'Titans' season 2 could kill 2 birds with 1 stone by bringing about a Robin’s ‘Death in the Family’
‘Titans’, DC Universe’s gritty take on the Teen Titans, is preparing to return for season 2 in September. The first season introduced fans to the core team of Dick Grayson aka Robin (Brenton Thwaites), Starfire (Anna Diop), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) and Teagan Croft’s Raven (or Rachel, if you’d prefer to call her that).
Season 2 will be expanding that roster quite a bit. This new 'Titans' cast is bigger than ever before. No less than eight new members will fight alongside the first season’s quartet and only four of the new members are familiar faces.
We already met the Jason Todd Robin (Curran Walters), Hawk (Alan Ritchson), Dove (Minka Kelly) and Donna Troy (Conor Leslie) in season 1 as supporting characters who each have a history with Dick Grayson. The second season will introduce fans to live-action adaptations of Superboy (Joshua Orpin), Aqualad (Drew Van Acker), Ravager (Chelsea Zhang) and Jericho (Chella Man).
As exciting as it would be to see all these heroes brought into the series, we can't help but wonder if the show’s cast is getting a little too big. Sure, these are all fun characters but quite a few of them are a little too similar to be on the same team.
While Kryptonians and Atlanteans are rare and useful assets, martial artists are a dime a dozen in DC’s stables and on the Titans team. Hawk, Dove, Robin and the other Robin all have basically the same skills.
It’s a bit hard to see the point of having all of them on the same team. Of course, the trailer hints that the two Robins aren’t going to get along too well but even so, perhaps it would be a good idea if the team didn't make it through unchanged into season 3.
If we had to pick who to kill off, the answer would easily be Hawk. Sure, he’s a very complex individual but he’s also a bit of a pain. His constant attempts at antagonizing Dick in the first season were quite annoying and his relationship with Dove is at least a little toxic.
It’s truly a miracle she hasn’t left him already, considering how unstable he can get, even if he does ultimately love her. Despite how annoying he is though, Hawk probably won’t be the one to bite the bullet because there is a much more likely candidate on the team.
If we’re talking about eliminating similarities, we would obviously have to start with the giant Robin in the room. There is no conceivable reason why the series would need two Robins on the team. The communication problems alone could potentially endanger all of them.
But there’s also another reason why it makes sense to have Jason die. The character’s demise in the comics, told in the classic Batman story ‘Death in the Family’, was one of the darkest moments in the Caped Crusader’s 80-year run.
The Joker’s villainy found new heights when he captured Jason, who was still a child at the time, and beat him to death with a crowbar. But death was not the end for Jason in the comics and it doesn’t have to be on the show either.
Years after his death, Jason claws his way back to life and takes on the mantle of the Red Hood. He proceeds to start an extremely aggressive war on the criminal elements of Gotham, bringing down entire organizations and acting as judge, jury and executioner to anyone with blood on their hands (think ‘The Punisher’ crossed with ‘The Godfather’).
If Jason were to die on the show, it might just kill two birds with one stone, or two Robins with one crowbar to be accurate. Fans have been eagerly waiting to see Dick take on the Nightwing identity and outfit ever since he burned his old Robin suit in season 1.
Seeing as the trailer showed him back in his old outfit, we can pretty safely assume that Dick won't be ready to completely leave the Robin identity behind without a bit of a push. If seeing his adoptive younger brother brutally murdered doesn’t do the trick, then nothing will.
The only question left is who might wield the crowbar that ends Jason’s life. While we did get a few quick glances at the Joker in season 1, the show hasn’t given the Clown Prince of Crime a proper introduction yet.
Seeing as Iain Glen’s Batman is now part of the show, perhaps his colorful arch-rival isn’t too far behind. Or maybe Deathstroke (Esai Morales) could step in and do the honors instead.
‘Titans’ season 2 will arrive on DC Universe on September 6.
