Akiva Goldsman, the nefarious writer behind Batman & Robin and Batman Forever, is close to securing a pilot order from TNT for a live-action Titans series.
Titans represents the latest leg in Warner Brothers’ / DC’s push for television domination. With worthwhile shows like Flash, Constantine, and Gotham joining veteran CW hit Arrow this fall, the DC brand has built its presence in the live-action world under the now titanic shadow of Marvel Studios, whose movies have, since 2008’s Iron Man, all but conquered the box office. Warner Brothers has, often openly, pursued market share in radically different fashion as opposed to Marvel.
As was recently reported, much to the horror of the culturally attuned Internet, Warner Brothers initiated a “no joke” policy in its movies, including the upcoming Dawn of Justice. WB is poised to truly create a “serious” line of superhero movies, an approach opposite of Marvel’s quirky but noble lineup of heroes and secret agents. Warner Brothers, from this writer’s point of view, is taking another deviant approach with its television series push. Rather than chase Marvel at the big box office, DC is looking to take over the world through the small box in every living room.
Amongst the DC franchises available for production, Titans (or more infamously Teen Titans) targets the young demographics more specifically, featuring a cast of teenaged superheroes with ties to the “big names” in DC (most notably, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman). Teen Titans has seen television in a popular animated format, premiering in 2003, followed by a cheekier Teen Titans Go! and the more mature derivative series, Young Justice. Whether Titans is at all related to the comic book franchise or its other incarnations in popular culture will be a point of speculation as the series moves forward to its pilot order. What seems to be in agreement among recent reports on Titans is that its main character will be “Nightwing”, an older version of Dick Grayson, Batman’s first Robin turned independent superhero.