Top 5 Things Wrong with DC's Titans

You’d think the dark and gritty tone we got to see in the Comic-Con trailer would be a perfect fit in the equally dark and gritty DCEU. Or, maybe Titans is a darker take on the Arrowverse over on the CW… wait, it’s neither? Turns out, Titans takes place in its own universe that will also feature a Doom Patrol show on DC Universe, the upcoming streaming service from Warner Brothers and DC. For those keeping track, that means 3 consecutive live-action universes all going at once - and that’s not even counting the stand-alone shows like Gotham and Krypton. Talk about confusing your audience.

If you’re going to make a live-action Teen Titans adaptation, why wouldn’t you include Cyborg? He’s been an essential part of the team since they were reinvented in the 80s, and was also a main character in the beloved Cartoon Network series in the 2000s. For those of you thinking that his exclusion is a result of Ray Fisher portraying him in 2017’s Justice League movie, that didn’t stop Warner Brothers from introducing Ezra Miller as the Flash after Grant Gustin had been running around as the Scarlet Speedster on the small screen. Maybe they plan on introducing him in the future, but his exclusion might result in the show never getting far enough to do so.

This one’s just plain weird. In what little we see of Anna Diop as Starfire in the trailer, it appears she’s blasting baddies with fire that’s shooting out of her hands. Look, we get that her name has “fire” in it, but Starfire can’t do that. She does have the ability to manipulate ultraviolet energy, which includes the ability to shower her enemies in starbolt blasts, but shooting fire out of her hands? Nope. With such a rich history and a roster of fascinating characters that have captivated fans for decades, it’s a bit ridiculous to get something so wrong about one of the key members.

Throughout her history in the comics, the half-demon Raven has always been a brooding badass. She was one of the most interesting and enigmatic elements of the Titans’ dynamic, as she stood in stark contrast to the other, traditionally heroic members of the team. This version looks like something out of an emo music video from the early 2000s. Nothing against the actress, as there was nothing wrong with her performance from what we can tell from the trailer, but positioning Raven as the “Eleven” of the team is a drastic change that completely changes the character.

Dick Grayson is one of the most beloved and long-lasting characters in DC’s roster, both as the first Robin and later as Nightwing. But even when Dick decided to strike out on his own in Blüdhaven, he never… you know… killed people. Regardless of his feelings towards Batman, to go from the Dick Grayson we know and love to this psycho who steps on dudes’ necks without a second thought is not what we had in mind when we first heard there would be a live-action Teen Titans show. Of all the egregious changes on display in the trailer, this one sticks out the most.