Why Titans Is The Live-Action TV Series That DC Needs

As soon as the first images of Titans hit the internet, there was controversy. A lot of fans took issue with an African-American actress portraying an orange alien and demanded a more comic book accurate interpretation. Sadly, all other orange aliens were contractually tied up in other projects such as The Wind in the Martian Willows, so it is what it is. Stupidity aside, things didn't get much better after the first Titans trailer made it on the web. The excessive violence and Robin cursing Batman twisted some panties into a bunch and the inevitable "not muh" crap got flung around by the usual suspects. Strange how DC mentioned months before that the show would be mature and R-rated and people were still surprised by this development. It's as if folks don't read or pay attention to the details anymore… Once again, it appears as if the internet has made its mind up about something before having the full picture. There's no changing that, unfortunately, so it's up to Titans to actually convince the naysayers of its quality. Frankly, it looks like it could be exactly what DC TV needs at the moment. Unlike the loudmouths, though, we'll substantiate our claims, so read on for our reasons. Replacing The Arrowverse Much like everyone celebrating Disney's acquisition of Fox, and getting a bulk of Marvel's properties back home, we should be shouting from the rooftops that DC is starting its own streaming service. This means it'll be able to call the shots and be in charge of all its creative decisions and storylines. While the Arrowverse has succeeded in many ways and paved the way for other superhero TV shows to prosper, it's still owned by The CW. DC's at the mercy of the network and its decisions, hence we having to suffer through a wedding – or longwinded romance – on every season of each show. Don't get us wrong: The partnership between DC and The CW looks to be healthy and strong. However, there are limitations, and it's the equivalent of working for someone else. Sure, the relationship might be good and fruitful for both parties, but it'll never be as sweet as when you're in control of your own destiny and making the rules. Titans is the proof of concept for DC Universe. A whole bunch of other shows have been announced for the future, but this is the biggie. If it succeeds, it'll kick down the barndoor for all its pals to come out and play. There's no doubt that DC's thinking big here and wants to create its own sandbox for its properties. No longer will rights be held up at different networks (and possibly studios in the future) and we could see all our favorite DC superheroes and supervillains slugging it out in a shared universe that's vast and owned by the right people. Things Aren't Always What They Seem It's funny how everyone lost their minds over less than two minutes of footage when the trailer dropped. In fact, it's two minutes of out-of-context footage. It's like we've forgotten how trailers contain scenes that might not even make it onto the actual show. Undoubtedly, one of the more controversial moments in the trailer was Robin's "f–k Batman" line and use of excessive force to take down a few thugs. DC's Geoff Johns, who's also a showrunner on Titans, explained the following to Polygon about it: "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 ' 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." In other words, chill. It's possible that this could even be a dream sequence and the scene is one of Dick Grayson's dark fantasies. We don't know the full story here; only that Raven needs help and sought out Grayson. That's it. Three Different Titans Series Chicken mayonnaise sandwiches are yummy. They're tasty and always a treat. But would you want to eat the same sandwich three a times a day for a whole week? Exactly. Then, why would you want to watch the same characters do the same thing across three shows? When Teen Titans Go! was released, it caused controversy because it deviated from the original Teen Titans. It was different and strayed away from the tone of the first animated series, as it targeted a young audience. For ages, fans slammed its existence before finally warming up to the show and accepting it as its own beast. Furthermore, there's now the chance that original animated series might be making a comeback – maybe on the DC Universe. So, why would anyone want Titans to be a beat-for-beat adaptation of those two other shows? Is variety not the spice of life? It's pointless to remake something in a live-action form, because the first criticism is that it's a regurgitation of something else. We're living in an era of reboots and rehashes. Instead of celebrating new ideas and creative risks, we bemoan whenever something takes an unexpected turn. This attitude needs to change. What's the worst that could happen? Sure, Titans could suck and not be good, but we'd still have the other two series to enjoy and cherish. Really, a bad TV show isn't the end of the world. Far from it, in fact. The Return Of The Dark Superhero For every person who complains about Zack Snyder's dark superhero efforts, there's another who loves them. Not everything needs to be like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), or Deadpool, or whatever. There's room for darker superhero projects; in fact, they should be encouraged. Do we really need a Titans show where the characters are quipping all the time and making fart jokes? As discussed above, that's already happened in Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans. Let the new show venture to the dark side and explore a different element of these superheroes. For those who dislike it, you'll still have all the lighter shows on The CW. Lest we forget, the New 52 was DC's effort at being a more mature brand and ran for a few years. While it wasn't universally accepted by everyone, it was commercially successful and some characters shone brightly in this grim world. For example, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman run is considered one of the best we've ever seen, while Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's Justice League redefined the heroes for a new generation. There's simply no telling how Titans will turn out until we see it with our own eyes. It's something fresh and could unlock the door to this new DC Universe. Then again, it could turn into DC's Iron Fist. Let's not jump to conclusions, though, and give the show the benefit of the doubt until it proves otherwise.