In the Injustice comics story, Dick Grayson is killed and returns as Deadwing, and the Injustice movie presents its own interpretation of this.
The 2021 Injustice animated movie sees Dick Grayson take on the new identity of Deadwing, but his role in the story is a bit different from the source material. The 2013 video game Injustice: Gods Among Us was a huge hit and began a new Elseworlds story in the DC Multiverse. The game was followed by a 2017 sequel, Injustice 2, while much of its main story has been told through the Injustice comic book series that was launched as a tie-in with the first game.
Injustice takes place in a reality in which Superman (voiced by Justin Hartley) kills the Joker (Kevin Pollak) after the latter is responsible for the death of a pregnant Lois Lane (Laura Bailey) and the destruction of Metropolis. In his trauma, the Man of Steel decides that his old methods of fighting for justice are insufficient, leading him to become a dictator over the entire world. This causes a conflict to erupt among the other heroes of Earth, with some siding with Superman's new cause and others joining Batman's resistance.
In the Injustice movie, Dick Grayson (Derek Phillips) is killed by Damian Wayne (Zach Callison) during a battle among the various heroes in a prison. As Dick passes into the afterlife, he is transformed into Deadwing by the deity Rama Kushan (also voiced by Bailey), and set back to Earth to help end the battle of heroes. In the original Injustice comics, Dick's transformation plays out differently and involves the hero Deadman.
Following Dick's demise in the comics, the dying hero Deadman summons him to become his new host after the latter was mortally wounded by Mister Mxyzptlk, under the guise of the Spectre. Though the Injustice movie cuts right to the chase of making Batman's closest apprentice Dick into the new character Deadwing, Deadman has a significant comic book history of his own.
As his name implies, Deadman is an ethereal hero whose spirit has the power to inhabit living bodies. Born as Boston Brand, his spiritual form grants him such other powers as flight, invisibility, phasing through solid matter, and mind control over those he possesses. Dick's appearance in the Injustice movie displays these powers, as he takes on a ghost-like intangible form as Deadwing.
Like every comic book adaptation, Injustice reworks elements from its source material to fit its story. Dick's transformation into Deadwing is one such area, with Deadman's role being consolidated into his story. Hopefully, if an animated adaptation of Injustice 2 happens, it can integrate Deadwing again in a way that brings the actual Deadman more prominently into its story.
NEXT: DC's Injustice Animated Movie Cast Guide: Every Confirmed Character
