Though I still have faith in the soon to be launched DC Universe streaming service because there is much intriguing content dropping in 2019, I can’t help noticing how it’ll debut with only one new series – Titans – that’s ready to go. Normally, you’d think one of the more beloved superhero teams around would tide folks over, but to say the crew’s live action series is already being ill-received is an understatement.
To briefly recap, we learned earlier this week that the costumes worn by everyone other than Robin are, in fact, just as atrocious as we’d all feared. Not only that, but the first trailer was, at least in my view, the very definition of “missing the mark.” All I’m saying is that if the mature tone set by Marvel’s Netflix initiative was looked at as a blueprint, there are other DC properties to be explored in a mature context.
In the past 24 hours, one particular moment witnessed in the first promo that’s ignited a veritable brushfire on social media was that of Robin’s now infamous “f–k Batman” line, which former DC President Geoff Johns took some time out to explain to Polygon:
“The trailer shows a piece of the tone of the show — the show’s not all that. But it does make you go, ‘Why is he saying [F**k Batman?]’ 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; just like the greatest comic book Titans run ever, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, it’s about all these lost characters find one another. And they’re all struggling with something, and Robin is clearly struggling with his past with Batman. And we’ll learn a lot more about it and what that is and why he is the way he is.”
Being someone who’s familiar with the source material and the character of Dick Grayson, I was pretty much able to surmise that for myself, but something just seemed so wrong about the show’s execution, you know? Yes, Bruce and Dick went through a rocky period before the latter transitioned to the Nightwing persona in the comics, but it kind of seems like the Powers That Be are taking everything to the extreme when it’s not entirely necessary.
Oh, and who thought it’d be a good idea to have Robin kill people? Just asking for a friend.
The DC Universe streaming service – Titans included – is set to launch sometime this fall via iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV, in addition to offering online and mobile access. Will you be subscribing to it? Be sure to let us know in the usual place.
