Titans Star Addresses Being Let Go From The Series

Full spoilers for Titans below! This week’s new episode of the hit DC series on HBO Max made one character’s end official, confirming that Alan Ritchson as Hawk/Hank Hall had died in the context of the show. Though probably not a total surprise to some fans since Hank got killed by Red Hood in episode 3.03 but this week’s episode showed him in the afterlife, reunited with his brother, and currently existing in purgatory. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Ritchson opened up about leaving the show, that he likes where they left things, and that he’s open to returning to the part if they need him in the future.

“I spoke with the producers and writers before leaving, and was just very humbled by how gracious they were and how open-ended they left the conversation. ‘Would you ever come back if we wanted to have you back?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely,’” Ritchson told the outlet. “I don’t know if they’ll ever feel like servicing Hank and that Hawk-Dove storyline again, but I do love where we left it. I think it’s really beautiful. This journey that Hawk was on mirrored my own life in such an eerie way. His ups and his downs really, I don’t know who was channeling who, but it just seemed to really parallel where I’ve been in my journey, and the fact that he sort of crossed over, and he’s made peace with that, and he’s now living in a world where he has committed to continuing to help people and accept that.”

Ritchson recently booked the title role of Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime Video’s series adaptation of the Lee Child novel series, but revealed that his being cast in that show wasn’t why he left the series and that it was an idea from the Titans creative team before he had the Jack Reacher part.

“I was content with the show. I really enjoyed the character, and I enjoyed the schedule,” he added. “I have three young kids and a wife, and I want to see them grow up, and I’m always caught between this really difficult position of how much do I invest in my career versus how much do I invest in my family at home. I was on a show where I could come in, shoot a few days a week, and that’s my contribution to that episode, and then I would fly to see my family. It’s a luxury that I didn’t take for granted because I’ve been the lead of a show before, and it’s all consuming, and you have no life….I would’ve stayed for 50 seasons probably if I’d never been confronted with leaving, but no, really. The decision was made for me, and it was for the best.”

New episodes of Titans debut every Thursday on HBO Max, look out for Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher very soon.