Pilot Review: Titans

Titans (DC Universe)
Premiered October 12

We are living in a superhero age, and they’re truly taking over television. As if five Marvel series on Netflix wasn’t enough, now its main competition gets its own network! It’s interesting that a show like this serves as the first flagship rather than one that actually spotlights one of the two major heroes that DC has had around for almost eighty years. This is far from the first time that we’ve seen a show about the people in the background who either worked with or gained inspiration from the more prominent heroes, and it’s usually most frustrating in those cases to not see the far more enticing lead who isn’t actually a character. I guess you do have “Gotham,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” and “Legends of Tomorrow,” all of which have been successful, and now you have this very edgy and unnecessary violent take on the Teen Titans group, which I didn’t know anything about before watching this show. I’m not sure why it needs to be so graphic, and the emphasis on gore takes away from whatever quality might have been here. This interpretation is supposed to be dark, with even the good guys killing people and brutally injuring them when that doesn’t work. I wasn’t too fond of the visual effects, especially in the scene where Starfire absorbed that bullet and then pretty much exploded the entire room. The notion of Robin being a detective by day and the leader of this superhero gang by night is mildly appealing in theory but just doesn’t intrigue me.

How will it work as a series? Presumably, this is the archetype for all other DC Universe series, presenting a new, uncensored platform for spotlighting the many heroes and villains introduced over the past eight decades. I’d appreciate something with a bit more light that featured characters and storylines more than just aggression and violence.
How long will it last? The reviews aren’t great, but its future should depend on viewership instead. Since it’s a brand-new streaming service, there’s not much to compare to, but this show already managed to pick up a pre-premiere renewal two weeks ago. Even if it’s not the slam-dunk DC Universe wants it to be, it’s hard to imagine that this show won’t have a promising future given that it’s the first one out of the gate and needs to be termed a success.

Pilot grade: C-