WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for Nightwing #121!

Batman. However, the question remains: will Dick Grayson’s new approach to heroism see him sur the Dark Knight, or will it result in a fall from grace?

Dan Watters and Dexter Soy’s takeover of the Nightwing run from Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo has ushered in a new era for the Original Boy Wonder, introducing not only fresh villains and challenges but also significant changes to Dick’s crime-fighting tactics—changes both he and Batgirl it Batman would disapprove of.

These shifts first became apparent in issue #119, the debut of Watters and Soy’s run, and their latest release, issue #121, further cements that Dick has little regard left for Bruce’s methodology and code. As he collaborates with Blüdhaven’s gangs, seemingly strikes deals with supervillains, and abandons some of the Dark Knight’s hard-won lessons, it’s clear Nightwing is carving his own path.

Nightwing Ditches Batman’s ULTIMATE Crime-Fighting Tactic

Even Batgirl Barbara Gordon Acknowledges Nightwing Is Evolving as a Hero

Nightwing #121 follows Dick’s somewhat botched break-in at Spheric Solutions, a weapon manufacturing company run by CEO Olivia Pearce. The company specializes in creating weapons designed to kill superheroes and has recently militarized Blüdhaven’s police force. In this issue, Dick shifts his approach, opting to gather information not through his Nightwing persona, but as billionaire Dick Grayson. He offers to invest in Pearce’s company, going a step further by requesting a seat on the company’s board—a risky move, considering he’d be funding the very weapons targeting his own community: the superhero community.

However, it’s later revealed that Dick’s meeting with Pearce and his offer were simply a ruse to get close enough to her personal hard drive to make a clone of it. While the drive will be encrypted, Dick points out that Barbara Gordon is more than capable of cracking it. This clever, sneaky strategy highlights how much Nightwing is straying from Batman’s usual methods, as upon learning of Dick’s accomplishment, Barbara is impressed with his subtle intelligence gathering, noting how he would have once crashed through her window and made threats to get the information he needed.

In response to Barbara’s comment, Dick points out that after plenty of beatdowns, he’s learned that “intimidation” isn’t a catch-all solution for crime-fighting. While Batman isn’t directly mentioned, the use of the word ‘intimidation’—bolded for emphasis—feels like a pointed reference to the Dark Knight, who often relies on intimidation as a primary tactic. Dick’s declaration that intimidation isn’t always the answer underscores his deliberate departure from the tactics he learned from Batman, as Bruce likely would have used intimidation to get answers from Pearce.

Nightwing Is Taking Red Hood’s Crime-Fighting Tactics to a New Level

Nightwing Isn’t Just Making Deals With Bludhaven’s Gangs He’s Helping Them

Dick forgoing intimidation in favor of a more subtle approach isn’t the only way Watters and Soy’s run has shown the Original Boy Wonder evolving as a hero. In Nightwing #119, Dick faces a three-front war of escalating gang tensions, a militarized police force, and Spheric Solutions. In an effort to avoid bloodshed, Nightwing strikes a deal with each of the gangs: he won’t arrest them as long as they refrain from fighting each other and instead call on him if there’s a problem. Dick’s choice to broker deals to control crime rather than directly stop it feels reminiscent of Judd Winick’s Red Hood era, and both Dick and Barbara agree that Batman would disapprove of this approach.

Issue #121 takes Nightwing’s relationship with the gangs even further, as he confronts them after a misunderstanding. During this conversation, Dick gains a new perspective and empathy for the gangs. When a Blüdhaven police raid interrupts them, Dick helps the gang avoid arrest and actively fights against the BPD. This shift—Nightwing opposing local law enforcement and now assisting Blüdhaven’s gangs—marks a major evolution in his heroism and highlights a change in tactics that sharply contrasts with Batman’s methods. The question now is whether Nightwing’s new approach will lead him to sur Batman, or if it will result in a fall from grace.

Nightwing #121 is available now from DC Comics!