After more than 30 years, we could see the Robin to Michael Keaton’s Batman – in the comics, at least.

Last week DC announced plans to give the 1980s and 80s big-screen versions of Superman and Batman their own titles. Christopher Reeve as Superman 1978 will fly off with a new story, and The Dark Knight will be receiving a comic miniseries this July picking up from the world envisioned by filmmaker Tim Burton in 1989’s Batman and its 1992 sequel Batman Returns.

But could the Batman ’89 title be both sequel and a prequel? While it’s not official that there will be a tie-in between this book and the upcoming Flash movie that will feature Michael Keaton reprising his role as Batman, it’s entirely possible. The series is going to focus on resolving the handful of dangling plot-threads left by Burton, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have any connection to The Flash. It’s possible the DCEU Flash might make a cameo appearance at the series’ end, enlisting the aid of Michael Keaton’s Batman.

The title comes from acclaimed comic book creator Joe Quinones and Sam Hamm, a comic writer and screenwriter for both of the fan-favorite films. The two can bring one element planned for Burton’s movies from the beginning to the page: the introduction of Robin.

Chris O’Donnell’s incarnation of the Boy Wonder debuted in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 film Batman Forever and returned for 1997’s Batman & Robin, but that version of the character differed from what Burton and the first two films’ creative teams had planned.

The earliest drafts of the original planned Batman film, back before Burton got involved, included Dick Grayson before the project narrowed its focus to Bruce Wayne. A sequence was written by Hamm where a chase between Batman and the Joker leads them to a circus in Gotham City then murders John and Mary Grayson, orphaning Dick and putting him on the path to crimefighting, exactly as the Joker did for Bruce Wayne.

The sequence was storyboarded, the role of Robin was cast and a rough animation created, but the scene and Robin’s inclusion was dropped before principal photography began to keep the focus on Batman and the Joker’s dual rise in Gotham.

The inclusion of Robin was revisited in early versions of Batman Returns‘ script, with the character imagined as the leader of a young gang that decides to ally himself with Batman. Screenwriter Daniel Waters, who wrote later drafts of the 1992 film’s script, then changed the character to a young mechanic working in Gotham, with the iconic “R” logo appearing on his auto shop uniform.

This time Marlon Wayans got the role and even attended a costume fitting during preproduction before, once again, the character was dropped from film before principal photography began.

Hamm’s return to the world of Batman ’89 means audiences could see the Robin he imagined but that never quite made it to the big screen. No plot details have been released, so this is only speculation at this point, but we may finally see the character that would have been played by Wayans in Batman Returns.

Written by Sam Hamm and illustrated by Joe Quinones, Batman ’89 goes on sale digitally on July 27. Superman ’78 will also be released in July.