Yep, he really says “Fuck Batman!”
The trailer for
Titans, an upcoming TV show based on the Teen Titans, the team of DC's younger heroes, has not got the reaction DC might have hoped for.
A good sign to see if a Batman comic/movie/cartoon is trying to be a super-serious, ‘adult’ take on the character is if it includes Robin.
No Robin, and it’s probably Tim Burton or The Dark Knight. But if Robin is there, it is probably kid-friendly, and like Adam West or
The Brave and The Bold.
However, that’s not the case with Titans
. It is going to be the first show from DC Universe, the new streaming service which will include new series based on existing DC Comics heroes (yes, it looks like DC are trying to make their own Netflix?).
The trailer for the show dropped this week, at San Diego Comic Con. It is very dark, and grim, and capital-S serious. It focuses on the psychic heroine Raven tracking down Robin – and this isn’t your parent’s Robin. Oh no.
Midway through the trailer, Robin gets in a scuffle with some bad dudes in an alley. They ask where Batman is, and because this is NOT FOR KIDS, Robin replies:
"Fuck Batman."
(Skip to 0:53 and prepare to be
shocked)
https://twitter.com/DCUTitans/status/1019945074161942528
Oh, damn. He did
not just say that, did he?!
And while it is meant to be all grown-up and edgy, let’s be real: it comes across as pretty childish. Like, is Robin gonna start wearing all black, listening to Marilyn Manson, and screaming about how much he hates his parents? (Yes, I know Robin's parents are dead, but it's just a joke, ok).
Fans have been quick to make fun of it.
https://twitter.com/Graham_LRR/status/1020132680648683520
https://twitter.com/MoistCr1TiKaL/status/1019948910457098255
https://twitter.com/timdrrake/status/1019945945453285377
https://twitter.com/MikeDrucker/status/1020076535213174785
Series writer and executive producer (and DC Comics legend) Geoff Johns defended the line to
Polygon, saying it did not represent the whole show.
"The trailer shows a piece of the tone of the show — the show’s not
all that."
"But it does make you go, ‘Why is he saying [Fuck Batman?]’ If you look at when Robin first left Batman in the comics, there was a lot of uneasiness and him being lost. Titans
is really a series about these different characters that are all lost in their lives."
"And we’ll learn a lot more about it and what that is and why he is the way he is."
Titans
is set to debut later this year when DC Universe launches.
