The following contains spoilers for Titans Season 4, Episode 1, "Lex Luthor," now streaming on HBO Max.
The first episode of Titans Season 4 just added what appears to be a major aspect of the Animal Man mythos to Beast Boy's story.
Titled "Lex Luthor," the season premiere includes a scene in which Gar Logan (Ryan Potter) loses control of his shapeshifting powers in a laboratory and has a vision of himself in a red-tinged desert. When Logan snaps back to reality, he learns that he ran amok while entranced and unwittingly destroyed the lab. Although the event is left unexplained in the episode, it seemingly ties Beast Boy to The Red, a mystical force connecting all animal life first introduced to the DC Universe via the Animal Man comic book series. Beast Boy is one of several superheroes associated with The Red in the comics, however, it is yet to be confirmed whether this also applies to Titans continuity.
Beast Boy's apparent brush with The Red isn't the only big development Gar Logan undergoes in Titans Season 4's first episode, either. In the very same scene, Logan suits up in his new superhero costume, which Potter previously revealed very nearly resembled Beast Boy's outfit in the Teen Titans animated series. "The first time I went in for the fitting for the suit, [costume designer Laura Jean Shannon] kinda pulled me aside, and she said, 'We have paint samples. We have two colors here: red and purple,'" he recalled. "And, the Teen Titans fan in me wanted that purple, but we tonally have set the [Marv] Wolfman and [George] Perez era [of comics] into the modern age -- and the red and white looks phenomenal."
Beast Boy's Evolution in Titans Season 4
Beast Boy is set to demonstrate previously unseen animal forms across Titans' fourth season, as well. Logan has morphed into a bat, snake and tiger at various points throughout the HBO Max show's run to date, however, he adds two additional creatures to the list in "Lex Luthor." Pre-release Titans press coverage hints that the best is yet to come, too, with one of Beast Boy's animal transformations in Episode 5, "Inside Man," described as "unbelievable" by at least one outlet. It's unclear at this stage whether Beast Boy leveling up his powers is connected to the apparent introduction of The Red to Titans canon, and fans will need to keep tuning in to find out for certain.
Beast Boy's teammates Nightwing and Starfire also factored into the Titans' discussion prior to the Season 4 premiere's release. Specifically, reports indicate that the romance between the pair will reignite over the course of the fourth season, most notably in Episode 5.
Source: HBO Max