‘Titans’ Star Says Superhero Movies Like ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Don’t Have Stakes in Them

Avengers: Infinity War is the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to this point, and it sees Earth’s mightiest heroes facing off against Thanos, who is hell-bent on using the power of the Infinity Stones to eliminate half of all life in the universe. However, according to the star of one of DC’s newest superhero series, the massive Marvel movie didn’t have any real stakes.

Alan Ritchson, who plays Hawk on the DC Universe original series, Titans, has a hard time watching movies about characters with incredible super powers. While speaking to CBR at New York Comic Con, the actor said it feels like the stakes in those movies just aren’t real, and it makes them significantly less interesting.

“I think I’m just excited that the fans are finally getting a really raw, human look at superheroes. I think, for me, the reason I don’t go see Infinity War movies or whatever these are is because there’s no stakes in it,” Ritchson said. “Everybody feels invincible all the time.”

As he continued, the actor clarified what he meant by “stakes.” Rather than the grand scheme of things in both Titans and Avengers, it seems as though he was talking about personal stakes and sacrifice. Most of the heroes in movies like Infinity War have some sort of super power, so their isn’t much of a physical toll on their bodies. However, the characters in Titans feel every hit they take, and that’s what sets them apart.

“You know, I play a superhero without any superpowers,” Ritchson continued. “How great is that? I still remember the first episode I shot, episode 1.02. Brad Anderson, the director, and I were standing on set and it was the first time that we were shooting where I was in the suit and kicking ass and I walked in and there was a big catwalk. It was high. So he’s like, ‘You’re up there, you’re kind of crushing some beers, and then, you know, you tell Dove, “Let’s go do it” and you jump down and you get in the fight.’ And I was like, ‘Okay… We’ve never had this conversation before, so… do I fly? What are my superpowers? Am I super strong? I can handle a jump that size?’ And he’s like, ‘Good question, good question. Yeah. Let’s go with no superpowers.’ I was like, ‘Okay! Alright! That informs a lot!’

“So from then on, I played the guy like he had no superpowers, you know? You get hurt in these fights. I think that’s really cool! Who else has explored that? So, to me, it’s about the humanity. I mean, this guy has a lot of pain. He masks it with pharmaceuticals and co-dependency. I mean, I and many others I think can relate to those kind of humans struggles and that’s what I’m interested in exploring, and if you do it in a fun, entertaining way through Hawk and Dove and the Titans, all the better. That’s what I’m excited for people to have.”

New episodes of Titans are released every Friday on DC Universe.