[quote=@AndyC]
Y'know, in theory, the idea of Dick Grayson being a young prodigy cop who's more Jim Gordon's protégé instead of Batman's could have worked, especially since the Nolanverse prided itself on being 'realistic' (made-up superweapons and ancient ninja cults notwithstanding).  But that would have required Nolan and company to not treat the character like they resented his very existence.
[/quote]

There's always been a weird stigma with Robin that I've never understood. People act as though the minute that he was introduced in the comics, Batman was ruined and "the darkness" was gone forever. Despite the fact that Robin was introduced about a year after Batman was, being one of the earliest parts of the mythology to remain. 

I guess it's just because he's a kid, and nobody buys into a grown man throwing a kid out there into an open battlefield, which I guess is an acceptable caveat - if this weren't [i]fantasy[/i] and absolutely nobody lapped up every single scene of the character of Hit-Girl whenever the first Kick-Ass movie came out. There's a strange idea that because Robin is bright and colorful, he fucks with Batman's goals of scaring people and being a brooding vigilante and always being a loner who can do it all by himself, despite Alfred, Gordon, and all the other supporting cast. When infact, the opposite is true. 

Bruce has been rendered to be [i]so[/i] far on the edge of slipping from being able to hold up his morality above all else that he needs someone there to hold him back, and remind him that what he does needs to be done for the sake of heroism, not personal vengeance or hatred of the criminal element. Giving him a surrogate son who doesn't give a crap about being one with the shadows and being spooky adds alot more to Batman's character than just having him be out there by himself because Bruce not only tolerates it, but leans on it as an acceptable caveat to just going nuts and snapping the necks of every criminal he comes into contact with. 

Which is why I'm looking forward to building to UOU's version of Robin, because my Batman is very intentionally being written to show why Bruce without the sidekicks ever being a factor doesn't quite work as well as some might think.