Episode 5 of DC Universe‘s Titans was titled “Together”, and explored how the team managed to bond over shared exploration of their respective powers. That showcase of metahuman abilities was good for Kori / Starfire, Gar / Beast Boy, and Rachel / Raven, but when it came to Dick Grayson, he was much more reluctant to expose his own abilities and identity as Batman’s sidekick, Robin.
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For much of the episode Dick tries to dance around the issue at hand: namely, opening himself up to others and in doing so form real bonds of camaraderie. However, that existential dilemma fell by the wayside, as the nefarious Nuclear Family finally caught up with the Titans squad, and tried to finish what they’d started on the rooftop of Hawk and Dove’s apartment building.
In order save his new comrades from a grisly death, Dick finally suits up as Robin and takes to the battlefield, inspiring his team to be the smackdown on their Nuclear Family foes. When the battle is over the Titans are stunned to learn that the cop they’ve been hanging out with is actually the legendary Robin.
The biggest fanboy in the bunch is no doubt Gar (Ryan Potter), who naturally makes the leap from hanging out with Robin, to wanting to hang out with Batman. When he’s worked up the courage, Gar turns to Robin and asks:
“So uh, Batman… You know him?… Are we going to see him? I’d really like to meet Batman.”
To which Dick promptly responds: “No, you’re not.”
If you can’t tell: this little dialogue exchange between Dick and Gar was a moment of meta-humor that is meant to deliver a clear message to the fans watching: F*ck Batman.
Seriously, if you were holding your breath in hopes of getting a Batman appearance in Titans… you probably shouldn’t. The show is already expanding its corner of the DC Universe in a big way, having just released the “Doom Patrol” episode last week, in which we met the cult-hit DC Comics team Doom Patrol, who will get their own DC Universe streaming series next year. In addition to already having launched a backdoor pilot for a spinoff series, Titans is also bringing in a lot other DC Comics characters beyond its principal players, such as the Nuclear Family or Jason Todd (aka Robin II), who also made his highly-anticipated debut at the end of this same episode.
We all know how controlling Warner Bros. is with its Batman properties, so not really sure what the expectation was, here.
You can catch Titans streaming weekly on DC Universe.