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So There's a live action Teen Titans now, want to talk about it? [SPOILERS]

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Scalenex, Oct 13, 2018.

  1. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Where can you watch it. Only at DC Universe streaming service. Titans was intended to be the anchor program for the DC Universe. I signed up for DC Universe for the animated series, especially Young Justice. I hoped Titans would be a good show, but there is enough other stuff I'm interested in that I will get my money worth.

    So there was a lot of negative feedback to the first trailer and leaked production. I was willing to give it a shot.

    Last century, before DVD sets and streaming services were wildly available, fans of TV shows had to watch a single episode then wait a whole week for the next installment. DC Universe is doing that too, so they can keep their promise of providing a new episode of something every week. Yay?

    So I don't think one episode is enough to make a sweeping generalizations about it. I'm looking forward to episode two I guess. I've watched shows where I watched episode one and then write off the series, so first hurdle cleared.

    So the Teen Titans most people are familiar with is Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beastboy, and Raven. They took out Cyborg. I think this is supposed to be in the same universe or at least done in the style of the CW DC shows, such as Arrow and Flash. Cyborg would probably be an awkward fit visually though I think he'd be great for the grim and gritty feel. I'm not offended that he isn't included.

    Robin: The other Titans are teenagers. Robin's an adult now. He is not playful and joking like before, but they tie in that he is becoming like Batman and his not sure how he feels about it. But the actor is pretty solid. He has the sternness, pain, compassion, will, and hope that Batman has. I'm okay with this character change.

    Raven: As of episode one, she has yet to take on the uniform or name of Raven. Raven is usually kind of like Spock. She is confident, calm, and in control at almost all times. This new Raven is not. But they still seem like the same character. Raven is normally super in control because if she loses control of her emotions, she loses control of her powers. This version of Raven has very crappy control of her powers. She can very easily grow into the Raven we are familiar with as she learns self control and becomes stoic as a side effect. Since it's basically being set up that a Batman-like Robin is going to become her surrogate dad, she could easily pick up some of his stern stoicism over a painful troubled heart.

    The actress playing her is very good. She is still dealing with literal inner demons. They are adding elements of a Gollum-Smoegal thing in small doses. They are moving her demonic connection a little bit more towards Judeo-Christian traditions and a little less sci-fi, which I guess fits the CW universe. I think I like this new Raven.


    Starfire: A lot of the controversy before the first episode centered around Starfire. There were leaked production photos and Starfire didn't look anything like the character people know, then there was accusations that the people who didn't like the new Starfire were racist and didn't like that a black actress was playing Starfire.

    That doesn't really matter. Starfire is traditionally a golden shade of orange. If you make Starfire this color, it really doesn't matter what race the actress is. Does Starfire have to be orange? Not really. But for what it's worth her skin turns glowing orange and her hair turns fiery red when actively using her powers (which she did for about ten seconds), but she looks like a dark skinned human wearing a very fake wig the rest of the time. I don't really care about the appearance thing much.

    Starfire started out in Europe, while the other characters are in the United States midwest. I don't know if this is always something Starfire could do, but she now has the power to speak all human language. I know enough German to know that her delivery and accent was pretty good. I don't know Russia, but her Russian sounded reasonable. A lot of actors and actresses kind of falter when they recite lines outside their native tongue. The actress impressed me here. She has good facial expressions too.

    The biggest thing is that this Starfire is nothing like the Starfire we are familiar with. She is not optimistic. She is not light and bubbly. She killed a couple Russian mobsters without feeling bad about it. This Starfire seems okay using seduction as a weapon, while Starfire is traditionally open about her sexuality in other portrayals, the thought of her wielding it in a manipulative way is jarring. And she has amnesia, so maybe all her new character traits will go away when and if she gets her memory back.

    Her only clue to her identity is vague writing and dialogue from people who know her establishing that she is trying to find Raven and a fake passport with her alias Kory Ander.

    Beast Boy: Beast Boy had about two minutes of screen time at the end, basically a teaser. He stole a video game and turned into a tiger to spook the security guard (why a video game store would have an armed security guard is beyond me) and then ran away.

    I cannot really judge how well written or acted he is by this point. Fun thing they added is that Beastboy's clothes don't change with him. He left a set of clothes in the woods nearby for this eventually. I'm sure they'll be some fun sitcom subplots with him being inconveniently naked.

    Also, while Starfire is not orange, Beast Boy is at least green.

    I cannot really decide whether the show will be good or not because they only hinted at the villain(s). In my opinion, a compelling superhero show hinges on the main villain.
     
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  2. pendrake
    Skink Priest

    pendrake Well-Known Member

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    Teen what... o_O Is that like supergirl plus some friends?





    :oldman:
     
  3. Paradoxical Pacifism
    Skink Chief

    Paradoxical Pacifism Well-Known Member

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    It was a pretty kewl animated show about teens with super powers that was released in 2003. Largely meant for kids.

    Although if i remember, it did have some pretty dark themes, particularly centered around one of the characters, "Raven" (my most favorite character back then).

     
  4. Scalenex
    Slann

    Scalenex Keeper of the Indexes Staff Member

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    Supergirl isn't in this one, thankfully. I'm not a big fan of either Kryptonian. One of the thing that made Teen Titans compelling is that since these are at best B-list heroes and not well-known A-list heroes, the writers can have unspeakably awful things happen to them. This actually leads to an interesting tendency that teenage hero stories tend to be darker than adult hero stories.

    Young Justice did this better. I cannot speak highly enough of Young Justice. But I don't think Young Justice would be what it is if Teen Titans didn't come first.

    They also renamed the show from Teen Titans to Titans. Which I guess works because 2 out of 4 of them are adults.

    If you guys like animated superheroes, I would recommend looking up Justice League versus Teen Titans. That is one of the best of the recent animated movies. Teen Titans Judas Contract is not as as good, but it's still good.

    Well this new live action show's plot is very clearly centered around Raven. I guess she's "Rachel" now. She doesn't get to be Raven until she learns to control her powers.
     
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  5. Killer Angel
    Slann

    Killer Angel Prophet of the Stars Staff Member

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    Never saw Teen Titans, except for some parts from a couple of episodes.
    However, i appreciate Teen Titans Go.

    And no, i couldn't care less for an animate series. ;)

    On a related note, Raven is my favorite character too :D
     
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