Rob Liefeld is a pretty controversial figure when it comes to comics. But his contributions can’t be denied. He created Deadpool as well as Cable and Domino for Marvel, all of whom came to life in this summer’s ‘Deadpool 2’. And over at DC, he created another character that is going to be coming to life soon– Dove, a.k.a. Dawn Granger, who will be portrayed by Minka Kelly in DC Universe’s live-action ‘Titans’ series.
Fans got their first look at the ‘Titans’ in action last week when the trailer officially premiered at San Diego Comic-Con. Though the clip moved quite fast, there were a few shots of Kelly in action as Dove.
Liefeld, who attended SDCC, discusses his take on the trailer and his interpretation of Dove, which he now considers the definitive take.
“Geoff Johns has been taunting me since October. He was on set, sending me [photos] — from the day they did the costume tests. He said, ‘did you know how much I love Dove?’ He has a genuine love affair with the Hawk and Dove that we did in the ‘80s. Geoff Johns and [The Walking Dead creator] Robert Kirkman are the guys who are like ‘Hey Rob, I grew up reading your comics!’ and I’m like, ‘okay, if I didn’t feel old already, I’m totally old now.’ Dawn Granger, we introduced her in 1987. I’ve got to be honest: Steve Ditko? Genius. Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, The Question, all great stuff he did. Hawk and Dove was a brilliant idea but it never took. It is a historical fact; the book got cancelled, the characters never caught on. As a kid, I remember thinking they had this one strong-willed brother and one, truth be told, whiny brother. They did a great job on every cover showing you that Dove was kind of a wuss. I was on the exhibition floor at the show looking at the old Ditko and Gil Kane issues. Every issue was ‘Don’t do that Hawk! Don’t do that Hawk! No Hawk!’ So I think it was not the best way to sell Dove as a guy.
“They represented war and peace, more or less. Born in the ‘60s, very political, war and peace. We were tasked with creating a new Dove, which is Dawn Granger who Minka Kelly is playing, because in Crisis on Infinite Earths, they had a wall fall on the male Dove, and he died. Hawk goes, ‘My brother is dead!’ So the male Dove lasted 20 years, and I did the math: female Dove? Thirty years. She’s been around ten years longer. I feel like she’s the definitive Dove.
“But now, seeing her, I just wasn’t prepared for her to stick her hand through a guy’s face and have the face explode. I’m in my hotel Tuesday night, both Jim Lee and Geoff Johns texted me to say ‘The Titans trailer is dropping at six o’clock and you’re going to be a happy guy.’ Jim even laughed, he said there’s a scene you’re going to really like.’ I’m in my hotel room and I’m sitting in my bed and I go ‘Whoa! Rewind, rewind, screengrab, screengrab.’ It was hard to catch that, but I got every moment of that first exploding that face, and I’m like ‘that’s the way you make an entrance!’ And then she whips around and cuts someone with her dove-wings. I’m very excited about Titans. The thing about their supernatural origins is that Raven has a very supernatural story so it’s a great way to connect them all. My buddy Akiva Goldsman, with whom I’m doing the Extreme Universe on Netflix, executive produced Titans with Geoff Johns, so it’s a good time.”
Here are a few screen captures from the ‘Titans’ trailer, showing Minka Kelly in action:
Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove are not full-time ‘Titans’ on the show, but will be recurring guest stars and could become series regulars in the second season or possibly spin off into their own show. As Kelly discussed previously, on ‘Titans’, these two characters will not have powers.
Though Warner Brothers hasn’t nailed down a specific date, ‘Titans’ will be available when DC Universe launches this fall. The service is available for beta testing right now, but ‘Titans’ won’t be available until it rolls out for real.
Source: ComicBook.com
