This Story That Was Supposed to Kill Nightwing, and Why It Couldn’t Might Surprise You — Explained

Nightwing is one of DC’s biggest, brightest characters. He’s not quite on the level of Batman and Superman, but his notoriety is just the smallest step below theirs and is easily leaps and bounds above what most characters can claim. Even beyond popularity, he’s someone that everyone likes. Nightwing is a positive guy who combines the best traits from Batman and Superman, embodying both of them without losing his uniqueness. Characters and fans alike agree that Nightwing is one of the most beloved and trustworthy people around. Heck, even if he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I’ve never met anyone who actually dislikes Nightwing.

Of course, there’s an exception to every rule, and the number one exception to this one is Dan DiDio. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he served as an editor at DC from 2003 and the co-publisher from 2010 to 2020, when ties were finally cut. In that time, DiDio made himself infamous for his very strong, very divisive opinions. Most of all, he’s known for his absolute, incomparable hatred of Nightwing. He despised the first Boy Wonder so much that he tried to kill him off entirely in the pages of Infinite Crisis. What’s interesting is how Nightwing dodged death, and how hard DiDio kept trying to put him in a casket.

A Brief History of DiDio’s Hatred

Before we dive into how DiDio tried to have Nightwing killed, let’s talk about why. DiDio’s time at DC was defined by the two main opinions he had about comics, which governed every decision he made: comics should be like they were when he was a kid, and every comic should be like Watchmen. In other words, DiDio wanted the cast and characterization from the Silver Age to be ever prevalent while doing constant edgy deconstructions of what it meant to be a superhero, ending with everyone being generally unhappy and unsatisfied. This is, of course, an insane and contradictory ideal to have, but it informs how he felt about every legacy character.

Generally, DiDio hated legacy characters. He felt that they aged up the Silver Age lineup and muddied the water for his favorites. He did everything in his power to get rid of every legacy character and bring back his favorites. DiDio was the architect behind Hal Jordan and Barry Allen’s returns, and the person I can throw the blame to for what the late 2000s did to Cassandra Cain. Regardless of what I will or will not forgive, Nightwing was number one on DiDio’s hit list. Audiences had watched Dick grow from a boy into a man, growing up with him, and DiDio desperately wanted Nightwing gone before he wound up older than Batman. Enter Infinite Crisis.

The Story that Tried and Failed to Clip the Boy Wonder’s Wings

DiDio’s early drafts for Infinite Crisis saw Superboy-Prime murder Nightwing, but the final release had the legendary hero replaced by Superboy, who was still a massive loss. You can see how the story was gearing up for this in how it presented Nightwing, even going so far as to literally nuke Bludhaven. If DiDio had gotten his way, Nightwing would be six feet under and have his name scrubbed from history, but thankfully, the rest of DC’s creative team intervened. And I do mean the rest. Apparently, the writer outcry was absolutely bombastic. DC itself went to bat for Nightwing, and they refused to publish a story where he died.

This wouldn’t be the only time DC has to save its golden boy, however, as DiDio was nowhere near done trying to get rid of him. The New 52 wiped out his transition to Batman. Forever Evil saw his identity exposed to the world and him being strapped to a death machine that would only let him out when his heart stopped. When that didn’t work, DiDio had Tom King shoot Nightwing in the head with KGBeast and begin the dreaded Ric Grayson arc. DiDio must have figured that if he couldn’t kill Nightwing because fans loved him, then he just had to make people hate him, like Jim Starlin did with Jason Todd. Unfortunately for DiDio, fans refused to stop loving Nightwing.

Infinite Crisis was supposed to be Nightwing’s final chapter, but it wound up just being a small page in his book. Today, Nightwing is one of DC’s most pivotal characters, being the one superhero that everyone can trust and inarguably one of the best leaders in the entire universe. He can unite the whole superhero community under his inspiring command, which never would have happened had the writers not stood up to DiDio and demanded he stop. Nightwing is one of DC’s biggest stars, and he’ll only continue to soar, no matter how much hate is lobbed at him.

We all have a character that, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t stand. Which DC character is that for you? Let us know in the comments below!