Sean Murphy has taken a fresh look at Jason Todd in his new standalone universe, and fans will never guess which fictional hero inspired the change seen in the Batman: The White Knight Presents: The red hood.”
Since the beginning of his universe, Murphy has sought to create completely different versions of classic DC characters, and he makes no exception for the Red Hood. This version of Jason Todd’s White Knight has minor changes that distinguish it from the official canonized version of Jason. In the role of Robin (the first, not the second) The Joker attacks Jason and tortures him, forcing him to reveal Batman’s secret identity. And it was this shame that sent Jason into self-imposed exile, presumed dead… but by adopting the new identity of the Red Hood and Robin’s new twist in the image of a young girl from the Eastern Backport named Gan.
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If this backstory seems vaguely familiar, it may be due to the recent popularity of Netflix’s Cobra Kai. “Batman: The White Knight presents: “Red Hood” co-writers Sean Murphy and Clay McCormack explained that this is a surprisingly direct inspiration for Screen Rant at Comic-Con in San Diego this year.
SM: Then we realized that Jason had to be like Johnny Lawrence from Cobra Kai, a loser who knows how to fight. A kind of sad sack, and this was his chance to redeem himself with the young man in his life.
CM: That’s what got me hooked. Because Sean was so specific with this idea of Jason’s backstory, it was all great. But I couldn’t really track the end of the case to really think, “I know how we can do this.” Then we both thought, “Well, he looks a bit like Johnny Lawrence.” He is a man out of time, and he has to deal with this young man. He thinks he knows everything, and he was introduced to this new, younger version of himself, who is very reluctant to open his mind.” And I thought: “Okay, we can work with that.”
For those who haven’t seen the series, “Cobra Kai” is a sequel to “Karate Kid”, which ends with the main character Daniel winning the tournament, defeating the main antagonist Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) for the last time. 33 years later, the once brash and brash Johnny became a depressed alcoholic whose life basically went downhill after being defeated by Daniel, who decided to redeem his legacy by taking a new student and reopening the Cobra Kai Dojo.
The parallels between Johnny and Jason Todd are suddenly striking. Even outside of the White Knight canon, Red Hood has always been a brash and audacious upstart in the role of Robin, who, like Johnny, is hardened by the world around him after a traumatic event. This opens up an exciting prospect for Jason’s future in the White Knight universe. Adopting a protégé, rashly or not, gives Jason Todd an arc of redemption that the Red Hood has yet to achieve properly, even in the official Batman canon.
