Yesterday we got the first announcement that the live action ‘Titans’ series was back on track. The show had been in development at TNT who ultimately passed on the project. It will now be resurrected for Warner Bros. Digital Network, the WB’s new streaming service, along with Season Three of the animated ‘Young Justice’. ‘Titans’ will be executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer Geoff Johns and Sarah Schechter, with Berlanti, Goldsman and Johns handling the script.
In yesterday’s announcement, the only characters confirmed were Dick Grayson, Starfire and Raven. But now Johns has confirmed a fourth young hero, Beast Boy:
Yes!! Very happy to be writing the Titans again and working with this crew! Extremely excited. Will be something very different… #BeastBoy https://t.co/D4sl3Gip7y
— Geoff Johns (@geoffjohns) April 25, 2017
Johns wrote one of the most acclaimed runs of the ‘Teen Titans’ comic book and Beast Boy was a major part of the team. But it was his earlier appearances in the ‘New Teen Titans’ comic book by Marv Wolfman and George Perez that really defined Garfield Marc Logan, going by the new codename Changeling. On the surface, he was a wisecracking, girl-crazy jokester, but over time, readers and his teammates learned that this comedic facade hid a tragic past. Gar’s secretly still mourned the deaths of his parents, scientists studying in Africa and his adopted family, the Doom Patrol, heroes who were killed in action when Gar was a boy.
Gar was at the center of one of the most famous ‘Titans’ storylines, ‘The Judas Contract’ in which he discovered his crush-turned-girlfriend Terra was actually a traitor who’d infiltrated the team on orders from their worst enemy Deathstroke. This story was recently adapted into an animated movie. Beast Boy was also a featured character on the ‘Teen Titans’ animated series, ‘Young Justice’ and the current hit ‘Teen Titans GO!’
In more recent comics, Gar dropped the name Changeling and went back to Beast Boy. He also began a romance with his teammate Raven.
So that makes four characters confirmed for the live action ‘Titans’ and surprisingly three of them, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven are among the most visually complex (Gar has green skin and hair, Starfire has golden skin and solid green eyes) with the flashiest powers. Then again, Berlanti and his team have made a flashy team work on The CW’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ which includes Firestorm, Steel and The Atom among its cast. The budget for ‘Titans’ is unknown. It could be spectacular!
It’s unknown how many more characters will be included, but Johns’ tweet would seemingly indicate that the producers will be rolling these announcements out over time.
Cyborg may be off the table, as he is part of the film universe and WB has– with the exception of The Flash– been keeping the film characters away from the TV shows. That’s why ‘Arrow’ had to stop using the Suicide Squad and Deathstroke. Also, three of the Titans’ most recurring foes, Deathstroke, Sebastian Blood/Brother Blood and Damian Darhk have also already been used on ‘Arrow’. It’s unlikely these shows will share a universe, but then again, it may be best to avoid reusing such visible villains so soon after they’ve appeared on another live action show.
Check back for news on this series as it is announced. Are you excited to see a live action Beast Boy coming up?
Source: Geoff Johns
