Why Can't the Teen Titans Just Be Fun?

The Teen Titans have been one of DC’s most consistent successes, especially since the turn of the century. But ever since they were first introduced (and then redefined into DC's answer to the X-Men), the team has had trouble balancing the inherent fun and drama of the premise behind "superheroes but also teenagers." For some reason, even though the most successful versions of those characters have embraced the emotion, excitement, and sheer joy of being young, DC keeps giving us grimdark versions of the franchise.

With the super dour looking Titans slated to premiere later this year, it has more than a few longtime fans of the franchise wondering, why can’t the Teen Titans just be fun?

Teeny Boppers

Introduced in The Brave and the Bold #54, the initial lineup consisted of Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. They were soon joined by Wonder Girl and eventually Speedy, before blossoming into a full plethora of young DC heroes. Those original comics were products of their time, silly Silver Age stories at heart. It was a series that embraced the sheer ridiculousness of the DC Universe, while still taking fledgling steps towards engaging in real world topics, including counter culture and inner city struggles. It lasted 40 issues before it was canceled.

VIA: The New Teen Titans (Wolfman/Perez)

The series eventually returned as The New Teen Titans, featuring a cast of fresh characters like Cyborg, Starfire and Raven. Writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez helped redefine the team into the DC equivalent of the Uncanny X-Men, then going through an industry defining shift under people like Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne. With that came a heavy dose of melodrama and an epic scope, which soon overtook the more relatable and relaxed elements of the team.

Something important to consider with all this: The X-Men, who were dealing with the Dark Phoenix and "Days of Future Past" and changing Marvel Comics forever, were also all adults. It kept the soap opera elements of the story from seeming too ridiculous. There was an ingrained maturity and expectation to the characters, who sometimes let their emotions get the better of them. Everyone had a sense of reason, even (and especially) when they disagreed with one another. That's a simple but important distinction, and helps keep the drama from getting out of control.

VIA: Uncanny X-Men #97 (Claremont/Cockrum)

This is something “serious Teen Titans” stories have always struggled with; because they have a cast of teenagers, everything is the most important thing in the world, which means nothing really is. They’re young and reckless by nature, running hot and cold. Having them make life altering decisions every story got exhausting as a result. It’s why something like The Judas Contract, a very well-constructed and challenging story with a groundbreaking, fully unrepentant female villain, ends up getting overshadowed by the fact that Terra is, like, maybe 15 in that comic and walking around in lingerie for a grown supervillain. It’s literally watching a teenager playing dress up to seem adult. It feels forced.

Eventually (much like X-Men), the interpersonal drama and bonkers events got way out of hand, to the point where a de-aged Atom and multiple alternate universe people were running around on the team. The lighter elements of the premise were transferred over to the new Todd DeZago and Lary Stucker creation, Young Justice. This series was about the teen heroes of the '90s, like the third Robin, Impulse, Superboy and the new Wonder Girl, embracing the almost childish atmosphere for a blast of a comic. They had entire storylines where they fought villains at the Olympics, played baseball to save the planet, and had class president elections to determine who was the team leader. They were fun.

VIA: Young Justice #17 David/Nauck/Sturcker)

Of course, this being DC, it was never going to last. The team was eventually combined with the Titans to create a new Teen Titans book, which has been running off and on ever since. It's also kept the serious outlook on the franchise, with a lot of famously over the top moments in the last fifteen years. The current version straight up has a villain Guantanamo Bay in the basement. That’s crazy dark, you guys. Why are teenagers doing those things?

All these aspects of the franchise have been distilled into five television shows, each embracing a different aspect of the team -- for better or for worse.

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Teen Titans, Go!

Strictly speaking, the team's first animated series came in 1976 when Filmation introduced segments starring the young heroes as part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. But that series was, like many of the superhero cartoons of the era, a much simpler action show.

The first modern adaptation of the series to make it to television screens came with 2003’s Teen Titans on Cartoon Network. Centering on probably the five most iconic members of the team (Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy), the series was a surprisingly broad interpretation of the original comics. It adapted characters and stories from the original series (mostly the Wolfman/Perez books), but tweaked many of the elements of the stories. And while the execution was sometimes lacking, the heart was always there. The show lasted five seasons, closing out with the direct-to-DVD movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. In that time, they showcased a wide range of DC teen heroes and villains. But more than that, they embraced more then just the drama and superheroics. They let the teenage cast have fun.

That’s what helped ground Teen Titans. They fell in love way to easily, and made rash decisions. They teased each other, and had fun messing around. It allowed it’s cast to be ridiculous and stupid and unreasonable, because they were teenagers -- and everyone is ridiculous and stupid and unreasonable when they’re a teenager.

The show gives them the chance to actually feel like real characters, real people, even when the series is at its most unusual. You don’t bat an eye at Beast Boy having to fight a giant tofu monster – because you relate to him taking a crappy fast-food job so he can afford some wheels. Everyone can relate to that.

It’s the kind of thing Spider-Man does so well, and it was nice to see this version of the series taking that cue. It made us care about the characters and give them a chance to be more than just brooding superhero action heroes. As an added benefit, it automatically made the stakes that much higher when the plot does ramp back up. It makes us care about the characters when they're in danger. Go reread The Judas Contract and see how much you actually like Terra. Because all that “she’s evil cause she’s crazy!” doesn’t hold a candle to the story of a conflicted but emotional young girl and her genuinely tragic arc. It just makes the story more effective.

Teen Titans Go! and Young Justice are both great shows. They are! But neither of them really want to try and embrace both elements of the premise. Teen Titans Go! especially doesn’t want to be a serious show. It sets up stakes multiple times, only to always laugh at us for thinking they mattered. It’s that anarchic comedy that allows the personalities of the Titans to come to the forefront. The show isn't about being a superhero, it's actually about the superheroes themselves.

In a world where literally anything can happen for any reason, it’s the five people at the core of the show that move it forward.No plot, no arc. It’s all character bits, with the various members of the team bouncing off one another and the absurdity of their situation. It’s a show about friends who kind of hate each other, but they all know they love each other. They’re mean to one another, they’re prone to fights, but epic drama that gets solved in five minutes. They’re teenagers, and their interactions are the draw of the series.

Young Justice (which, let’s be real here, has way more in common with the Teen Titans over the comic it shares a name with) leans fully into the drama. It still took the time to showcase the personalities of the team throughout battle scenes and let’s be honest here, some really forced character beats. But overall, it plays it out much more as a straight forward superhero series. Hell, given the ever growing scope of the upcoming third season (what with the team apparently fighting Darkseid and all), it could even be argued that the show has become less of a Teen Titan stand-in and more of a general DC universe story.

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The Problem With Titans

But now, with Titans? Everything we’ve seen suggests the show is full on dark and edgy. Literally all killer, no filler. The characters are always tormented, always in the dark. Robin is tired of following the rules, man. It has all the authenticity of a Hot Topic shopper explaining why Fallout Boy is true punk.

Now, we’ve only seen a trailer. And I’m inclined to give this show a chance, partly from a general interest in Teen Titans on a whole, but also out of spite for those who’ve been bombarding the cast with hate. And who knows? Titans could be great!

This show could turn out to be the goofy live-action “real teens with crazy expectations” series we really want it to be, but the trailer is for an entirely different kind of series, one that leans into the melodrama for the sake of melodrama. The series looks forced. That’s part of why the reception to it from some fans was so negative. The costumes, the designs -- everything is played completely straight, and feels all the more fake for it.

When the Teen Titans are fun, it makes us care about them as characters. There’s no reason to root for the characters we meet in the Titans trailer, especially when they’re wearing weird, molded body armor and killing dudes. We just kind of hate them for being so much over the top.

Teen Titans Go literally made jokes about that years before Titans even went into production.

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is one of the highest critically rated DC films, ever. It’s a movie that’s literally about how embracing the fun in life (like singing a song with your friends or using rave music to save an exploding Krypton) doesn’t make you any less of a hero. Coming out the same year as Titans, it feels like a deliberate rebuttal to the idea that the franchise should be purely dramatic.

Superheroes are, at their core, meant to be fun. They're adventure stories where anything can happen, and that lends itself to big blasts of excitement and energy. And at the end of the day, being a teenager is supposed to be just as (if not more) fun. It’s the beginning of freedom, where everything is bold and new and dramatic. Things matter so much to teenagers, and by giving us teens who actually enjoy that aspect of life instead of just being super broody and cold, Teen Titans on a whole has the potential to be one of the best DC properties, period.

Let’s just hope DC learns from this, and learns to just have a little fun.

Titans is expected to premiere later this year. Young Justice Season 3 comes to the DC streaming service in 2019. Teen Titans Go! to the Movies is currently in movie theaters.