the cast, or which character she is actually playing. According to the Channel 10 news report, the character was added to the script late in the game during some last minute rewrites. Multiple sources confirm that Jena Malone is indeed part of the cast, but no one is confirming that she is playing Carrie Kelley just yet.
The actress was spotted a few weeks ago 'visiting' the set, setting off rumors that she had joined the cast. Shortly thereafter, she threw gas on the fire by revealing Instagram photos of herself with red hair. The report from earlier today described a scene at Lex Luthor's (Jesse Eisenberg) house, where the super villain gets in a physical altercation with Bruce Wayne. The military is called into break it up, but there is no mention of Bruce wearing his Batman costume during this intense moment in the film. There is also no mention of Robin or Jena Malone being a part of this scene as it was filmed.
In all likelihood, there is a female Robin in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as the director and Ben Affleck have both said on numerous occasions that the script is pulling elements directly from Frank Miller's work. Will it be Carrie Kelly, the young schoolgirl a grizzled and weary Batman saves on his first night out of retirement? We just don't know! And it could remain a mystery for sometime.
At one point, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was rumored to include Nightwing. Many thought Adam Driver was up for the role, but he took Star Wars: Episode VII instead. One version of the script was rumored to show Batman visiting a Robin shrine that he keeps hidden away in the Batcave. Its possible that Nightwing was written out of the script, and Carrie Kelly added later.
Like The Dark Knight Rises, it's believed that Robin's identity is supposed to come as a surprise to the audience, as it did with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character. You can see the photos Jena Malone released on her Instagram here, where she shows off her Carrie Kelley hairdo:

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