I love me a good comicbook show. Although I’ve given up on a ton of them (Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Agents of Shield, Gotham), some of them I’m still majorly devoted to (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Supergirl). Which group will Titans fall into? I’m leaning towards the former.
The problem with this pilot is that it’s so not fun! The CGI is excellent and the fight scenes definitely have potential, but nobody looks like they’re having a good time with the material. Watching a superhero ensemble kick ass should feel like exciting, but then why does watching this episode feel like a total chore? Both Brenton Thwaites and Anna Diop make for charismatic leads as Robin and Starfire respectively, but the Raven plot is an absolute angsty bore that just drags the whole thing down.
Ultimately, Titans feels like it’s trying too hard to be edgy. The “fuck batman” line (which was heavily promoted in the trailers) is the perfect example of a forced moment that feels like a network mandate instead of organic dialogue. Speaking of forced, I’ll try to force myself to catch a few more episodes, but it’s hard when a debut is this uninspiring.
Conclusion
Good production values and some intriguing characters aren’t enough to make this an impactful pilot.