Jason Todd is one of the most important characters in the Batman mythos. The second Robin, Jason originally replaced Dick Grayson after he was shot in a confrontation with The Joker. Nightwing: Year One recontextualized Jason’s origin so Dick was fired due to his Teen Titans obligations, but the fact of the matter is that Dick’s departure as Robin always leads to Jason Todd becoming the Boy Wonder.

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Alongside Robin’s first replacement, Jason Todd tragically was the first member of the Bat Family to lose their life. Jason’s death at the hand of The Joker fundamentally reshaped Bruce Wayne, but with time Batman was able to overcome this death in the family. Until Under the Red Hood, that is. The storyline that reintroduced Jason Todd back into the Batman canon, Under the Red Hood is a crucial turning point for Bruce in the comics & movie.

10 Comic: Fixes Hush

Jason Todd Robin Jim Lee Hush

Hush is one of the best introductions to Batman’s comic career that readers could ask for. There’s a revolving door of the Caped Crusader’s most iconic villains, plenty of character work that makes Bruce’s relationship to the rest of the Bat Family clear, and the story is intimately told while offering Bruce a truly chilling foil in the form of Tommy Elliot– AKA Hush.

That said, Hush does have one glaring narrative flaw: Jason Todd’s brief appearance. In the context of the book itself, Jason is revealed to have been Clayface all along, a twist that serves to diminish an otherwise emotional reunion between Bruce and Jason. Under the Red Hood’s comic fixes this misstep by clarifying that Jason only swapped places with Clayface after the fact.

9 Movie: Ignores Hush

Under the Red Hood, Jason Todd smiling

On the flip side, the film makes the intelligent move of just ignoring Hush altogether. Under the Red Hood’s original comic storyline was published after Hush and clearly needed to address the fact that Jason Todd– whose revival was teased and slapped down– was now actually alive.

As Hush hadn’t been adapted into a film yet, Under the Red Hood’s could comfortably ignore everything established in said arc. Without Hush’s baggage looming over the plot, the film doesn’t have to deal with the fact that Bruce and Jason have already reunited in this continuity. Instead, Bruce can have all the emotional impact of the Jason reveal from Hush without any of the whiplash of Clayface or recontextualization of UtRH’s comic counterpart.

8 Comic: Dense Storytelling

Under the Hood Batman

The average Batman story arc tends to only last half a year or so, with some of the best capping in at around five issues. This isn’t the case for Under the Hood which lasted for over a year, featured multiple intertwining arcs, and frankly covered more ground than its animated adaptation– Under the Red Hood.

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Beyond featuring a wider supporting cast with more for them to do, Under the Hood touches upon decades of Batman continuity with more clarity than the movie. Its connection to Hush and other story arcs also helps in making the comic version feel like a plot years in the making.

7 Movie: Brisk Pacing

The downside to Under the Hood’s narrative density is that not every moment feels equally impactful in the grand scheme of things. The end result is a comic that gives weight to everything, even at the expense of its pacing. This isn’t the case with the movie, where the story moves much faster.

It’s not that Under the Red Hood doesn’t let its best moments breathe– it very much does– it’s that the film trims away the fat from the comic. As a movie, UtRH can’t expect audiences to come in with a comic book frame of reference. The film adapts its own version of A Death in the Family, cuts the fluff, and rearranges key scenes to craft a much tighter story.

6 Comic: Black Mask

Gotham City's new crime lord

Black Mask is a key player in both versions of Under the Red Hood, and while he’s adapted perfectly fine in the movie, he’s simply given more to do in the comic that’s actually substantial. Not only is his street rivalry with the Red Hood given more focus, Black Mask isn’t beholden to being so PG-13, so to speak.

He’s a violent, dangerous villain and his battle for control against the Red Hood is what ends up setting the stage for the arc’s finale. This is the case for the film, as well, but Black Mask’s role fades out with less grace in UtRH.

5 Movie: Better Action

Batman and Red Hood fighting in the rain in Batman: Under The Red Hood

The action in Batman comics can be hit or miss, especially these days. There’s an emphasis on playing up cinematic angles without much consideration for fight flow or fight narrative. The average Batman fight scene does not play to its medium. Under the Red Hood, however, does and features outstanding animated action from start to finish.

Fight choreography is fast paced while accurate to the comics, often elevating the best panels from Under the Hood outright. Fight direction is fantastic, Jason & Bruce’s team-up has a clearer arc in the movie, and the final battle outdoes its comic counterpart on virtually every front.

4 Comic: Bruce Wayne Loses Everything

One of the best aspects of Under the Hood is that it’s building upon over 600 issues of Batman history. It’s also just a consequential arc, featuring Bruce Wayne’s mistakes coming back to haunt him. His neglect of Wayne Enterprises results in him losing access to all his Batman tech while Jason Todd’s return symbolizes Batman’s greatest failure in the flesh.

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The bomb Jason Todd drops on Bludhaven at the end of the story is just insult to injury, taunting Bruce with the idea that Dick Grayson may have just been killed. Bruce doesn’t even get to reconcile with Jason, as the Joker attempts to blow them all up together. Bruce can’t win them all.

3 Movie: Jason’s Resurrection

Under the Red Hood, Jason Todd in Lazarus Pit

Jason Todd’s resurrection in Under the Hood is more than anything commentary on the nature of comic book characters coming back to life. So often characters die and return with little to no consequence to the world or themselves. Jason is that idea perverted, a former Robin losing all their innocence in death.

But it’s also tied to Superboy Prime in a context that murders the comic’s pacing right at the finish line. Jason’s revival is handled far more elegantly from a narrative perspective in the movie, where a Lazarus Pit is used to revive the boy shortly after the events of A Death in the Family.

2 Comic: Grand Finale Before Infinite Crisis

Superboy Prime’s sudden appearance at the very end of Under the Hood is a suckerpunch unlike any other. In an otherwise grounded, intimate, and emotional Batman story, the entire DC universe is suddenly reshaping itself. Which is the exact reason the comic can get away with pushing the Batman mythos so far.

Jason Todd is back to life, Bruce Wayne is technologically stunted, Batman’s greatest foes now have access to his tech, and Gotham’s crime syndicate is systematically wiped out over the course of the story. Under the Hood is a grand finale for a long gone era of Batman.

1 Movie: The Ending

Jason Todd as Robin

The big downside to Under the Hood tying into Infinite Crisis is that it doesn’t end. There’s no real resolution to Jason Todd’s return or the cliffhanger ending triggered by The Joker. The film chooses to end on a somber note, taking an earlier Robin flashback from the comics and making it Under the Red Hood’s ending.

Bruce and Jason are Batman and Robin for the first time, working together in tandem. It’s a sad scene that highlights the genuine love Bruce held for Jason, but the ending hits hardest as Jason states that this is the “best day of his life.”

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