- Is DC killing off Robin,
again?
You know, it's never good to be Batman's sidekick Robin.
Not only are you very visible in low light,
thanks to a green Speedo and yellow cape.
But you're prone to getting exploded,
your head bashed in,
or just basically having a bad day.
No wonder Dick Grayson made sure to lose the booties
and become Nightwing.
- I need a name.
Batboy, Nightwing?
I don't know, what do ya think?
- And while there have been
about a half dozen Robins in comic history,
leading to quite a storied past for the character,
one of Robin's most famous
or infamous IRL moments of all time,
is being recreated on the small screen right now
for DC Universe's Titans TV show.
So what the hell is going on here?
Well first a little back story.
Back in 1988, Batman was on his second Robin
named Jason Todd.
In the storyline, "A Death in the Family",
there was a cliffhanger set up,
where the Joker may or may not have murdered Jason Todd.
With the twist being that the decision was left up to fans.
Two 1900 numbers were set up.
One for Jason to live and one for him to die.
With fans paying to call in to the phone number
to cast their vote.
Over 10,000 votes were cast at the time,
but like the Roman emperors of old,
they chose death for poor Robin number two.
As a side note, it is worth mentioning
that there was only a 72 vote lead
on the side of death at the time.
And there have been some allegations
and evidence that numbers may have been rigged,
by a disgruntled fan.
But luckily fans today aren't like that at all
and would never let their anger skew
or troll a legitimate poll.
Right?
Anyway, over 30 years later,
DC is giving fans this decision to make once again.
However before we get into that,
from here on out there will be spoilers
for the current arc on the Titans TV series.
So if you're not up to date,
now is your chance to pull the bat parachute.
(parachute whooshing)
(wheels squealing)
All right, so here's what happened.
The second season of Titans
has not been too kind to Jason Todd so far.
The villain Deathstroke AKA Slade Wilson
managed to capture Todd,
hoping to exchange him for Wilson's daughter Rose.
However, the titular Titans had other plans instead
and concocted a scheme to bust Jason Todd out.
The thing is though, it didn't go so well
and by the episodes end,
Jason Todd took a tumble out a window,
seemingly to his demise.
So what happens now?
Well as a nod to 1988's "A Death in the Family",
DC Universe set up a poll on their website
where fans can vote on Jason Todd's fate.
And at the moment of shooting this, the poll is close
and pretty much split right down the middle
as to whether Jason will live or die this time.
Even the vote in this office was pretty much split.
With some members of the production team
being much more cutthroat than others.
While this is a fun way to get fans excited
and more invested/interested in the Titans TV show,
it does present a quandary.
What will the show do in response to the poll?
If anything.
Is DC Universe bound to follow
the whims and wiles of the fans?
Is this just for fun
or are they really planning on following through?
It's worth noting that this season of the series
has already been filmed,
meaning there must be some sort of plan come what may.
While all the original comic had to do
was swap out the end page,
depending on what fans chose,
changing the trajectory of a television show
is a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot harder.
So we'll just have to wait and see
if fans hate this Jason Todd,
as much as they hated the original comic book equivalent
back in 1988.
And if the production team counted on this
for the next episode.
But, what do you folks think?
Do you want this Jason Todd to live
or should he die?
And what other ways do you wanna see TV shows
engage with their audiences?
Let's discuss.
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(upbeat music)