Well folks it's here, San Diego Comic Con, the convention of conventions, started yesterday and it kicked off with a bang, and don't get me wrong, there was an explosion, it just was in DC's face. Why is this you ask, because the long awaited show Titans debuted it's trailer, and to be nice we'll just say it's divisive.
Titans is the live action show focused on the fan favorite super team: The Teen Titans. The show stars Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Hawk & Dove coming together to form the iconic team. There are even confirmed appearances by other iconic young characters such as Jason Todd, most know as Red Hood, and Donn Troy, Wonder Girl. There has been a lot of build up and hype behind this show as they have been promoting, in particular, Robin in costume. Before we go any further here is the trailer so that you can have a frame of refference for what I have to say:
Now there are some moments in the trailer I like, but they are VASTLY outweighed by things I very much dislike. There is one thing I want to focus on in particular, and no it's not that Starfire still looks atrocious (really, a fur coat?), its not that beast boy only turns green when he's about to use his powers, it's not even the cringeworthy dialogue displayed at points, it's the shere brutality shown in the trailer, namely from Dick Grayson.
I understand that this show finds Dick in a darker place going between his transition from Boy Wonder to Nightwing. In the books and the animated series this time period shows Dick prone to bouts of angst. However, this first fight shows off Dick Grayson straight up murdering people. He snaps a dudes neck by stomping on it and punctuates the deed with a "Fuck Batman" line. Most obviously the direct thing that should be noticed is this sounds like a great Jason Todd. However, this isn't Jason, this is Dick Grayson. Honestly that's one of the things that stung most about this trailer, Dick Grayson doesn't feel like Dick Grayson at all.
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| Nightwing Annual 1 |
Dick Grayson has a super power, it's not physical, it's not in the mind, it's that his compassion for others brings out the best in the people around him. It's why Batman and him are the dynamic duo, it's why in so many teams filled with super powered people, Dick takes point as the leader. There was a moment in the first annual of the current Nightwing run that teams the character up with Superman, where superman talks about Dick Grayson's approval being worth more than it's weight in gold, and it's all because of how much even Batman respects his opinion. Dick Grayson may be troubled in this time, but to make him cold and ruthless, to have him completely toss out the code enstilled in him after years of training by Batman. However, as out of character as this brutality was, what's even worse was that the violence in this trailer doesn't at all feel organic. It feels completely unnecessary.
There is so much excessive violence in this trailer. Dick Grayson brutalizing and potentially murdering a group of common street criminals, Dove slicing open the back of a guys knees with absolutely no context other than show her being a "badass." Look violence is a great selling point, but the amount of gore in this first trailer honestly makes me feel they werent using this violence to tell a story and show off their characters' abilities, it's actively just there to get an R rating essentially. The fact they thought this was the only way to get a mature rating on a Teen Titans show, it's fucking disappointing. They are TEENAGERS, a good friend of mine came up with a great idea to have the offtime for the Titans feel like an American Pie movie. Like there are so many ways, however, they just wanted to double down on DCEU's dark thematic tone, something it has received a great deal of blowback for. I mean I enjoyed the DCEU's tone, however, this was just ridiculous. What's worse is that it's supposed to be the foundation for a whole new set of shows and along with Young Justice season 3 is supposed to be the selling point of the DC Universe app (which oh by the way, is super over priced at 7.99 a month).
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