The Teen Titans are starting to grow up.
The first look at the series from San Diego Comic-Con left many DC fans surprised at how
bleak the show looks compared to its contemporaries at The CW.
But there's a reason why that trailer was so dark and gritty, and it has a lot to do
with the growth of each of the individual Titan characters.
Launching in fall 2018, Titans is the flagship series of the new streaming platform DC Universe,
set to bring exclusive DC Comics content to viewers no matter what device they're on.
It's a major expansion of DC properties on TV, whether they're animated or live-action,
and Titans is just one part of it.
Titans may not have the sunny disposition of the CW's Flash, Supergirl, or Legends of
Tomorrow, and it might be even more angsty than Arrow.
But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Taken on its own terms, DC's Titans just might have what it takes to blow you away.
The jaded Grayson
The most controversial moment in the Titans trailer was obviously Robin's F-bomb.
"F--- Batman."
The apparent shift away from the relatively carefree Teen Titans tone bothered many, but
the show's not necessarily as melodramatic as that trailer moment makes it appear.
"It is very… dark."
"Of course it's dark.
Night time is the most serious time to fight crime."
"Yeah, but I can't see anything, either."
Speaking to Polygon, Titans writer and executive producer Geoff Johns broke down what exactly
Robin's angsty issue with Batman might be, and what it means for the DC Universe show.
Johns said,
"The trailer shows a piece of the tone of the show, the show's not all that.
[...] If you look at when Robin first left Batman in the comics, there was a lot of uneasiness
and him being lost.
Titans is really a series about these different characters that are all lost in their lives."
While the phrase may not have hit the right note with a lot of fans, it does a quick job
of establishing a more complex Robin than the Boy Wonder many are used to.
For casual consumers of pop culture who've never picked up a comic book, Batman's sidekick
has often come off as a vexing kid brother type.
"I want a car!
Chicks dig the car."
Titans pushes against this perception, showcasing a Robin with a chip on his shoulder.
To move out of Batman's shadow, and possibly become his own hero as Nightwing, he has to
acknowledge that shadow and wrestle with it, and that's the kind of journey that can only
unfold over a whole season, not just a single one-liner.
The Outlaw
One of the most promising things we learned about Titans at Comic-Con didn't show up in
the trailer, and that's the involvement of Jason Todd.
The second DC comics character to take up the mantle of Robin, Jason Todd is more popularly
known as the violent hero Red Hood, who stars in the series Red Hood & The Outlaws.
But long before he two-fisted pistols and ran with the likes of Bizarro, Todd was a
loyal ally to Batman, a job which ended when he was brutally, but temporarily, killed by
the Joker.
Whether you love Jason Todd or hate him, the character is a linchpin in some of DC's most
successful comic book stories, including "Death in the Family", "Under the Hood", and "Hush".
He's also another example of the way in which Batman hangs over this new series, letting
lower-tier characters fight it out in a world that's already been defined by more marquee
heroes.
New worlds
The thing about shared universes is you've got to be pretty careful about not toppling
all the dominoes over every time you add a new piece.
Marvel's Cinematic Universe now includes 20 movies and half as many TV shows, restricting
the kinds of stories that can be told at any given moment.
DC's own Arrowverse is four shows and growing, with Constantine getting a retroactive inclusion,
Batwoman set to join the universe, and Black Lightning just waiting in the wings for a
real crossover.
It's a lot to keep in mind for any screenwriter.
Titans, on the other hand, is new territory.
As of now, we don't know how Titans will connect to other DC properties that already exist,
or if it even will at all.
With DC Universe rolling out multiple live-action shows in Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, and Stargirl,
it seems possible that the streaming service's shows will be their own shared universe, with
Titans serving as the start of something new.
"So the theory of the multiverse - that's true?"
"True.
Oh yeah, big time."
"Yeah, I still can't believe it and I'm from another planet."
A clean slate means no baggage, and theoretically, no restrictions.
The writers of Titans have a rich selection of DC heroes, villains, stories, and locales
to choose from, who cares if it accidentally contradicts something from a show that came
before?
Quality source
While the trailer made Titans look like the show was betraying the source material, the
truth is that the show's producers are taking inspiration from the very best in Titans comic
history.
Speaking to Polygon, Geoff Johns said the inspiration for Titans' first season comes
from what he calls "the greatest comic book Titans run ever": the 1980s New Teen Titans
stories by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.
The influence on the story can be seen in the trailer, which shows Raven doing whatever
she can to win Robin to her side, just like in the Wolfman/Perez comics.
Raven is the one who brought the team together to fight her demonic father Trigon.
We don't know for sure if that villain will appear in the show, but considering the trailer
appears to be all about fighting inner demons, it wouldn't be surprising if Raven's dad was
the first season's Big Bad.
The Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans run had a major influence on DC Comics, and comics
in general.
Three DC mainstays in Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire were all introduced, it was in the pages of
that series that Dick Grayson went from being Robin to Nightwing, and it also brought the
world Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke.
Doom Patrol
Joining the Titans on DC Universe are the team that's been dubbed "the World's Strangest
Heroes", the superhero squad known as Doom Patrol.
First conceived in the '60s, the title found a truly unusual voice in the 1980s under writer
Grant Morrison, who took the reins starting with the series' 19th issue.
Under Morrison's watch, the comic brought in a truly eclectic group of characters to
root for, from the reality-altering muscle man Flex Mentallo, to Danny the Street, an
entity of sentient geography.
We don't know exactly what version of Doom Patrol we'll be getting on TV, but we do know
several of its members will be showing up in Titans first.
That series has already cast actors for Elasti-Girl, Robotman, Negative Man, and the team's leader,
Dr. Niles "The Chief" Caulder.
In the comics, Beast Boy was an early member of Doom Patrol, so it's possible he'll be
used as the connection between the teams.
There is a chance that some of Titan's stars might end up on the Doom Patrol show, so you're
going to want to get in on the ground floor to see this.
As of now, we only know that Titans is premiering in the fall, with Doom Patrol set to join
the service's programming lineup in 2019.
If you sign up quickly enough, you'll be able to get 15 months of access for the price of
one year, which works out to less than $5 a month.
We've left a link to the upcoming DC Universe service in the description of this video.
You might even get beta access to the platform, and get a shot at seeing Titans before anybody
else.
Doorways to anywhere
Speaking to Polygon, Geoff Johns said that one of the goals with the first Titans season
is to demonstrate that the show can go anywhere, not just down grim back alleys.
According to Johns,
"We really wanted to lean into the idea that every [Titan] is a doorway into another genre.
With Rachel [a.k.a. Raven], it's the supernatural and the horror, and the first season really
focuses on who Raven is and how the Titans galvanize around her.
You can see that tone in the trailer clearly."
Viewed that way, it makes sense that the Raven-centric first trailer would have a large amount of
gothic darkness, with the other characters opening up doorways to different story opportunities.
Being an alien, Starfire would seem to offer a way into science fiction and space opera
stories, while Robin gives us the same world of noir mystery as his one-time mentor Batman.
As the series progresses and more members enter the fold, we're likely to be given keys
to even more worlds and tones of DC.
The Titans can solve mysteries in Gotham City, fight demons in other dimensions, or blast
off into the stars.
One way or another, the show has a lot more to offer than just one trailer can show you.
The DC Universe is just beginning, and Titans is leading the charge.