Nightwing (Dick Grayson) is, without doubt, one of the most popular Batman characters of all time as well as one of Nightwing became a major event in the mythology that has been translated to screen. Whether it’s live-action or animation, the story of Dick leaving his Robin title behind to become his own hero, is iconic. His journey from Robin to Nightwing has also been a focal point in the Teen Titans mythology as well. One of the most beloved aspects of Nightwing has and always will be his iconic costume.
As Dick Grayson has been portrayed on-screen several times for more than 15 years now, the costume has been adapted in various forms. Most have been in animation form while recently adapting it in live-action. Either way, Nightwing has appeared in so many places and that’s why it’s time to rank his 10 best-designed costumes in TV and film.
Batman & Robin
This is a bit of a cheat as Chris O’Donnell never technically became Nightwing during his time as Dick Grayson. But Batman & Robin did, however, sort of plant a bit of Nightwing in his costume.
Whether it was intentional or not, the suit is designed with the Nightwing symbol in all red. Despite the unnecessary insistence on including Rob-nipples, if you ditch the cape and dye the symbol blue, O’Donnell was practically suited up as Nightwing.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Nightwing fans got to see a very different version of the iconic costume. In this incarnation, Dick actually sports the disco suit version of the Nightwing suit that he had in the comics.
Many of the younger audience was probably thrown off by what he was wearing. For the older viewers, it was probably something they, happily, recognized, as it’s one of Dick’s more discussed costumes of all time.
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract
In the current DCAU movies, Dick (Sean Maher) has had a few Nightwing costumes in the films that he has appeared in. In Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Dick goes with the New 52 version that ditches the blue color and replaces it with red on his logo.
Even though the red suit will never sur his traditional color schemes, it is still one of the better versions to have appeared in media.
Teen Titans
During the original Teen Titans cartoon, Nightwing’s costume makes an appearance. During an episode titled “How Long is Forever”, the story takes place in the future where fans get to see Robin now as Nightwing.
The biggest aspect of the costume is how big they went with the Nightwing logo. In addition to that, Nightwing having long hair is one of few times in animation where he has had that.
The Batman
Nightwing shows up in The Batman TV series where he was voiced by Jerry O’Connell in two episodes. The animation style, the suit looks solid with the logo embracing more of its bird-aspect.
The mask also has a more blue tone compared to other media versions is also something that stands out.
Batman: Under the Red Hood
In Batman: Under the Red Hood, Neil Patrick Harris voices Nightwing who plays a ing role throughout the film. This is one of the instances where the animators decided to really make sure the blue popped as much as the black bodysuit.
The blue gauntlets are what also helps the blue color scheme to truly pop on screen.
Young Justice
Even though fans never got to see the actual transition from Robin to Nightwing on Young Justice, this version of Dick is still one of the best ones out there. That can also be said for his costume. In this version, however, it has more of a subtle look where the blue is minimized compared to other incarnations.
Other than a smaller version of the blue logo, it’s mostly a black bodysuit that Dick goes with. Perhaps future seasons of the show will evolve his suit, but it’s still one of the better versions out in animation.
Batman: Hush
Eventually, the Nightwing in the DCAU films finally landed on the perfect costume. He finally ditches the red logo in Batman: Hush that sees Dick back in the blue-and-black with the logo now spread more across his chest.
This should remain his permanent look in DCAU movies going forward.
The New Batman Adventures
Out of all the animated shows that Nightwing has been part of, it will always be The New Batman Adventures that takes the cake. This is also where non-comic fans really got to learn about Dick’s evolution into Nightwing after he left his life as Robin behind. To this day, seeing Dick (Loren Lester) with the long hair and the iconic Nightwing logo across his chest is still really iconic.
But it’s also Dick’s return to the Bat-family that becomes one of the biggest moments in the entire series. In addition to that, who could ever forget the part of his costume that was almost like wings for him whenever he would “fly.”
Titans
Even though O’Donnell may have worn a Nightwing-Esque suit as Robin, Brenton Thwaites officially becomes the first actor in history to wear the costume in live-action. In Titans, the story focuses heavily on Dick trying to leave his life as Robin behind and stepping out of Batman’s shadow once and for all. While it took two seasons to get there, the wait for the costume reveal was 100% worth it.
It’s not only the best costume on the show, but one of the best DC TV costumes of all time. Structured as a body-armor suit, the design is phenomenal and really takes advantage of letting the blue logo be spotlighted across his chest and down the arms as several comic versions have. Even though it was a long wait, this is the best designed Nightwing costume and we can’t wait to see more of it on the show next season.