DC Studios Officially Casts Mason Thames As Robin — Will He Play Him In Live-Action?

We might not know when the DC Universe will unveil its version of Batman, but we just got news that the franchise has cast its Robin. Well, at least we know who'll be voicing one of the Robins in the upcoming "Dynamic Duo" movie. In an interview with Collider, DC Studios co-head Peter Safran confirmed that Mason Thames has been cast as the voice of Dick Grayson in the upcoming film.

Thames is best known for starring in "The Black Phone" and its sequel, as well as playing Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III in the live-action "How to Train Your Dragon" movie. But it seems he's been gunning for a DC role. "We always talk about wanting volunteers and not recruits to be part of the DCU, to be part of DC Studios," said Safran, "and Mason always wanted to be Dick Grayson. He just did." 

According to the producer, Thames came in to read for Grayson and "auditioned the s*** out of it." "He's a wonderful young actor," he continued. "But boy, did he want this. He was just obsessed. When he came over to the DC offices, he came over with his dad at the time, and we've got tons of great archives and stuff in there, and wanted to take a picture of everything and with everything. He's a fan."

That certainly bodes well for a committed performance from the 19-year-old, who most recently appeared alongside Dave Franco and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in the most startling comedy of 2026, "Idiots." The question is, will Thames actually play Dick Grayson in live-action? According to past comments from Safran's DC Studios co-head James Gunn, that's exactly what will happen. But there's no confirmation as of yet.

"Dynamic Duo" is an animated film that's being developed by DC Studios in collaboration with Swaybox Studios. The latter's unique animation style combines puppetry and CGI to create a stop-motion-like effect that will be used to tell Jason Todd and Dick Grayson's origin stories. Mason Thames' casting as the latter had previously been rumored, with scooper Jeff Sneider reporting it in September 2026. But now it's official, meaning Thames will join Logan Kim, who's playing Jason Todd, in "Dynamic Duo" — much to the dismay of "Titans" star Curran Walters, who reacted to the news of the Jason Todd recasting with disappointment. 

The movie is set for a September 22, 2028 release, with Arthur Mintz, who co-founded Swaybox with Theresa Andersson in 2013, directing. For now, further details about the film are scarce, but Lee Pace and Steve Buscemi have reportedly been cast as members of the Red Hood Gang.

As it stands, we at least know who will be voicing two of the most significant versions of Robin in the DC Universe. The question is, will Thames and Kim portray their characters in live-action? They certainly should, given James Gunn's prior comments. 

When he and Peter Safran became co-heads of DC Studios in 2022, they promised this latest on-screen superhero franchise would not simply be more of the same. Gunn touted a shared universe without a house style and confirmed that DC Universe actors would portray their character across film, TV, animation, and even video games, streamlining the franchise in a way that sounded as though it could be bad news for animation voice actors. But it remains to be seen whether he will stick to that claim moving forward, especially since much has changed since 2022.

James Gunn has repeated his claim about actors portraying their DC Universe characters across mediums on several occasions. In 2023, he told DC.com "Television, movies and games all intertwine within the same universe. We're going to cast actors that are going to be able to play the characters in this, as well as in other things, some of which we've already cast." Thus far, Frank Grillo has played Rick Flag Sr. on the big screen in "Superman," on TV in "Peacemaker," and voiced the character for animation in "Creature Commandos." As such, it would make sense for Logan Kim and Mason Thames to follow a similar path.

But as we've seen in recent years, nothing is set in stone. Leaving aside the Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount merger becoming official in October 2026, James Gunn and Peter Safran announced a slate of movies back in 2022, some of which have now been scrapped. Gunn confirmed that DC had cancelled the planned "The Authority" movie, for instance, and he has spoken openly about how plans for the DC Universe otherwise shifted following Warner Bros.' initial announcement. All of which raises the question of whether he's sticking to his plan for actor continuity across mediums.

It would certainly make a lot of sense given his previous explanations. In 2023, Gunn spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how Aaron Pierre would be playing Green Lantern John Stewart in both the HBO series "Lanterns" and on the big screen in the upcoming "Man of Tomorrow." "We don't want the series to feel in any way like step-children or lesser-than," he told the outlet. "[The show is] just another way to tell a story." Time will tell if the same holds for Kim and Thames.