ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Jack Griffo, who voices Damian Wayne/Robin in Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons. Griffo discussed Damian’s origins and how he got into the role. The film will be available on October 18 on 4K, Blu-ray, and digital.
“Ahhhh, to be young … and charged with saving the world from impending doom! That’s the burden that 11-year-old Jonathan Kent and reluctant young sidekick Damian Wayne face in this all-new DC Animated Movie,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “On his birthday, Jonathan Kent learns his dad is Superman and that he has latent superpowers of his own! He also meets the legendary Dark Knight and current Boy Wonder, Damian. But when the two boys are forced to team up to protect their loved ones from a hostile alien force, will they become the Super Sons they’re destined to be?”
Tyler Treese: What about Damian Wayne — especially at this point where he’s feeling like an outcast — did you find most interesting about the character from the onset of the film?
Jack Griffo: That’s a great question. I found the character to be super compelling and, exactly what you’re saying. The Titans don’t want him — that was a part of the film that really hit home for me. Here’s this kid that doesn’t really belong. He’s not from Gotham, he doesn’t even know his dad very well at this point, and now this rag-tag group of kids that are also heroes, the Titans, are like, “you don’t play well with others. You’re kind of a loose cannon. We don’t want you,” like you were saying. It’s sad. And Jonathan overhears that conversation, and Jonathan and us as an audience are let into the real pain of this character and this kid, you know? Here’s a kid who was raised by the League of Assassins, Ra’s al Ghul’s grandson, Talia’s son, he didn’t know Batman was his dad for the first 12-13 years of his life and was just trained to kill or be killed.
He’s insanely sharp and agile, and aggressive, and he will not hesitate to kill. And that’s not like Batman. So when he finally meets his dad and finally beats his mom in some duel or some match, and she lets him go meet Batman … I just had to put myself in his shoes. Here’s this hero, this Batman guy who everybody looks up to puts all the bad guys away. I have learned he’s my biological father and I don’t know the guy and he doesn’t know me.
But obviously, I have what it takes to be a sidekick — to be his sidekick, and he is my dad. Even though I was raised under different circumstances, I am willing to take the mantle of Robin. I think that’s really cool. I think it shows the power of a father-son relationship just on paper. You don’t even really have to know the person, but he was willing to go there and be the Robin that his dad needed.
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You clearly know the character inside and out, and Damian’s so beloved in the comics, but he hasn’t really been in live-action films. How familiar were you with Damian Wayne before you took this?
Not at all, man. Not at all. Like zero. I didn’t even know he existed. I wasn’t a comic book fan growing up. Obviously, I watched superhero movies, but there’s a whole different level of fandom there. So I just started at the beginning. I read a couple of the Super Sons and I went into his history and the origins of where he comes from. I didn’t know the first thing about him, you know? I didn’t know if he grew up in Gotham or if he was raised by Bruce Wayne. I knew nothing. When I first started to learn, I was just I was touched. I was truly touched. I think for these scenes, it’s obviously a movie about the Super Sons — Damian and Jonathan.
But for me, I thought it was the strongest choice to lean into my relationship with my dad and let that inform the scenes because that’s really the meat of what’s going on for this kid in his life. Jonathan is just this other new character going on. He doesn’t really care about Jonathan in the beginning before all of this action takes place. The choice that I made was that he pretty much just started being Robin, and he hasn’t really done anything substantial as Robin yet.
He’s not super interested in Jonathan. That was kind of what I was getting at. He’s going through a lot. There’s a real sadness when the Teen Titans don’t want him. On the outside, it seems like he has a lot. He’s Batman’s son, lives in the Batcave, but this is a broken kid who is really looking for a sense of belonging, love, and purpose. That’s why I think the movie is so compelling because, you get that sense in the beginning that he’s sort of lost, sort of angry … and towards the end, he does get that love from his dad.
I think this Batman is, is kind of harsh with him. He doesn’t know how to be a father and doesn’t know the needs of a child — especially a 13-year-old child that he doesn’t know. I think Damian so desperately wants that approval, that love, that acceptance from his dad. I think through this story, that happens for the first time. In the end, the big resolution of this film, you see that hug happen and you see that smile. I got choked up watching it on Friday because I knew what was going on, but I hadn’t seen it yet. When you’re watching, when you’re just an audience member, and I know all that I know … I’m like, “wow, like all of this history is coming through right now.” They just did such a good job at showing this story and showing the relationship between Damian and Bruce.
I love what you did with your voice for Damian Wayne because you give it some gruffness, like Batman, but it’s still very youthful. How was it finding that voice?
It was fun, man. I definitely, obviously, took inspiration from Batman but I also didn’t want to play a mood — as an actor, you never want to play a mood, even though it’s moody or edgy or whatever. I just sort of tried to get in the mind, you know? I didn’t want to overdo anything. I think I played it pretty honest. The whole chip on your shoulder, I think, informed a lot. He’s not into the things of this world, like materialistic, normal teenager things. He’s into getting up at five in the morning and training with a bō staff and then having food and meditating and then training again for several hours.
He’s not a normal kid. I think there’s definitely some … now that I get talking about it, I think there’s some jealousy and some resentment for Jonathan. Here’s this kid that is Superman’s son, and Superman actually loves him enough to be in his life and keep the secret from him, which Jonathan might have looked at as a negative, but I think Damian really looked at it as, “wow, like they’re a real family.” Clark Kent raised Jonathan. Even though he was busy being Superman, he was still there. Batman wasn’t there for Damian. So I think there’s definitely a hint of maybe even subconscious jealousy there.
You’ve got a lot going on. You just released two singles with your band Kid Baron. How are you balancing your passions between acting, voice acting, and music as well?
Thank you, man. Yeah, it’s a lo. The band started as something fun for me over the pandemic. I, I wasn’t working as an actor so much. 2020 was crazy for everybody in the world. I was used to being busy all the time and all of a sudden I wasn’t, and I just needed something, man. I needed a medium. I needed something to express myself. I’ve always loved music and loved singing and performing, and now that we’ve put a lot of work into the band over the past couple of years, acting is sort of coming back in a big way. So now I have both things happening, and it is a lot.
But it’s everything I wanted, you know? I only see it elevating from here and getting more meaningful about both things. I try to have fun and try not to take things too seriously. You’ve got to take care of yourself — that’s the number one thing right now, is there’s a lot going on and it’s easy to get sick, and I really just can’t afford it right now. There’s so much going on before the end of the year. I’m going to go to Nashville tomorrow and going to go back home to LA and we have two Kid Baron shows. Then I come back to New York for a callback for the Back to the Future Musical, and then I go on tour. So it’s going to be nuts, but I love it. It’s everything I ask for and try to take care of myself.
