A new full-length trailer and poster have dropped for Titans season 3. New characters, a new vigilante, and a return to Gotham City promise a violent, dark, and twisted new season.
As expected, Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) and Jason Todd (Curran Walters) are central to the storyline. Looks like Todd’s transformation from Robin number two into the villain Red Hood will follow the comic storyline pretty closely. The trailer hints that Todd is killed by the Joker, which brings the Titans to Gotham City. Batman (Iain Glen) feels like he failed Todd, and is passing on his cape and cowl to Dick.
But Dick is firmly established as Nightwing and head of the Titans. So he won’t replace Batman alone, but share the responsibility with his team. The trailer opens with a flashback scene that shows Dick is still dealing with being weaponized during childhood by Batman. The accompanying voiceover is Vincent Kartheiser, who plays the villain Dr. Johanathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow. Seems like he’s using psychiatry to manipulate Dick’s memories.
Other new additions to the cast are Savannah Welch and Jay Lycurgo. While there’s a brief glimpse of Lycurgo’s Tim Drake, we see more of Welch. She plays Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl-turned-Gotham police commissioner. There’s already an interesting dynamic between Dick and Barbara, and a real sense that we are seeing the next generation of Gotham’s heroes. Until now, Hollywood always focused on Batman and constantly rebooted the character with new actors. Even though the DC show is more Batfamily than Titans, it’s good to see Grayson finally become more than Batman’s sidekick. The first Robin has always been a favorite DC character and is almost as popular as the Caped Crusader himself. Grayson’s transformation from sidekick to Nightwing and leader of the Titans has been pretty solid throughout the first two seasons.
The show’s weakness, though, is the number of new characters introduced each season which has often sidelined the original team members: StarFire (Anna Diop), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), Raven (Teagan Croft), Dove (Minka Kelly), and Hawk (Minka Kelly). Starfire’s role is set to expand this season as faces her sister Blackfire (Damaris Lewis), and other visitors from her home planet Tamaran. Hopefully, we’ll see more of Beast Boy, who has been woefully underused in past seasons. And Superboy (Joshua Orpin), who was created from the DNA of Superman and his archenemy Lex Luthor is likely to face Cadmus Laboratories once again. Look for the return of Wonder Girl (Connor Leslie), who died last season.
The first three episodes of Titans Season 3 will premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, August 12 with a new episode launching weekly every Thursday through October 21.
