Teen Titans series in development at TNT

Written by Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman and executive-turned-scribe Marc Haimes, Titans revolves around the eponymous group of young Super Heroes-to-be from the DC Universe. The action series centers on Dick Grayson (probably best known for his alter ego as Robin), who emerges from the shadow of Batman to become Nightwing, the leader of a fearless band of new Super Heroes including Starfire, Raven and many others.

 

I love Teen Titans. Great cartoon, great comic, great characters. Love it to death.

One problem though. I know it's a knee jerk reaction at this point to doubt everything done with DC comics characters, but I'm scared.

Mainly because Akiva Goldsman wrote Batman & Robin and that Keanu Reeves Constantine movie.

EDIT: Oh, and Jonah Hex and Hancock.

Yep, scared now.

 

I'm glad to see Dick Grayson get his due, and can't wait to see Raven in live-action. I loved her in the comics and the cartoon.

I do have some concerns though:

1) Will they be able to reference Batman? I know Smallville wasn't allowed to at all, but it is an essential part of Dick Grayson's character. Same with Wonder Woman, if Wonder Girl is ever introduced. I know that they referenced Batman in the article, but that could be just to drum up interest in the project.

2) Character usage. Since he's going to be the token black guy in the Justice League movie, I'm afraid Cyborg won't be allowed to be a part of this show. And will the writers be up to making their own version of Deathstroke while Arrow is still on the air? They could always be unique and introduce Jericho and Ravager. What about Wally West? If he's included I really don't want to see the New!52 black Wally running around spray-painting buildings and all of that.

 

Cautious optimism just turned to resigned pessimism. ;_;

 

Yessssssss.

Hope it maintains some of the funny from the cartoons and isn't just straight up action / drama.

 

While it would be awesome if this turned out to be good, don't really have high hopes for it. Seems to me Teen Titans would do better as a cartoon and if they are unwilling to revive the awesome cartoon, why not just have Greg Weisman do the new one? Dude makes constantly awesome stuff (that gets canceled after 2 seasons).

Still, I would take 2 great seasons of a Teen Titans cartoon as opposed to a wishy washy live action series where a lot of stuff gets cut because of behind the scenes legal battles between the studios.

Am oddly looking forward to the Supergirl series. Maybe because it is just one character they can dedicate more focus on rather than a team.

 

In my opinion, one of the large reasons a team worked, like the Avengers movie, is because it had several movies before it that introduced the characters. It gave them backstory and something to actually care about instead of a flat two dimensional villain to rally a team together to fight at the very end of the pilot episode and all season long.

Throwing together a series like this will take several shows in order to just build up who these people are, because you know it won't be as simple as transferring all the comic character plots into a TV show plotline. They're going to be differences, origin stories, supporting cast, etc.

By that time we're comfortable with them and they've ironed out all the kinks, it's the tenth or fifteenth episode of the first season and anyone but the diehard fans will have long given up.

Eventually, it probably would be a decent show, but it's surviving long enough to get there that will probably kill it.

 

Or they take the whole first season to form the team, like, only in the final episode do they found the team. Before it is just Robin assembling all the members, getting to know them and stuff. that could also work. Episode 1 is Robin and him striking out on his own, maybe decide to form a team, episode 2-3-4 is meeting the second member, hear their backstory and then do some stuff together and then join up. Or the first 5-6 episodes of the season are each dedicated to one member and only in episode do we see them interact.

There are a number of ways they can still pull that off, but it is doubtful.

 

This isn't a movie though. It's a show. A diverse cast with slowly revealed backstories is a tried and true 'team' show formula.

Take Farscape for instance. They didn't throw all the character origins into the first 3-5 eps. They spread it out with the plot, giving teasing tidbits here and there to pull people in.

There is no reason a team formula can't be succesful. It just has to be done correctly.

 

I can't think of an actor with a good enough ass to play Dick.

 

I didn't say it wasn't possible. In fact I said just the opposite, just that it's more than likely going to eventually die from low ratings because of the difficulty involved.

I think you'll find comparing apples to apples more realistic here. Space Sci-fi =/= Superheroes, and there are more than a few examples of failed team superhero shows out there, because they keep making the exact same mistakes time and again and DC's track record isn't very good on originality where script production is involved. If it isn't Batman or Superman they usually shoot themselves in the foot. Granted, this is TNT, known for putting out quality material every now and then.

That may change. Hopefully it will.

Something else to think about:

Even 2nd season Arrow is pulling in seriously low ratings in comparison to Smallville at its lowest in the 9th season, and I'd rank that better than most of the stuff I've seen in terms of SH shows. It's just got one main hero to support.

 

Apparently the Titan's show might tie into Arrow. TNT and CW are sister networks.

http://comicbook.com/2014/09/23/titans-tv-show-could-be-part-of-arrow-and-flash-universe/

I could dig this. Give Manu a role in the Titan's show and have Roy guest star every now and then. Could be great for a Kid Flash storyline as well...

 

I loved the cartoon but I know next to nothing about the comic counterpart that wasn't referenced in the show.

I hope it's good but even if it isn't I'll probably still end up watching it because nostalgia.

 

Two totally different animals. The TT comics I remembered reading wasn't scripted like an American anime. It at least tried to take itself seriously almost all the time. There, of course, were the occasional silly issues like any other title, but for the most part it was just like any other DC team comic.

 

I read a little bit of the Trigon/Raven arc, and. There was definitely a lot more happening during just that time frame.

The comics always seemed to be something there would always be too much of and you could never catch up on. So I never really bothered, though if they had them all at a library or something I'd probably get into it.

 

So...shooting starts in 2015!!! Geoff Johns confirmed!

 

A series that -for fucking once- doesn't pussy out of the Bat-clan? Yes please.

 

Agreed. I know there has been some sort of "unknown law" from WB about the big names not appearing in tv shows, but I think Gotham has bucked the trend a bit even if Bruce is a kid.

Furthermore, Arrow/Flash has shown that crossovers -are- possible and bring in the ratings.

Super excited to see Nightwing on screen. I'm serious hoping this can be connected to Arrow/Flash due to being sister companies. Manu Bennett plz!!

 

Titans Roster Revealed:

Beast Boy & Cyborg not in lineup.