By: Shannon Bee
The level of “squee” that came out of my mouth when I heard about a live action Teen Titans was probably over 100 on the decibel scale (See: Chainsaws and fireworks). Starfire and Raven have always ranked very highly in my favorite superheroes, and I grew up watching the early 2000’s cartoon religiously. To top off the initial excitement, the team they are assembling behind the show is nothing short of star studded. Their combined resumes include Star Trek: Discovery, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. And because Warner Bros. Television didn’t want to leave us with just the excitement of an incredible new live action show, they also announced that the third season of Young Justice will be titled Young Justice: Outsiders. Both shows will debut on a brand new DC-branded digital service in 2018.
For those of you less familiar with Teen Titans, the team of teenage super heroes first premiered in the DC comic “The Brave and the Bold” in 1966. The most famous team formation includes Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. The infamous Tara Strong (Voice of characters in Rugrats, Powerpuff Girls, My Little Pony, and more) was among the cast in the animated series that ran on cartoon network from 2003-2006. 2013 featured a reboot of the animated show under the new name “Teen Titans Go!”, which is still running today. There are a variety of team members that could be in the live action drama, but there is nothing that would lead me to believe it wouldn’t be the classic listed above. They are the most popular and recognized formation of the team. Show writers for the series which takes it's name from the current DC Comics run with the older versions of the Teen Titans, Titans include Akiva Goldsman (Star Trek: Discovery, Underground), Geoff Johns (President and CCO of DC Entertainment, The Flash, Arrow), and Greg Berlanti (Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl). With such incredible backgrounds, this announcement has left me incredibly hopeful and excited.
In 2010, Young Justice premiered, mixing Teen Titans and Young Justice comic book characters in a new animated show. Once again featuring teenage super-heroes, the team-up included Dick Grayson aka Robin (and eventually Nightwing), Wally West aka Kid Flash, Conner Kent aka Superboy, Miss Martian, Artemis, and Kaldur’ahm aka Aqualad. Basically, Teen Justice League. As the show went on, we also met Zatanna, Rocket, Red Arrow, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, Blue Beetle, and many others. After the second season titled “Invasion”, the show was cancelled. When the show was released on Netflix, Greg Weisman (our interview with Greg) took to twitter to call fans to action, saying that binging it repeatedly on Netflix or buying Blu-Rays and toys could help a third season get the footing it needed. Turns out, he was right… to an extent. A petition was created in March of 2016 asking DC Comics and Warners Bros to revive the show, but it wasn’t until mid-November of 2016 that fan’s dreams were made real with the announcement of a third season.
Which of these shows are you more excited about? Do you think a live action Teen Titans can make the cut in DC’s already HUGE television lineup? Let us know!