Off My Mind: What's Next For Cassandra Cain?

Off My Mind: What's Next For Cassandra Cain?: "Last week I brought up the question of what the next step should be for Bucky Barnes. Let's talk about the former Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. When it appeared that Batman had been killed by Darkseid in Final Crisis, we were given the impression that Cassandra was done being a part of the Bat-family. She gave up her costume and identity of Batgirl, passing it one to Stephanie Brown (the current Batgirl). Cassandra left Gotham City and not a whole lot had been seen of her.

We later found out that this was part of a bigger plan. The intention was for Stephanie to develop into being a better hero if she accepting being the new Batgirl. This makes sense since Batman did allow her to be Robin for a short while, even if part of that was to convince Tim Drake to return to the Batcave.

Cassandra has been secretly fighting crime in Hong Kong. Most of the comic universe and comic readers had no idea where she was or what she was doing. Apparently Tim was in contact with her the whole time. Bruce Wayne returned from the dead (he wasn't really dead of course, only trapped in time) and Tim traveled to Hong Kong to convince Cassandra to return. She refused, saying Stephanie needed to be Batgirl more than she did. Tim gave her her old costume in the hopes she return to fighting crime wearing the bat-symbol.

The question remains, what should Cassandra's new role be and what should she call herself?

As fans of Cassandra already know, we are going to be seeing more of her. She will play a role in Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgen's Gates of Gotham miniseries that explores the secrets of the city's history. She will also be appearing in Red Robin as a contestant in an assassination tournament. She is seen wearing her old costume but has she gone back to her killing ways?

I doubt it. She's there to put a stop to the assassination tournament and to lock up all the deadly killers, right? Wearing the costume is a first step but what can she call herself? Batgirl is out and Cassandra has moved beyond that role now. She might not be quite old enough to be a Batwoman and that too is already taken. She could simply create a new name for herself but that's not as easy as it seems. We know all the good names are already taken. The last thing I would want in a character as good as Cassie is for her to be stuck with a lame or cheesy name.

I did see a suggestion last week but I forget where it was at or who said it. I can't remember if it was in the forums, a p.m. or on Twitter. Some people might be strongly against this but what if Cassandra took on the mantle of Nightwing? Dick Grayson is now Batman (along with Bruce Wayne). I have no idea how long he will remain Batman and if we'll ever go back to just having Bruce as Batman. When Dick became Batman, it was like he graduated. Yes, Nightwing had become his identity but It would be weird to see him step back down. Just like there's no way he could ever be Robin again (the same goes for Tim as well). Dick also gave up being Nightwing so (from a publishing perspective) Chris Kent could use the name and fight along side Flamebird. Chris is out of the picture an no one is currently using Nightwing.

Whether or not Cassandra takes on this name or another, we can all agree that something more needs to be done with her character. She's come too far to simply sit in a dark corner of the Bat-universe, only seen on rare occasions. If she doesn't take on the name Nightwing or reclaim Batgirl, what would be a good name for her?

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