DC Confirms That Batman’s New Robin is Basically Joker’s Son

Following a few abrupt teases of Dick Grayson as a mild-mannered EMT in Gotham City and Harley Quinn leading the Red Hood gang as an ally of Bruce Wayne, it is obvious that the ongoing Absolute Batman series was always barreling toward the debut of a Robin. Now, as the comic book run prepares to introduce a phenomenally harrowing redesign of Dr. Jonathan Crane’s Scarecrow, so too is it approaching the reveal of multiple Robins (which iterations they will be, however, is still a mystery).

Discussed during an interview at La Mole Convention 2026 in Mexico City between Kristoff Kirchoff and Scott Snyder, shared on Instagram, Scott Snyder shed some light on what kind of relationship Batman and Robin might have, specifically as it pertains to Joseph “Jack” Grimm V’s Joker and the Absolute continuity’s original narrative. Considering how backwards this universe has been compared to Earth-0, it may not come as a complete surprise to readers.

Absolute Batman’s Robin is a Twisted Reflection

The solicitation for Absolute Batman #19 reveals that “there’s more than one alliance formed in this issue,” and the variant cover illustrated by Nick Dragotta implies that we will learn about Joker and the Robins’ relationships as soon as April 15, when the issue is released. We already knew that at least one Robin would be nesting under Joker’s wing, but this interview with Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder explains precisely what that will look like regarding how Joker and the Robins will operate, forming their own ‘Bat-family’ of sorts:

“Ultimately, Batman in this series is disruption; he’s chaos. And so, that means that Joker—again, not giving too much away—but anyone who’s Robin probably thinks that Joker is a really good guy, like everybody else in the city. Everyone thinks Joker is like Bruce Wayne. In the main universe, they think he’s like a philanthropist billionaire who’s kind to everybody. And so, he might’ve raised somebody that will think, with all their heart, that [Joker’s] a good person. But he’s not a good person

.”

DC’s Absolute Universe is Topsy-Turvy

As Scott Snyder states, “part of the fun of Absolute is to invert the things that the main universe sort of relies on.” Therefore, it is not incredibly absurd or unexpected that Joker is the character who has a blush of Robins.

Plus, in DC’s Absolute canon, some of Batman’s closest companions are characters who would be better known as Killer Croc, Penguin, Two-Face, and Riddler in the main comic book continuity. Some traditional relationships do persist, though, including Batman’s alliance with the Gordons, and thus it is impossible to truly predict what course will be taken with any given character.

For Absolute Batman to shadow-drop a round of Robins on Batman would be quite thrilling, especially if they are all a reflection of various Robin incarnations from Prime Earth. As it stands, we will likely get a small tease of Robin(s) in Absolute Batman #19, whereas more or all of them “enter the scene ready to hunt” in Absolute Batman #20, as per the May 2026 issue’s solicit.