The DC Universe streaming platform has revealed the first trailer for its ~dark and ~gritty series Titans, and it’s… basically the equivalent of a rebellious teenager acting out, against the backdrop of music that keeps repeating DARKNESS DARKNESS DARKNESS over and over. Or is that MADNESS? We can’t tell, because we can’t stop laughing watching it.
Never mind that there was an excellent Teen Titans animated series way back when. Nah, what we need instead is Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), detective by day and masked vigilante by night. If him moodily throwing an R-shaped shuriken isn’t enough to let audiences know that he’s rejected being the Boy Wonder, then they’ll be sure to get the message with his growly response to baddies looking for the Caped Crusasder: “Fuck Batman.” Oooh, someone’s tough.
The series also looks surprisingly gory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dIwGAYcWk
The official synopsis from DC Universe is pretty bare:
Titans follows young heroes from across the DC Universe as they come of age and find belonging in a gritty take on the classic Teen Titans franchise.
The trailer fleshes more of this out, as wayward psychic teen Raven (Teagan Croft) tracks down Dick to help her figure out what’s behind her visions, and the evil that she fears lurks within her. Except that he might be more interested in helping her embrace that darkness rather than reject it. We also get glimpses of Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) and Starfire (Anna Diop) in action.
It’s certainly a lot grittier than anyone was expecting; it will be interesting to see how it does as one of the three flagship series from DC Universe. No word yet on premiere date, but interested parties can pre-order subscriptions for the streaming service starting today, with a special sign-up promotion for San Diego Comic-Con.
