Titans season 3 is taking the show's Batman obsession to a new level, with several Bat-Family elements being introduced into the new season next year. There are a lot of new changes in store for the Teen Titans live-action drama when it returns in 2021, both in front of and behind the camera. After months of rumblings and speculation, Titans is officially moving from DC Universe to HBO Max along with Doom Patrol as the latter WarnerMedia streaming platform becomes the company’s new focus in digital content. Titans season 3 will also be introducing several new storylines, starting with Starfire’s villainous sister Blackfire now being a series regular as they continue their war.
During promotion of the DC TV series at DC FanDome, it was revealed that more changes are coming next season. Showrunner Greg Walker officially announced that the Titans are leaving San Francisco for Gotham City, which will introduce a few familiar faces from the Batman mythology. Not only is the villain Scarecrow coming in, Barbara Gordon will be introduced as the new commissioner of Gotham City Police Department. But perhaps the biggest announcement to come out of the panel was that Jason Todd a.k.a. Robin 2.0 will officially become Red Hood. While it might be exciting for DC TV viewers, it’s amplifying a larger issue that Titans has had since the beginning.
While the show’s premise is about the Titans, there has always been a surprisingly big Batman element in the first two seasons. Even though Titans season 1 focused on the formation of the group, Dick’s struggle with leaving his Robin days behind him took up a lot of room that even crossed over into the following season. Dick finally became Nightwing by the end of last season, but it came at the expense of several other characters’ screentime and storylines, making Titans feel more like a Nightwing series. The creators are forgetting that Titans is a Teen Titans series rather than a Batman show as season 3 is becoming more obsessed with introducing additional Batman characters.
Despite Dick’s character progression being a central theme of Titans, there have been a number of Teen Titans-specific storylines going on in the last two seasons. But even though there are arcs centered on the other characters, they haven’t been prioritized as much as Dick’s struggle has. Season 1 was heavily about Raven and her trying to run away from her father Trigon, one of Teen Titans’ biggest villains. However, it’s no secret that the Trigon arc was received with mixed reactions because of how rushed his introduction was. Trigon essentially only played a big role on-screen in the Titans season 1 finale and season 2 premiere before being defeated by Raven. The writers should have tackled Trigon differently by used his villainy to have the team getting to stop him together, instead of a rushed 2-episode parter.
A character that truly suffered is Beast Boy, who has often been nothing more than comic relief and a punching bag for Titans’ villains. The season 2 episode “Atonement” showcased Ryan Potter’s full potential as Beast Boy when actually given the spotlight. Gar is a big fan-favorite in the Teen Titans mythology, and so far the live-action adaptation has barely utilized his entire character. There hasn’t even been any progression on Gar exploring his animal shapeshifting powers, as he has only been a tiger and snake so far. The last few episodes of Titans season 2 saw Beast Boy as a victim at the hands of Mercy Graves and Project Cadmus. Whether or not the new season will follow through with his emotional trauma remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be shocking if that doesn’t even get addressed.
Raven and Beast Boy together are secondary to Dick because his darkness continued into the last season. Even a new character like Superboy, who was given a big setup in the Titans season 1 finale, only played an important role in a handful of episodes. Dick’s progression from Robin to Nightwing definitely had to happen, since that was one of the arcs that were promised from the beginning. But while it may have been satisfying to see the former Boy Wonder find his new identity, it came at a cost. It, unfortunately, took away a lot of time and attention that could have been given to other arcs for characters like Raven, Beast Boy, and Superboy. Then there is the problematic way Titans have handled Starfire, and how the season 3 changes are taking focus away from her too.
Kory Anders a.k.a. Starfire is, without doubt, one of the most iconic Teen Titans characters of all time. For the live-action incarnation, Anna Diop was cast to bring her to life, which sadly sparked racist and hateful reactions from fans who were against the idea of a woman of color landing the role. As talented as Diop is in the role, Titans has not done Starfire a lot of favors in the last two seasons. Once Kory got her memories back and her Tamaran history was explored, Titans suffered from the overwhelming focus on Dick’s darkness and became a non-primary arc. Similarly to Raven and Beast Boy, Starfire hasn’t even gotten to suit up yet despite the fact that there are finished costumes for them all.
Since most of Titans season 1 followed a Starfire without her memories, it didn’t allow much for Kory’s character development. The following season showed promise with Kory and Donna Troy bonding as well as the later introduction of Starfire's sister, Blackfire. However, the last few episodes were more centered on the battle against Deathstroke and Dick taking his final steps to become Nightwing. Blackfire’s arrival on Earth and Demaris Lewis’ promotion to a full-time cast member looked promising for Starfire’s season 3 arc. But with the news of Barbara Gordon, Scarecrow, and Red Hood being introduced as well as the move to Gotham City, how does the Starfire story factor in?
This is where the fear of this show feeling more like a Batman series rather than a Teen Titans adaptation intensifies. Since Starfire is another character who has been neglected, the next season needs to be driven by Blackfire as the single big bad. Trigon was a supernatural threat, while Deathstroke was a villainous metahuman. Blackfire would allow Titans to explore a new corner of the DC Universe by focusing on the alien element that Komand'r and Starfire provide. The amount of attention that was given to Dick’s evolution into Nightwing is what Titans season 3 needs to give Kory as she officially becomes Starfire in all of her glory. Diop is one of Titans’ strongest forces, and it’s time the show gave her and Starfire their due.
Titans season 2 brought in many new characters from DC mythology. The latest season allowed the series to flesh out its world, but at a great expense. By introducing new characters in a major capacity, the original ones were given even less room to grow. Slade Wilson's introduction also included the arrivals of Rose Wilson and Jericho, as their family is a big corner of the Teen Titans comics. Deathstroke, who is the group's most famous villain, could have been given more than what he had to play with. Even though his past with the original Titans was explored, the overall focus was on Dick's guilt with how he played a part in getting Jericho killed.
Bruce Wayne was finally introduced in Titans season 2, which is where the show's obsession with Batman was proven once more. In many ways, Bruce takes away agency from the Teen Titans concept throughout the season. Not only does Bruce have a role in getting Titans relaunched, but even Dick's Nightwing suit was because of the Dark Knight's involvement. Due to how many characters Titans season 2 already introduced, Bruce was one that they simply could have done without. It would have been enough to have Bruce in only one episode to conclude Dick's issues with him before starting his new chapter.
It's natural for sophomore seasons to introduce new characters, but if it takes away time that the original ones were supposed to have, it's a problem. While Superboy and the Deathstroke family were major additions that prevented Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire from having consistently flowing arcs that progressed them as characters. Instead, those three were left with little to do and hadn't come too far by the time Titans season 2 ended. There is also a clash in how the season tried to explore the original incarnation of the group as well as establish the Titans 2.0. because of how many characters are on the show right now.
Titans has, by far, one of the largest casts in the entire DC TV franchise, even compared to the The CW's Arrowverse shows. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that the writers want to introduce as much as they can from the world of DC Comics. But for a show that only has 10-13 episodes per season, overstuffing the cast will hurt Titans in the long-run for its future seasons. Since the show is now moving to HBO Max, it might be wise to start splitting the large cast into appropriate spinoffs, which would also allow the Titans universe to be fleshed out. For starters, a Young Justice live-action show would be a solid choice that would let Raven, Beast Boy, Superboy, Ravager, and future teens be given a better spotlight.
There has been the idea of a Hawk and Dove spinoff ever since Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly were cast that could still happen. This would be a way for the Titans universe to set up a show following a romantic duo and add something new for the DC TV franchise. Curran Walters, who portrays Jason Todd, has even expressed interest in doing a Red Hood spinoff prior to the big announcement from DC FanDome. Depending on what goes down in Titans season 3, a solo series for Walters’ character could perhaps be set up since this will be Red Hood’s live-action debut. A show following Jason as the anti-hero could introduce elements like Red Hood and the Outlaws that have been going on in the comics.
As it pertains to Titans with Nightwing, Starfire, and presumably a resurrected Wonder Girl, future seasons could focus on introducing young adult heroes like themselves. Wally West, Roy Harper, and Victor Stone have yet to show up which could happen if the current line-up is separated into various spinoffs. Another major element of Titans that needs to be further explored is the love story between Dick and Kory that was set up in the first season. The iconic couple’s romance has been put on the backburner which needs to be rectified going forward. If several characters get spinoffs, there would be more room for their story to continue. If the Titansverse is able to branch out, it would also prevent the Dark Knight to cloud over Titans as it currently does. For a show that has talented actors portraying these iconic roles based on a popular mythology with their own stories, Titans doesn’t need to rely on Batman at all and by the end of season 3, the series needs to realize that.
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