The Titans series looked like a mixed bag to me, with some dodgy costumes, limited use of powers and overly dark tone outshadowing whatever cool moments it may deliver, but opinions seemed to improve as the show went on. So I'll put the question out to any of you who have watched it - was it a success for you? Did it capture the feel for the comics and characters, or did it miss the mark?
Thanks to Mike Shirley, a Patron of this blog, for suggesting this titanic teen team-up!
If you're referring to TEEN TITANS GO, no. That dummed-down spin-off should never have aired to begin with.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that series, it's talking about Netflix TITANES. 🤦
DeleteNot on Netflix. It's on DC Universe streaming service.
DeleteI agree with you, at first I thought it was something bizarre, but then it caught me. I already want to see the second season. In the post-credit scene, Superboy and Kripto were observed. 😲
ReplyDelete@Anon @ Kbfox: The show under discussion is Titans, airing on the DC Universe streaming service in the US and Netflix elsewhere. It's a live-action show that launched its own version of the DCU, alongside the just-released spinoff Doom Patrol. (No word on whether the still-upcoming Swamp Thing and Stargirl will also be in the same universe.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not a DC Universe subscriber, but from what I've seen of these two shows, I'm seriously thinking about it.
Correction: According to the Wikipedia page on the new Swamp Thing series, it won't take place in the same universe as Titans and Doom Patrol. I think that's a shame, since the cast also appears to include Madame Xanadu and Blue Devil, as well as Jason Woodrue.
ReplyDeleteNever take what Wikipedia says at face value, since all information is provided by the public and not necessarily official sources.
DeleteI love teenage mutant ninja turtles & teen Titans crossover
DeleteI just watched Season One of Titans and the first episode of Doom Patrol.
ReplyDeleteDoom Patrol was very well done. Interesting characters, stayed close to its comics roots, and a compelling storyline. I'm looking forward to future episodes, as I think this one reall has potential.
On the other hand...
Titans is for those people who always thought, "I like the DC Universe, but their heroes aren't murdery enough." Literally, by the end of the season, every character has committed at least one gruesome murder, some of them many more. Dick Grayson/Robin is the worst of the lot, having been reframed as a psycho/serial killer who just can't get enough of hardcore violence and brutalization that would make Wolverine say, "Dude, harsh."
The character meant to be Starfire dresses like a ten dollar hooker at a truckstop and enjoys incinerating people. No flying, no starbolts, just blasts of fire.
Raven is an angsty teen with blue hair who can't stop whining about her Daddy issues. When she gets particularly upset, she gains black eye makeup right before a swarm of black ravens fly out of her mouth and do nasty things to people. Uh huh.
Beast Boy is particularly pathetic. Green hair (but not green skin), he has to get naked before he can transform into a tiger. And that's all he can transform into... a tiger. Nothing else. Sad.
Hawk and Dove are a mixed back. Hank Hall is angry and violent, but that was always sort of Hawk's character, although this Hawk is more brutal than most. the problem is that Dove isn't very much different. She's also violent and angry. I guess that's what kids like these days.
There's hope for Wonder Girl, who shows up about halfway through the season. She seems level-headed and not murdery at all, but we'll see how she progreses in the second season.
It's not really a spoiler to say that Trigon is the big bad, as they talk about him throughout the season. His eventual appearance, however, is a let down. In the comics, he was this massive red demon with antlers. Seriously scary dude. In this incarnation, he's a nice looking guy in a suit, about as intimidating as the senior partner at a mid-level law firm. Someone must have been watching the first Fantastic Four movie thinking, "Wow. Galactus as a cloud is pretty cool." No, it wasn't, and neither is this.
And let's not forge the massive dropping of F-bombs that appear in this show. It's as if the producers thought that profanity would make this show "hip" and "edgy." I'm not a prude when it comes to language, but this is the absolute definition of gratuitous, thrown in just because they can and for no other reason. By the end of Season One, it's just ridiculous, and should really be treated as a drinking game.
The overall tone is, you guessed it, bleak, dark, and gritty, as if DC learned nothing from Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, Justice League and all the rest of their crappy movies. Wonder Woman and Aquaman did so well precisely because they abandoned this tone, but that lesson was clearly lost on the creators of Titans. There are no heroes in this show, only slightly less threatening killers. It's dark and nihilistic, and if you get off on that (I feel sorry for you), then this will no doubt be your cup of tea. But if you're going into this hoping to see your favorite characters brought to life, forget it. I just hope Doom Patrol doesn't go down this same path.
You just confirmed all of my suspicions and worries, John.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Ross went with the 2003 cartoon logo for the Turtles instead of more traditional comic logo. Granted I like the 03 show logo more. :)
Thanks, JP! You have permanently talked me out of it. :-)
ReplyDeleteSorry, Bob & Kbfox. But, _not_ sorry!
I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was, tbh.
ReplyDeleteThe writers clearly know their comics and have adapted the universe in a better and more lived in world than the movies have.
I admit it can get rather violent and the pacing is kind of slow but it give you more time to connect with the characters.If it still looks too extreme for you, then I'd just say you should view the show as an elseworld.
Humorously enough, the Turtles (or at least a lawyer-friendly parody version) appeared in an episode or two of Teen Titans Go. But I've been wanting a serious version of this team up, so thanks, Ross! Keep it up! :D
ReplyDelete@Jonn: by that same logic, we'd have to regard the last Spidey flick, with Michael Keaton as the Vulture, as being set on a "What If...?" Earth. What with the line that nearly got crossed between PG-13 and R in terms of profanity (that not even I used so over-frequently when I was a teenager).
ReplyDelete@Ross: thank you for using the pre-COIE Teen Titans. Jericho and Kole, included! Hopefully, the post-Flashpoint DC Universe will see them restored to existence, just like the JSA.
If you judge the Titans series on the trailer then you are missing something. The series takes the same approach as the Arrowverse in the sense they are heroes in the "real world." I did find a few flaws with the series. I did not like the change in the origin of Hawk and Dove since Raven is mystical in origin. Trigon is show in human form rather than in his demon form. The show is violent but that is because it is forcing Dick to understand he cannot continue as he is and he is suppose to change to Nightwing in season 2. Beast Boy does change into just a tiger but that is because of show costs. I did not like the look of Starfire at all. Hopefully that will change in season 2. Wonder Girl will be in costume in season 2 and it is very close to her comic look. It is worth checking out.
ReplyDelete"Splinter Cell" LOL!
ReplyDeleteP.S.---Good thinking, Mike! :-)
ReplyDeleteKole was cuter on the cover than Starfire!
ReplyDelete@my namesake: it's the anime-style mini-skirt. Occidental guys dig the mini-skirt!
ReplyDeleteThey all stream alike to me.
ReplyDelete"The series takes the same approach as the Arrowverse in the sense they are heroes in the "real world.""
ReplyDeleteSo, no superpowers and nothing supernatural?
No aliens or interdimensional teleporation, either?
ReplyDeleteNever trust so called "official sources" unless you know the "officials" on a personal/intimate basis.
ReplyDeleteTitans is a really mixed bag. Great casting and costumes in some cases, really bad in others. Great character moments and plot ideas in some episodes, really bad in others. Its major problem is that it should really be the teen-friendly CW superhero show instead of the gritty profanity and blood-laden streaming show that it is. I think the show's producers have it confused with Arrow.
ReplyDeleteWhich, of course, _does_ have superhumans, aliens, interdimensional teleportation, and the supernatural!
ReplyDeleteBut, a lot less swearing (by comparison).
@Cary Comic if the sources have those I might trust them if they are honest about their capabilities.
ReplyDeleteThen, by all means, brother: "Use The Source!"
ReplyDelete@Cary Comic nice segue into Richard Benjamin as TV's First Quark. "Quark! Garrr-baaaage" - The Head of The Galaxy (NBC 1978).
ReplyDelete