SPOILER WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman Beyond #25 by Dan Jurgens, Cully Hamner, Marco Santucci, Travis Lanham and Val Staples.
In the Batman Beyond mythos, one character whose true fate has remained vague is none other than Dick Grayson, the first Robin who went on to become Nightwing, protector of Blüdhaven. Over the course of this franchise, we got deep insight into Tim Drake (who was turned into Joker in Return of the Joker), hints of Jason Todd dying at the hands of the Clown Prince of Crime, as well as the revelation that Damian Wayne succeeded Ra's al Ghul as the Demon's Head.
But when it comes to Dick, well, the resetting of the timeline thanks to the Futures End event has left things rather muddied. In Batman Beyond #25, though, we're finally given a clear picture as to his fate, and more so, his relationship withthe ever-growing Bat-family.
RELATED: Batman Beyond Just Revealed His Identity to His Neo-Gotham ‘Catwoman’
In the Beyond Universe, we first found out that the Dick who was alive -- a bitter soldier with one eye and a patch a la Marvel's Nick Fury -- was a clone, thanks to Amanda Waller's attempts at creating another Batman. This was exposed thanks to the villain Hush, who tried to ruin Bruce and Dick's legacy. Of course, a more controversial arc emerged when it was revealed Dick left Gotham after learning Bruce and Barbara got into a relationship, which ended with a miscarriage. As you'd expect, there was no coming back for him from that point.
However, in the wake of Futures End, DC clearly wants to make Dick an important member of Terry McGinnis' life, taking influence from the non-canon Beyond comics released in 2013 which had Terry working for Dick in order to learn more about Bruce. But it's not just about the relationship with Terry; DC wants to mend Dick's bond with Bruce, too, and in Issue #25, we see this has happened with Dick taking his philanthropy to the next level as the mayor of Blüdhaven.
RELATED: After Affleck: A Batman Beyond Film Would Save The DCEU
Dick wanted change, and seeing how the entire Wayne legacy was to rebuild Gotham, he was inspired to save the place he grew to call home, not from the shadows, but in the light, using technology to make it the next Metropolis or Neo-Gotham. As he tells his daughter Elainna, Bruce's influence in the boardroom taught him the world could be rescued without donning a crimefighting costume. We also learn he couldn't keep fighting homicidal tyrants because he didn't want to get lost in the darkness, obsessed like Bruce was with the likes of the maniacal Joker.
That said, there are some mysteries still lingering. It isn't revealed who Elainna's mother is, but it's clear her father's doing the right thing, coming off level-headed and responsible. We get the impression he's not repeating the mistakes Bruce made -- not with any of the Robins, or his son, Damian. Elainna's mom doesn't seem to be Barbara, as she never mentioned the Graysons since Futures End, instead opting to focus on her job as Neo-Gotham's Commissioner. Admittedly, there are subtle hints dropped that Dick is still a bit jealous over something that happened between her and Bruce, so we should probably expect that scab to be picked at in the months ahead.
RELATED: DC’s Solicits Reveal First Look at Batman Beyond’s Joker
Nonetheless, it's great to see the symbol Dick has become for Blüdhaven, the city he decided to patrol in 1996 when DC decided he needed to mature there as part of his journey in breaking away from the Dark Knight's shadow. Since then, he's become synonymous with the city, and with it transforming into his own Gotham, it just feels right he'd want the city to evolve from a political and business perspective, cleaning it up with diplomacy instead of vigilantism.