Here’s Why Robin F-Bombs Batman in ‘Titans’ Trailer

The first trailer for DC Universe‘s Titans dropped earlier today and sent shockwaves around the internet when one line from the trailer caught everybody off guard. The line in question was a simple two words: “F**k Batman.”

Robin (Brenton Thwaites) said the line after beating up a group of bad guys in an alley. Former DC Entertainment head and Titans executive producer Geoff Johns swooped in with an explanation on Robin’s potty mouth.

“The trailer shows a piece of the tone of the show — the show’s not all that,” Johns told Polygon. “But it does make you go, ‘Why is he saying [F**k Batman?]’ If you look at when Robin first left Batman in the comics, there was a lot of uneasiness and him being lost. Titans is really a series about these different characters that are all lost in their lives; just like the greatest comic book Titans run ever, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, it’s about all these lost characters find one another. And they’re all struggling with something, and Robin is clearly struggling with his past with Batman.

“And we’ll learn a lot more about it and what that is and why he is the way he is.”

Johns didn’t seem to go into specifics on what Grayson’s exact problems with the Titans version of Batman were, but that’s an aspect of the character the show is certain to explore.

“Really, the DNA of it is in the echo of the original series, cause it had so much drama in that and it was so revolutionary for its time,” Johns said. “We really wanted to lean into the idea that every Titan of these Titans is a doorway into another genre. With Rachel [a.k.a. Raven], it’s the supernatural and the horror, and the first season’s really focuses on who Raven is and how the Titans galvanize around her.”

“You can see that tone in the trailer clearly.”

Titans stars Brenton Thwaites (Dick Grayson/Robin), Teagan Croft (Raven), Anna Diop (Starfire/Koriand’r), Lindsey Gort (Amy Rohrbach), Minka Kelly (Dawn Granger/Dove), Ryan Potter (Beast Boy), Alan Ritchson (Hank Hall/Hawk), April Bowlby (Elasti-Girl), Jake Michaels (Cliff Steele), Seamus Dever, Bruno Bichir, and Dwain Murphy (Negative Man).

The series is being produced by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Akiva Goldsman — the same team that behind the DC Universe on The CW.

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