DC Tried to Ruin a Popular Team Before James Gunn Had the Chance to Use Them

Superhero teams are all the rage these days. The Avengers run the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so much so that they’re reforming just in time to face off against Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. DC’s answer to the Avengers is, of course, the Justice League. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman get their friends together in order to protect the world from threats like Darkseid and Lex Luthor. The Justice League got one major shot on the big screen with the 2017 DC Extended Universe film, and it didn’t go very well. Warner Bros. replaced Zack Snyder with Joss Whedon and released a Frankenstein’s monster of a movie before caving to public pressure and dropping Snyder’s original vision.

The Justice League isn’t the only team that Warner Bros. ruined the reputation of. Shortly after Justice League hit theaters, DC was cooking up its own streaming service called DC Universe. The powers that be needed something to entice people to sign up for the platform, so it built a show around another popular DC team. However, the direction the show went in threw everyone off and almost destroyed the group forever.

DC Universe’s Titans Felt Like a Fever Dream

Rumors of the Teen Titans coming to live-action had been swirling for years prior to 2018. The Cartoon Network series made Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven household names, and it was time they got their chance to shine on a bigger platform. The only issue was that DC couldn’t figure out the formula, as it didn’t want to aim the show toward children. The reasons for that choice were unclear, but it likely had to do with the kids who watched the original show being older and unlikely to want to watch an immature show. Well, DC Universe took things too far when the trailer for Titans dropped and featured Robin dropping the f-bomb. There were all sorts of other puzzling moments in the first look, and things didn’t get much better when the show came out.

The bubbly characters that appeared in live-action were nowhere to be found, being replaced by moody young adults who didn’t have their heads on straight. New additions like Hawk and Dove didn’t help matters, having dark origins that were hard to sit through. Once the team was actually together and started hitting its stride, things started looking up. However, the end of the DC Universe platform meant that Titans was on borrowed time, and despite making the jump to HBO Max, it ended after its fourth season. The end of the DCEU meant there was no room for the Teen Titans on the big screen at the time, either. Fortunately, James Gunn’s DC Universe opens the door for the team to return to their wholesome roots.

Read Next

James Gunn’s Upcoming DCU Crossover Event Mystery Is Perfectly Explained by This Huge Theory

DC Studios Is Working on a Teen Titans Movie

While a Justice League movie isn’t Gunn’s first priority as the head of DC Studios, he’s not going to miss the chance to introduce the Teen Titans. Ana Nogueira, who worked on Supergirl and is penning the script for the next Wonder Woman film, is hard at work writing a movie about the young group of heroes. Details are few and far between, meaning there’s no way to know which characters Nogueira plans to include. However, there are clues all around the DCU slate that may provide some insight. For starters, a film titled The Brave and the Bold is in development, which will feature both Batman and his son, Damian Wayne, aka Robin. If Damian is already in the picture, that means a few other Boy Wonders are running around, so Nogueira has the pick of the litter when it comes to choosing the leader of the Teen Titans.

A Starfire animated series is also in the works and will focus on the hero as she leaves her home world, Tamaran, behind to find adventure. Gunn and Co. have yet to confirm whether the small-screen Starfire will make the jump to live-action, but all signs point to everything being connected. With Robin and Starfire already waiting in the wings, the DCU will only need to bring in a couple of more members to round out its team. That means it won’t be long before people can forget all about Titans and its bizarre characters.

Titans is streaming on HBO Max.

How did you feel about DC Universe’s Titans? Are you glad James Gunn’s franchise is giving the team another shot? Let us know in the comments below!