The new trailer for the upcoming season of Titans reveals a number of new heroes coming to the superhero show, along with the return of some old favorites. But among the revealed heroes, there's also a potential traitor among their ranks in the form of Ravager, the secret daughter of Deathstroke. And with her seemingly joining the team, the series could be adapting a classic comics story in its second season. Specifically, it appears that Titans might be attempting its own version of "The Judas Contract," with the lack of principal player, Terra, in the original, being substituted for Ravager as the spy in the young team's midst.
THE JUDAS CONTRACT
Published in 1984, "The Judas Contract" was written by Marv Wolfman with art by George Pérez. The storyline centered on Terra, a recent addition to the Teen Titans who could control the earth itself. During the story, it's revealed that Terra is actually a spy, sent to infiltrate the team by their long-standing enemy Slade Wilson, aka the assassin Deathstroke.
As part of his plan to bring down the team, Terra learns the identities of the other heroes. Soon after, Deathstroke moves into action and surprise attacks every member of the team when they're least suspecting it. Only Dick Grayson, who'd recently given up the position of Robin, was able to avoid capture. Learning of Terra's betrayal from Deathstroke's ex-wife Adeline, Dick adopts a new superhero persona as Nightwing (which the official introduction of that identity) and rushes out to save his teammates.
He's joined by Deathstroke's son Jericho, who has the ability to possess others by making eye contact. While Nightwing battles members of the H.I.V.E. and rescues his teammates, Jericho confronts his father. An already unstable Terra turns on everyone and unleashes an outburst of power. In the end, however, the only fatality is Terra herself, crushed in the cave-in she caused. The story is one of the most famous Teen Titans arcs and has been adapted previously in both the '00s Teen Titans series and the 2017 animated film, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract.
RAVAGER
One major roadblock in bringing the story to Titans is that Terra hasn't been introduced in the show yet. The new trailer doesn't hint at her coming arrival, either.
However, since his first appearance in the promotional material for the second season, fans have speculated that Deathstroke would try to enact some form of the Judas Contract scheme. It is, after all, one of his most famous moments in the comics. But Titans has so far been willing to tweak and toy with the mainline Teen Titans continuity, and it appears to continue doing so here. The addition of more modern characters like Superboy and the duo of Hawk and Dove deviate heavily from the original comic. These deviations may carry over to the villains, as well.
This could explain why it's Rose Wilson, the mysterious white-haired young woman, who ends up in the Titans' base instead of Terra. The trailer for the new season reveals Rose as a potential new member of the team, training alongside Dick Grayson and proving capable with a sword. But she's also the daughter of Slade Wilson and a frequent partner of his in the comics. Rose and Slade have a complicated relationship, often alternating from allies to enemies. Her skill level here, however, suggests that she's had some serious training with her blade -- exactly the sort of thing Slade could have imparted on her.
TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST
The trailer hints that the Titans have a long-standing relationship with Deathstroke. It's been speculated that Deathstroke may have even actually murdered a member of the team in the past and was responsible for the dissolution of the original Titans team. His shocked reaction to seeing the Titans touted as having returned suggests he's going to resume his mission. The season seems to even be following the plot thread of the original story that featured Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing. But it doesn't just appear to be the players in the Judas Contract that are changing.
One shot from the trailer seems to show the team grouped around a computer monitor that has seemingly connected Slade and Rose. If so, the team could have discovered her duplicity earlier than in the original story, giving the heroes a better chance to either prevent her attack or try to turn her further to their side and against her father. If Titans is indeed adapting "The Judas Contract," they could be making more changes to it than just the principal players involved.
Titans stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Kory Anders, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth and Ryan Potter as Garfield Logan, with Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall, Curran Walters as Jason Todd, Conor Leslie as Donna Troy, Joshua Orpin as Superboy, Esai Morales as Deathstroke, Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson, Chella Man as Jericho, Drew Van Acker as Aqualad and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne. Season 2 arrives Sept. 6 on DC Universe.