What is there to say about Jason Todd. He was the second Robin (wonderful teenaged sidekick to Batman). He was killed by the Joker. He was brought back to life. He's been through more than most comic book characters. Something else that could be said is that he's miswritten, overused, redundant, and his full potential has yet to be shown to us as fans of the comic books. Jason Todd's story is ripe with seeds that simply need to be watered.
So what are these seeds and how should they be watered? There are three simple things. How he left, how he returned, and what he did once he got back. Each of these have enough potential to fill their own film. These subjects should not all have their own film devoted to them, but it is great that there is enough potential within them to do so. This gives the people who are tasked with working on the next Batman film (*cough*christerrioandbenaffleck*cough*) great opportunities, and even anyone else who gets to use Batman in their film (*cough*davidayer*cough*zacksnyder*cough*). The first seed, how he left, is arguably the most important. Without it, none of the other seeds would happen anyway. It's crucial to get this right, and set it up well in the DC Cinematic Universe.
Jason is definitely known best for being the Robin that got killed. Batman's greatest failure. The thing is, most mainstream audiences have NEVER been exposed to this character. They amalgamated him with Tim Drake in Batman: The New Adventures. In Young Justice they completely skipped over him, besides a memorial. None of the other Batman shows or movies have included him, except for Batman: Under the Red Hood, one of the many direct to DVD animated features WB/DC released. The audiences have never experienced this story. They know Robin, but probably didn't know there have been more than one, let alone that the second one died! Hit them hard with this. Beat them over the head (I love dark humor) with the death of Batman's partner. Have it shock them that he's dead. How to do this, well there's on small thing standing in the way.
(click the image above to see how Under the Red Hood handled the classically horrifying death scene)
In the Death in the Family storyline Jason is blown up by Joker, after being beaten by him. The story prior to that event is....interesting to say the least. Jason travels to the middle east to find his biological mother while Joker is in the same place trying to hijack a nuclear bomb. So Batman follows Jason to get him back and stop the Joker. Long story short, Joker happens to know Jason's mother. He also has dirt on said mother, blackmailing her to hand her own son over to him. Afterwards Joker beats the shiz out of Jason and blows him and his mom up.
The story isn't that good and wouldn't work in a Batman film. The New 52 slightly tweaked the origin, but it still wouldn't work well in the DC Cinematic Universe. The best way to adapt Jason's death is to leave out all of the things in the story in relation to Jason's mother. This is simply because it would require a substantial amount of time to be focused on in the movie. There's no need to add an extra sub-plot just to set up his death when it could be done in a much more efficient way.
Leading up to his death, Jason had become cockier, more impulsive, and disobedient to Batman. After hearing Bruce talking with Alfred about telling Jason to take a "break" Jason gets angry and leaves. That's where the story changes. Jason goes out in to the Gotham streets to prove to Bruce that he's good at what he does and that he doesn't need to take a break. This is when he's lured in to the Joker and Harley Quinn's trap and kidnapped. He awakes tied up in a warehouse with the Joker and Harley. Joker beats Jason (Harley either finding this hilarious or eventually telling the Joker to stop) and leaves him for dead. Jason tries to escape, but to no avail. He's blown up as soon as Batman pulls up to the warehouse. This event is the first domino to fall, setting off a chain of events that not even the world's GREATEST detective saw coming.
Jason Todd is dead. Imagine what that does to Batman, Alfred, and anyone else who is a part of the Bat family at the time. Batman is sent in to a downward spiral after Jason's death. He blames himself for it. Not only did Bruce place him in this life, but when Jason needed him most he wasn't there. Batman would never want a partner again. While he acts like it's a logistical decision, inside he actually doesn't want a partner because he doesn't want to fail anyone else. This haunts him for years after Jason's death. This is where Zack Snyder comes in. He's tasked with showing this beaten and bruised Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman becomes much more ruthless after Jason's murder and Superman should be the one to balance him out a little more by the end of Dawn of Justice. It does not need to be explicitly flash backed to and stated in the film, but references and hints are all that is needed.
Batman is angry at himself, the world, and the Joker. This is where David Ayer comes in. We've all seen the video of Batman chasing Joker and Harley Quinn while in they're both in their respective mobiles and of Batman riding on top of the Jokermobile. It's rumored that Batman is chasing Joker out of rage because of Joker's previous action, killing Jason Todd! This goes along with the rumor that this scene is a flashback or takes place prior to the the majority of Suicide Squad. So how would this rumor connect with the overall story of Jason Todd? Joker kills Jason Todd. Batman shows up at the scene late and, filled with anger, chases the Joker and Harley. He detains Joker, beats him senseless, and hands him and Harley over to the police. This is where Joker gets his dead robin tattoo and where Amanda Waller eventually finds them to use for her benefit in Suicide Squad. During SS, Batman visits Amanda and tells him that he doesn't approve of the idea. He says that he'll blame her for anyone who dies because of the Joker or any of the Squad members. This is where we see a flashback to the chase scene, but not to Jason Todd's death. We're saving that very important scene for the Batman solo film where the second seed is introduced. His return.
Jason's return would definitely not go down the way it did in the comics. Jason came back to life do to a punch from Super-Boy Prime. That alone will never happen in the movies. Not to mention that Jason re-identified himself 5 times after returning. He was so bitter towards the Bat family and couldn't seem to forgive them at all. When the New 52 came around they chopped off all the excess and just made him the Red Hood. This is one of the most interesting tales in Batman's entire mythos. It still hasn't been made as interesting as it could be though.
In the story of Jason's resurrection the focus seems to be on the person who has been resurrected versus the resurrection itself. Jason Todd is a man who experienced death. He's been born again. The thought of what one could do with this excites me. This is PTSD on a whole other level. This is a man who has been fighting crime since he was a teenager. For the majority of his life(s) he's been exposed to the underbelly of society. The worst of the human race. That alone is enough to set someone off. Then add on top of that the fact that Jason was killed. Beaten and then murdered. Every time he sees a crowbar, comes close to a warehouse, hears/sees an explosion, or just thinks about the Joker he could go on a rampage. That's his fuel. Not just revenge and hate. He's fueled by his nightmares. Imagine seeing him snap in the middle of a conversation. He pictures himself back in that warehouse, only this time with a gun. Right in front of him is the Joker. There's tons of em. He goes wild and becomes ruthless towards whoever he's in contact with at the moment. Imagine what he'll do when he sees the Joker, Batman, or even Nightwing.
Jason Todd was resurrected by Talia Al Ghul, daughter of R'as Al Ghul. She saw potential in Jason when he was Robin. He was more ruthless, harsh, and angry than Batman. She knew she could do something with that. When she heard of his death, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get Jason Todd in to the League of Assassins. So she dipped him in to her fathers rejuvenating Lazarus Pit. After regaining some sanity, he leaves the League so he can follow his own agenda. Be the better Batman.
What if the Punisher had Batman's skills? On a certain level, that's who Jason Todd is when he returns to Gotham. When Jason first returned to the land of the living, he felt the need to get revenge on Batman for letting his death go un-avenged. He should've killed the Joker YEARS ago in Jason's head. However, these ideals change as he matures and trains with various mentors. These mentors - whether Russian mobsters or heads of child sex slave rings - were horrible people in their own right. He would exploit them before exterminating them; getting them to teach him their skills, and then killing them for their crimes against humanity. Talia asks him if he still wants to kill the Batman. He recognizes that all of the extra training under these mentors was her attempt at stalling, trying to get Jason to focus on bigger issues than his anger towards Batman. He also says that it worked, but he doesn't know where to go from his current state. He does not agree with the League's "Destroy all crime" mission statement, but doesn't want to limit himself to Batman's self-important moral codes either. So he does what Batman never could.
Red Hood's method of stopping crime in Gotham is controlling it. By controlling all of the crime, he can manipulate who the criminals are, what crimes they're doing, how they're being committed, when & where they're doing them. From there, he will diminish and diminish the crime more and more. Overall, making it a better city. Instead of putting out little fires, he's gathering all the arsonists and stripping them of their flamethrowers. This provides Batman with a huge problem. Red Hood is killing and technically becoming a crime lord, but he is doing it for the right reasons. If Batman tries to stop Red Hood, then he is helping a number of criminals. If he does nothing about Red Hood then he could be leaving Gotham in the hands of a vengeful and demented man with PTSD, who is doing things the "wrong way".
There is a poeticism to what Jason does once he returns to Gotham. Jason decides to take the name of the man who killed him. The Joker - before being white, green, and insane - was one of the many to go by the title of the Red Hood. Batman was responsible for the Red Hood falling in to the vat of chemicals that would transform him in to the Joker. This was Batman's greatest failure, until Jason's death. So he is constantly keeping Batman's greatest mistakes in the forefront of his mind. This gives him the upper hand against Batman. He's a walking distraction.
In the end, seeing Batman and the Joker again is enough to bring vengeful thoughts back. Jason ridicules Batman for letting his parent’s death hinder him from doing all of the good he could do. He says that just popping a cap in the Joker's head is "too hard" for Batman to do because he values the thrill of chasing villains around more than he does Jason's life. Batman counters, saying that killing the Joker and anyone else is "too easy". Batman tries his best to convey to Jason how much pain he felt when the Joker killed him, but can't even find the right words. Instead of Batman giving the standard "If I killed I would be no better than the criminals" speech he gives a different reason as to why he shouldn't kill. He knows himself and knows that if he did pull the trigger he wouldn't be able to come back from it. His nightly patrols would turn in to killing sprees, and Batman would become the villain. He knows that's not best for him, the ones he cares about, and Gotham as a whole. So he doesn't kill. Jason simply responds with "Well I guess I'm the villain". He goes to kill the Joker (who he has tied up in front of him), but Batman saves the lunatic. Jason suddenly breaks down, defeated. He realizes that Batman is right and says that he's going to rid Gotham of it's biggest criminal...himself. He blows up the vacant building the three of them are in. After the explosion Joker is found still alive. Batman can only find the Red Hood's mask, nothing else of him. We're not given anything else that would lead us to believe that he is out there somewhere.
In conclusion, Jason Todd is arguably the most interesting Robin, if done well. Fans are clamoring for Jason to pop up in the DC Cinematic Universe. If he does show up, his character needs to be done right. Jason might be the antagonist of the film, but he is NOT the villain. His actions do not make him evil, but they put him in opposition to our protagonist, Batman. This is a character that could get the audience talking in a, more mentally stimulating, Team Batman v Team Red Hood fashion. The movie could be formatted like a documentary almost. Here are the facts, it's up to you to decide your opinion on them. Jason Todd could be the best CBM character since Heath Ledger's Joker, and we as moviegoers deserve to see it. Thank you for reading this editorial, sound off with your thoughts in the comments. Deuces!