The time has finally come for us UK fans to enjoy DC's newest live-action tv series; DC's Titans! As of writing this (January 11th, 2019) the UK can now watch the show on Netflix, and so of course I'll be binging the entire season, with a review on the entire show as a whole because I'm not too good with episode by episode reviews.
The show concentrates heavily on two primary characters; Richard 'Dick' Grayson a.k.a Robin and Rachel Roth a.k.a Raven. Both are very dark characters in this show, with Rachel being haunted by nightmares and 'something' inside of her, whilst Dick Grayson is fighting against his past, and the pressure of wanting to be a hero but living in the shadow of the Batman.
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| Hawk (Alan Ritchson) & Dove (Minka Kelly) |
This show has many great references back to the stories and characters we know, within the first few episodes, and throughout the entire season. Titans already seems to be opening up it's own universe similar to that of Arrow, as we are introduced to characters such as Hawk and Dove which gives us a new story which is equally as dark as the rest of the show, which gives us a look at the original Hawk and Dove who were brothers. We are also treated to an introduction to Robotman, The Chief, Elasti-girl & Negative Man who make up the DC Comics team known as Doom Patrol which is the title of the episode in which we are introduced to them. It has already been comfirmed that a Doom Patrol series is coming in 2019 to DCUniverse, so this would be the first show to find its way into this new universe whilst going in it's own direction. We are introduced to the group through Garfield Logan a.k.a Beast Boy so no doubt he will want to return at some point to meet up for a family reunion, and possibly a crossover event like Arrow has done for the past few years, where it takes both teams to defeat a greater enemy, but we'll have to wait and see.
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| Promo Image of the Doom Patrol team (2019). From left to right; Negative Man, Robot Man, Crazy Jane, Elasti-Girl & Cyborg |
One of the highlights for the series is how much of Robin we get to see, specifically Dick Graysons' story as we watch him battle with his past as he tries to run away from his past, despite how much it comes back to haunt him. This show is a much darker take on the Robin portrayals we know however, for both Dick Grayson and for Jason Todd, who is introduced at the end of Episode 5, but more heavily explored in Episode 6. Dick seems to be trying to fight against his past which he says has changed him into something else, which we see through his violent actions during his fight scenes where he uses brute force and shows almost no mercy to his foes. Although he still doesn't kill, which is at least something, but that can't necessarily be much better than being hospitalised from a shar R shaped shuriken in the eye, or broken limbs, which make for great cinematic sequences.
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| Dick Grayson a.k.a Robin (Brenton Thwaites) |
As the episodes go on we learn more and more about the characters but the season seems to focus more heavily on Dick Grayson and Raven as I previoulsy mentioned because the first season seems to be all about the attempted capture of Raven herself (although the alias of each of the Titans are never used in this show) in order to help bring her father through to our world, whilst Dick aims to protect her from harm and refrain from bringing her up in a way that Batman would have.
The production throughout the show is fantastic, and although some of the more heavily CGI scenes seem somewhat lower in quality, there is no doubt that this show is brilliantly made. It has a great casting of all ages that set a nice tone and theme of 'family' that makes us sympathise for each of the characters as we see them struggle with their own lives and abilities. We also understand them more as we learn about each of their pasts, to the moments that brought them to where they are now. The cast have a great chemistry on screen and we believe how much they want to help each other, as well as how much they're hurting when they find themselves feeling lost or unwanted.
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| Rachel Roth a.k.a Raven (Teagan Croft) |
If you haven't watched this show yet I highly recommend you give it a shot, but more than that, give it a chance. It's full of lovely little easter eggs, references and characters that you can't help but sympathise with and want to get to know more about. I myself do not know much about the Teen Titans from the comics, apart from what I have learned in adaptations such as Teen Titans! animated series, Teen Titans Go! and the DC Animated films such as Justice League vs Teen Titans.
Overall I'd give this show an 8/10 and I'm sure that with more seasons hopefully to come, that we'll get to see a better production budget in order to bring bigger events to the screen and better visuals including some of the costumes and CGI. It has already climbed onto my list of favourite TV shows (I don't watch much TV as it is so take that as you will) and more importantly one of my favouirte DCTV shows (of which I do watch plenty of).
[END CREDITS SPOILER]
This next part is about the scene we get after the credits of the final episode of Titans. If you have not watched this yet then please do not read on unless you are absolutely sure you don't mind the spoilers.
At the end of Titans, I was told on Twitter by those lucky enough to have watched it on DCUniverse, that there is a post-credits scene at the end of the season finale, episode 11. So I waited patiently whilst I began this review, and I at first I was thinking "I wondered when they'd show us this character" but then that same character, who presumably is Superboy due to the classic S symbol tattooed on his shoulder, and the fact that he's escaping a lab, then proceeds into a room lit completely green. Inside this room lies a small transparent box containing a lovely looking white dog. The door is pulled from the container with force, as the dog stands up and turns to the camera. His eyes then begin to glow red and if you haven't figured out before now, it is confirmed in that moment that this is our new live action Krypto the Superdog!
Krypto (or at least the name belonging to a dog) has appeared before only once in live action in the TV Series Smallville, but this new version of the super dog seems to appear as a closer adaptation of the character looks wise and performance wise since the version we saw in Smallville only seemed to have super strength, but none of the other powers. The red eyes in Titans already suggest to us that this Krypto already has heat vision and will most likely join Superboy in helping the Titans defeat Trigon.
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