Titans (2018 TV series)

• Brenton Thwaites as Richard "Dick" Grayson / Robin / Nightwing: The leader of the Titans and former vigilante sidekick of Batman, seeking to move past his mentor and his Robin persona.[2][3][4] A member of the original team, he reforms the Titans while assuming the new identity of Nightwing. Viewing his character as a "reluctant leader", Thwaites said that Dick is "trying to figure out who he is at the same time he's trying to keep the crew protected and safe".[5] Tomaso Sanelli plays the young Dick Grayson.
• Anna Diop as Koriand'r / Kory Anders / Starfire: An extraterrestrial royal from the planet Tamaran who has the ability to absorb and redirect heat.[6] Sent to Earth to assassinate Rachel, a bout of amnesia causes Kory to forget her mission and sends her on a journey to discover who she really is. Diop commented that the character has a "really innocent, naïve, pure, fun, curious thing about her", which she sought to bring to her portrayal, and enjoyed playing an alien because of her immigration from Senegal to the United States at an early age.[7]
• Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth: An empath born to a demon father and human mother.[8][1] At first understanding little of her lineage and abilities, Rachel's powers lead her to Dick and subsequently becoming a member of the new Titans. Croft noted Rachel's relationship with Dick is "more of a father-daughter relationship" since they both "share the same feeling of abandonment".[9]
• Ryan Potter as Garfield "Gar" Logan: A shapeshifter who developed the power to transform into animals from a drug that cured him of a lethal disease.[10] Gar previously lived with the Doom Patrol before joining Dick's new Titans team. A fan of the character since he watched the animated Teen Titans series, Potter described Gar as bringing "a warmth to the show" through "humor and lighthearted moments".[11]
• Curran Walters as Jason Todd / Robin (season 2; recurring season 1): Dick's successor as Batman's vigilante sidekick who is brought into the new Titans team at the request of Bruce Wayne.[12] According to Walters, Jason has both a "fun" and a "dark side" and transitioning between the two was the most challenging aspect of portraying the character.[13]
• Conor Leslie as Donna Troy / Wonder Girl (season 2; guest season 1): An adopted member of the Amazons sharing their enhanced physical abilities. Formerly Wonder Woman's sidekick, she befriended Dick at an early age and was in the original Titans team.[14] Leslie noted that Donna has "a brother-sister friendship" with Dick and the two "understand each other in a way no one else ever will".[15] Andi Hubick portrays Donna Troy as a teenager and Afrodite Drossos portrays Donna as a child.
• Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger / Dove (season 2; recurring season 1): A vigilante who serves as a tactical counterpart to her partner and boyfriend Hank.[16] She was also a member of the original Titans team and previously in a relationship with Dick. Kelly described Dawn's fighting style as "more that of a dance" due to the character's background in ballet, jiu-jitsu, and gymnastics, whereas Hank "is a brute and just blows stuff up".[17]
• Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall / Hawk (season 2; recurring season 1): The aggressive half in a vigilante duo composed of himself and his girlfriend Dawn.[18] In addition to forming the Hawk and Dove team with his half-brother Don, he was part of the original Titans. Initially reluctant to take the role because he previously portrayed Aquaman on the series Smallville, Ritchson said that he accepted the part after hearing a pitch from series co-creator Geoff Johns.[19] Tait Blum portrays the young Hank.
• Esai Morales as Slade Wilson / Deathstroke (season 2): A biologically-enhanced assassin and former Delta Force operator who has a history with the original Titans.[20] Morales stated that Deathstroke's conflict against the Titans is "personal" for him "because you don't mess with a man's family".[21]
• Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson (season 2): Deathstroke's daughter, who shares his enhanced reflexes and regenerative healing.[22][23]
• Joshua Orpin as Subject 13 / Conner (season 2): A genetic clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, possessing the abilities and personality traits of both. Created at Cadmus Laboratories, he comes into contact with the Titans after escaping from the facility with Krypto.[24][25] Acknowledging that he was fascinated by Conner's internal conflict, Orpin noted that "he has an extraordinary capacity for good, and for evil" where "nothing is black and white to him, and yet everything is".[26] The character was previously portrayed by body double Brooker Muir in the first season.

• Rachel Nichols as Angela Azarath: Rachel's biological mother, secretly in allegiance with Trigon.[27]
• Seamus Dever as Trigon: An interdimensional demon with the power to destroy worlds and Rachel's father.[28] Dever also portrays Frank Finney, a Gotham City police captain, along with an ice cream truck driver and a drug supplier in the illusions created by Trigon.
• Reed Birney as Dr. Adamson (season 1): A high-ranking member of Trigon's organization.
• Jeff Clarke as Nuclear Dad (season 1): The patriarch of the Nuclear Family.
• Melody Johnson as Nuclear Mom (season 1): The matriarch of the Nuclear Family.
• Jeni Ross as Nuclear Sis (season 1): The daughter/sister figure of the Nuclear Family.
• Logan Thompson as Nuclear Biff (season 1): The son/brother figure of the Nuclear Family.
• Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne / Batman (season 2): A billionaire who moonlights as a feared vigilante in Gotham City and Dick's mentor.[29] The character was previously portrayed by stunt doubles Alain Moussi and Maxim Savarias in the first season.[30][31]
• Michael Mosley as Dr. Arthur Light (season 2): A former physicist who turned criminal after gaining the ability to control light energy.[32][33]
• Chella Man as Jericho (season 2): Deathstroke's mute son and Rose's half-brother, who has the power to possess other people's bodies through eye contact.[34]
• Raoul Bhaneja as Walter Hawn (season 2): The vice president of special projects at Cadmus Laboratories.[25]
• Natalie Gumede as Mercy Graves (season 2): The personal security specialist to Lex Luthor, assigned to oversee Cadmus Laboratories.[35]
• Demore Barnes as William Wintergreen (season 2): Deathstroke's handler and friend.[36]
• Mayko Nguyen as Adeline (season 2): Jericho's mother and Deathstroke's ex-wife.

Dog actors Wrigley, Digby, and Lacey portray Krypto, a dog possessing Kryptonian powers who accompanies Conner.[26]

A potential live-action Titans project for cable channel TNT was announced in September 2014.[53] By December 2014, a pilot written by Akiva Goldsman and Marc Haimes had been ordered that would feature Dick Grayson emerging from Batman's shadow to become Nightwing, the leader of a band of heroes including Starfire, Raven, Hawk and Dove, and Oracle. The pilot was set with filming to occur in Toronto in mid-2015.[54][55] In May 2015, TNT president Kevin Reilly said that they hoped to have the casting locked down by the start of filming and that the show would be "very true" to the comics and "groundbreaking".[56] The series, called Titans and then Blackbirds, was first set to begin shooting in Toronto in mid-2015.[57] Production was then postponed to October.[58] In January 2016, it was announced that TNT would no longer be moving forward with the project.[59][60] In February 2016, Geoff Johns stated "We [at DC] have known about [TNT nixing Titans] for months and months and months. That's not new news to us. We have plans for Titans. It's a huge piece of DC and we have plans."[61] Johns, who had spent seven years developing the material with Goldsman, said in October 2018 that the project depended on securing the rights to Dick Grayson.[62] He said, "You couldn't do Titans without Robin ... So there was a lot of behind-the-scenes work that went into that."[62] Previous Titans projects had been hampered by the rights to Batman being locked up.[62]

In April 2017, Warner Bros. announced that Titans would debut in 2018 on DC Comics' own direct-to-consumer digital service. The series is developed by Goldsman, Johns, Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter, with Goldsman, Johns and Berlanti writing the pilot episode. All are also executive producers of the series for Weed Road Pictures and Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros Television.[63] Though twelve episodes were initially announced,[64] the eleventh episode was billed as the first-season finale in December 2018.[65][66]

Ahead of the series' premiere at New York Comic Con in October 2018, Titans was renewed for a second season[67] and the twelfth episode of the first season was moved to become the second season's premiere.[68] For the season, Greg Walker and John Fawcett were added as executive producers.[67] The second season premiered on September 6, 2019,[69] and consisted of 13 episodes.[70] Production of season 2 was temporarily put on hold in July 2019 due to the accidental death of special effects coordinator Warren Appleby; the season 2 premiere is dedicated in his memory.[71][72]

In November 2019, DC confirmed a third season, which is scheduled to premiere in the fourth quarter of 2020.[73][74]

Johns noted the series was inspired mostly by the Teen Titans comics of the 1980s, since that comic's run "had so much drama" and "was so revolutionary for its time". He added, "We really wanted to lean into the idea that every Titan of these Titans is a doorway into another genre. With Rachel [a.k.a. Raven], it's the supernatural and the horror, and the first season really focuses on who Raven is and how the Titans galvanize around her." Johns also felt the series would be "a little more adult" than the television series Riverdale, calling it "not necessarily a teen drama, [but] more of an adventure piece".[75] He said that tonally, "We wanted to do something different from everything else out there. We wanted to arrive at a tone that wasn't as welcoming as some of the DC shows have been, nor as nihilistic as some of the films have been."[62] Goldsman said that as the series continues, it will ask "How are these broken people going to cohere? Or will they?"[62] Johns noted that Robin's infamous line in the pilot—"Fuck Batman"—was a late addition to the script.[62] Thwaites said of the line, "I thought it was perfect ... This is not a show about Batman. It's a show about Dick."[62]

In early August 2017, Teagan Croft was cast as Rachel Roth,[8] followed at the end of the month with the casting of Anna Diop as Kory Anders,[6] and Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson.[2][3] Ahead of the series premiere, Diop reduced her presence on social media because of racist attacks towards her casting.[76][77][78] The main cast for the first season would be rounded out by Ryan Potter as Gar Logan, who was announced in October 2017.[10] In early September 2017, Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly were cast in the recurring roles of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, respectively.[18][16] By the end of the month, Lindsey Gort had been cast as Amy Rohrbach.[37] In January 2018, Seamus Dever was cast in an undisclosed role that would later be revealed as Trigon,[28] and a month later, members of the Doom Patrol were announced with Bruno Bichir as the Chief,[40] April Bowlby as Rita Farr,[38] Jake Michaels as Cliff Steele,[41] and Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor.[42] Curran Walters and Conor Leslie appear as Jason Todd and Donna Troy, respectively.[12][14] In August 2018, Elliot Knight was cast as Don Hall.[43]

In February 2019, it was announced that Joshua Orpin had been cast as Conner Kent for season two.[24] After the character was teased by Johns,[79] Esai Morales was cast as Deathstroke in March 2019,[20] with Chella Man and Chelsea Zhang announced as his children Jericho and Rose.[34][22] Iain Glen was cast as Bruce Wayne / Batman on April 11, 2019, marking the character's first physical appearance after being portrayed by stunt doubles in the first-season finale.[29] In June 2019, Natalie Gumede and Drew Van Acker were cast as Mercy Graves and Garth, respectively.[35][45] In July 2019, Genevieve Angelson was announced as Cadmus Laboratories scientist Dr. Eve Watson.[47] In August 2019, Michael Mosley was revealed to be portraying Dr. Light.[32] The same month, Olunike Adeliyi announced on her Instagram she had joined the cast in an undisclosed role that was later revealed as burlesque dancer Mati Matisse[52] and Hanneke Talbot was revealed to be Shimmer.[50][51] In September 2019, Demore Barnes was revealed to be portraying Wintergreen.[36] Following the character's appearance in an October 2019 trailer, Anna Diop confirmed on her Instagram that Damaris Lewis would be portraying Kory's sister Blackfire,[48] which was also confirmed by Lewis.[49]

In December 2019, it was announced that Damaris Lewis had been promoted to series regular for season three.[80]

Filming for the first season began on November 15, 2017, in Toronto, and Hamilton, Ontario,[81][82] concluding on June 28, 2018.[83] Filming for the second season began on April 2, 2019,[84] and concluded on October 8, 2019.[85] Production was put on hold due to the July 18 accidental death of special effects coordinator Warren Appleby,[71][72] but resumed on July 24, 2019.

After the first episode was screened on October 3, 2018, at New York Comic Con, Titans officially premiered on October 12, 2018.[64] The first season comprised eleven episodes[65] and each episode was released weekly on DC Universe until the season finale aired on December 21, 2018.[86] Outside the United States, the first season became available for streaming via Netflix on January 11, 2019.[87][88]

The second season premiered on September 6, 2019, and concluded on November 29, 2019, comprising 13 episodes.[89]

The first season of Titans was released digitally on March 21, 2019,[90] and on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 16, 2019.[91] The second season was released digitally and on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 3, 2020.[92]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Titans holds a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 80%, with an average rating of 6.66 out of 10 based on 45 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Despite a few tonal growing pains, Titans does justice to its source material and truly shines when its titular ensemble finally assembles."[93] Metacritic gave the series' first season a score of 55 out of 100 based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[94]

Susana Polo of Polygon praised Titans for "tempering brutal violence and dark subject matter with humor—and by giving its characters plenty of time to stretch, breathe and become attached to one another".[95] Charlie Ridgely of Comicbook.com wrote that Diop "conveys so much wonder and intrigue with her subtle and genuine expressions, but there is a consistent fierceness and tenacity that is always lurking just beneath the surface."[96] Rosie Knight of Nerdist wrote that the "cast is at the core of what makes Titans so enjoyable", while giving praise to the script as well.[97] Forbes contributor Merrill Barr compared the show to The CW's Riverdale, describing it as "a dark and gritty series very far removed from the image the Teen Titans have garnered through a variety of animated outings over the last decade". Barr found that viewers "that take the tone in stride are going to find themselves in the middle of a series dialed directly into their interests".[98] Rob Salkowitz of Forbes wrote that Titans "somehow managed to deliver on the dark-and-foreboding tone that the early DC movies so conspicuously got wrong".[99]

Kevin Yeoman of Screen Rant was critical of the show's excessive violence, writing that Titans "doesn't put forward any new or particularly compelling thoughts about its characters or about superheroes in general".[100] Similarly, Vinne Mancuso of Collider said that "if you're just a fan of some good old-fashioned ultra-violence and moody storytelling, this simply isn't a well-done example of that".[101]

The second season holds an 81% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews. Its critical consensus reads, "Though Titans's sophomore season suffers from a slight slump at the start, it quickly resets itself, building on the momentum from its first season while laying fascinating framework for where the show could go."[102]

In May 2018, DC Universe announced the live-action series Doom Patrol had received a direct-to-series order as an intended spin-off to Titans. Despite the initial order and sharing characters and actors, however, Doom Patrol occupies a separate continuity.[107][108][109] Developed by Jeremy Carver (who wrote the pilot), Berlanti, and Johns (who also serves as executive producers along with Schechter) for Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions, the series features the Chief, Cliff Steele, Larry Trainor, Vic Stone, Rita Farr, and Jane as the members of eponymous Doom Patrol. April Bowlby, Matt Bomer, and Brendan Fraser reprise their roles as Rita, the voice of Larry, and the voice of Cliff, while Matthew Zuk and Riley Shanahan replace Dwain Murphy and Jake Michaels for the physical portrayals of Larry and Cliff[110] and Timothy Dalton replaces Bruno Bichir as the Chief.[111] The cast is also joined by Diane Guerrero as Jane, Joivan Wade as Vic, and Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody. Production began August 2018[112][113] and the series premiered on February 15, 2019.[114]

The Titans incarnations of Hank Hall, Jason Todd, Rachel Roth, Kory Anders, and Dawn Granger make cameo appearances in the Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with Alan Ritchson, Curran Walters, Teagan Croft, Anna Diop, and Minka Kelly appearing in their respective roles through archival footage. The event establishes Titans as being set on the world of Earth-9, which is destroyed and later restored during the crisis.[115]