Titans Season 3: Savannah Welch Breaks Down Barbara Gordon’s History, Issues With Dick Grayson, and More

Season 3 of Titans is finally here, and in the first three episodes, fans will meet the newest addition to the series Barbara Gordon. Savannah Welch is bringing the character of Gordon to life in the series, but when we meet her she’s left the costumed crimefighting to the Titans and Batman and stepped into a new role, that of Gotham’s commissioner, just like her father. What happens to Jason Todd brings Dick back to Gotham and we even get a little family reunion between Barbara, Dick, and Bruce. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to talk to Welch all about season 3 and what we can expect from Barbara, her relationship with the rest of the Bat-family, and more.

Welch was familiar with the character, but as she describes, it was an “almost layman’s level of familiarity, with Barga Gordon.” She knew her image from the comics and had an idea about her story, her time as Batgirl, and that she was Jim Gordon’s daughter, but she added that “a lot of it was discovery for me. I certainly knew of her and immediately went, ‘Oh, this is an iconic figure and there’s a lot of history. She’s been around for a while.’ So, I was immediately honored.”

Her son also helped a bit thanks to his familiarity with DC’s world and characters. “He knows all the characters. I mean, he would be going, ‘Mom. Yeah. So-and-so blah, blah, blah.’ Like, ‘Scarecrow. Hello?’ Or he would go, ‘Okay, so there’s Hawk and there’s Dove.’ Because pretty early on I was like, ‘Okay, tell me everything you know.’” Seems like he needs a consultant credit on Titans, right? Welch agreed, saying “Yeah. Yeah. He played that role and was not paid for it.”

There are many sides to Barbara, and over the years each interpretation of the character has amassed its own legion of fans, whether that be as Batgirl or as Oracle, and Welch loves the character’s versatility.

“It’s been really, really cool to get to interact with some of the fans and just get a sense of how many people, well, for one, just how many people love this character, feel invested. And some people are really hoping that they’ll get some Batgirl action,” Welch said. “Some people are really hopeful that they get to see Oracle and that evolution of Barbara Gordon. Some people just love the love story between Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson. So, it’s interesting. I mean, there’s a lot of options.”

Speaking of Grayson, Welch broke down the relationship between Gordon and Grayson when we catch up with them in Gotham and Gordon’s own history with the Joker, her father, and her new role in Gotham.

“There was a little beef between them at first. Dick had left Gotham. Barbara obviously had been shot by The Joker already, was in the wheelchair. Jim Gordon had passed away. So, a lot of change had happened in her life since she and Dick were working together, and I think that she grew up quite a bit. I think that he probably had, too,” Welch said. “And so when they reconnect, when he comes back to Gotham and you see her in this new role as commissioner, that’s the first time that Dick is seeing her as commissioner and in this position of power as a woman and a disabled woman in a position of power and trying to fill the shoes of her father, but do it in her own way.”

Gordon is also not keen on Grayson bringing the Titans into things. “She’s not really pro superheroes. She is not stoked on the idea of a lot of superheroes coming back to Gotham and the idea that Dick might bring the Titans back. I think in her mind she feels like it perpetuates violence, that the cat and mouse game between the superheroes and the villains just perpetuate the violence and they use the civilians as the bait. And so I don’t know, there might be a specific title for that role, but she’s a little resistant. And eventually does recognize why she needs them and that they need her, too.”

Titans has never been one to shy away from heavier themes, and that is no different in season 3. That said, Welch does feel there is a bit of a hopeful arc to Barbara’s story and some light at the end of the tunnel regarding her relationship with Grayson.

“Yes. Yes. I do think that there’s definitely a hopeful arc there. I think she’s pretty closed off. It’s a demanding job and it’s never-ending the amount of work that she has to do. There’s a lot of eyes on her. She’s feeling that pressure, and in her personal life, I think she might be somewhat lonely and I think that there’s some hurt there between she and Dick,” Welch said. “And so I’d say she really has to open up and make the decision to open her heart to him again, in whatever way, whether it’s personal or in work partnership, and be willing to make mistakes, to be vulnerable. And I would say that the evolution of her character is just that. It’s trusting herself and also being willing to partner and to open up again to Dick.”

When she’s not protecting Gotham as Commissioner Gordon Welch is creating music. I’m a fan of when artists create an entire soundtrack for a film, so I wanted to know if she could do the same, what her pick would be. “I think a children’s movie,” Welch said.

“Maybe a short film, just so that I can give myself some realistic expectations for a short film to begin with. But I would say, yeah, I don’t know, I’ve never been asked this question. It’s a really good question. But the first thing that came to mind was a children’s story. I love children’s stories and my son’s nine, so I spent a lot of time reading children’s stories with him and watching movies for kids,” Welch said. “And I don’t know. I would say that something about that, but the music not being so kitschy. Maybe playing music or providing music that is not what you would assume to be for kids, if that makes sense. Just something that’s probably somewhat traditional and fun to dance to, but otherwise not so much so that the parents are trying to hide out in the back room.”

As someone who has to listen to their children’s music quite a bit, I’m always up for something that’s catchy for both her and for me, so I support this.

You can catch Welch’s Barbara Gordon on season 3 of Titans right now, which is streaming on HBO Max.

What do you think of the series so far? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things Titans and DC with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!