Nightwing is Joining Forces With The Titans’ Greatest Enemy

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Teen Titans Academy #12

It looks like dark days are ahead for the Teen Titans now that Nightwing has seemingly left to join their greatest rival. Following the prevention of the apocalypse teased by the Titans’ Future State series, Teen Titans Academy is now dealing with the fallout in their latest issue along with the identity reveal of DC’s newest iteration of Red X. However, the resulting conflict has dark consequences for Dick Grayson and it’s teased that he’ll be allying himself with a classic foe in order to seek revenge.

In Teen Titans #12 from Tim Sheridan and Tom Derenick, it was revealed that the rogue student who had taken Nightwing’s old Red X identity was Brick Pettirosso, a student who’s been featured throughout the entire series thus far, looking to take down the Titans from within. This is because Brick was led to believe that Nightwing was his father which motivated him to seek revenge having grown up in Gotham’s foster care system with abusive caregivers. However, Brick was nothing more than a weapon to be used by the second Red X who was the first to coopt Grayson’s past identity. This Red X was the one who trained Brick and told him the lie about being Nightwing’s son. Once the truth was out and in the open, the second Red X killed Brick so that Dick would have no choice but to live with the fact that he had failed him.

While the second Red X escaped via a portal after promising a rematch with Nightwing, Brick died in Grayson’s arms. As such, the end of the issue is teasing that Nightwing will begin a dark mission to make sure that “the right Red X is dead”. Suggesting that there’s only one man who can help him find Red X, it’s heavily hinted that Nightwing is going to ally himself with Slade Wilson’s Deathstroke. Not only was Slade the reason Dick created the undercover villain identity in the first place, but Dick also worked with Deathstroke in Future State: Teen Titans.

While the dark future seen by Raven and featured in Future State was largely prevented as confirmed by the previous issue, it seems as though Nightwing’s dark path is still coming true (even if it’s for different reasons). Future State saw Dick working with Deathstroke where Nightwing even adopted his colors and mask to become Death-Wing. However, Brick’s Red X was still alive and the pair worked together in the future. Now, Brick is no more and Dick will seemingly be seeking out Slade to avenge his death.

Seeing as how it’s already been proven that the future can be rewritten and that Future State isn’t set in stone, Dick Grayson doesn’t have to work with Deathstroke. He may be headed in that direction after the teases in this latest issue of Teen Titans Academy, but Nightwing still has time to turn back and resist the darkness brought on by Brick’s loss. Whichever path Nightwing ultimately takes, fans will likely have to wait to find out after the incoming War for Earth-3 crossover event featuring the Teen Titans, Suicide Squad, and Crime Syndicate.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
(2557 Articles Published)

Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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