WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Titans Season 3, Episode 9, "Souls," available now on HBO Max.
Titans actor Jay Lycurgo discussed the idea of bringing Tim Drake's sexuality onto the screen.
The actor was first seen as Drake, known for being the third Robin in comics, during the premiere of the series' third season, "Barbara Gordon." He is seen as a massive Batman fan, discussing it with his relatives in their family restaurant, "Excellent Gotham: Golden Noodle House," in the episode. Within the comic pages of the recent Batman: Urban Legends anthology series, the Robin revealed himself to be bisexual by agreeing to go out on a date with his male friend, Bernard, something Lycurgo is open to exploring in the show.
"I've got to say, it's incredible," said Lycurgo in an interview with DC Fan News. "From the bottom of my heart, it is incredible to see someone as iconic as Robin to be bisexual. It's not done a lot, but it just shows that things are changing." The actor noted that part of the reason he is for the change is due to his opportunity to play Robin, when the character is depicted as white in comics.
"I'm all for it, and it's just nice that apart from having a biracial Robin, he's also someone that is comfortable with his sexuality. I love that fans now have someone like that to look up to." In August and shortly after the comic reveal, Lycurgo celebrated the change on Twitter with a rainbow of heart emojis.
Whether this aspect of Drake's character will make it into the current or a possible future season is unknown at this time. Lycurgo's version of Drake has mostly been seen in the more recent episodes and latter half of the season, including the episodes "Lady Vic" (as a cameo), "Home" and "Souls." The ninth episode gave him the most screen time thus far, having him be guided back to the land of the living by deceased Titans Hank Hall and Donna Troy.
This came after Drake was shot in the back by Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, who has served as the main antagonist of the season, with Red Hood aka Jason Todd as his proxy. The young man, who aspires to be the next Robin, felt the need to return to life so that he could fight back against Scarecrow. With only four more episodes left to go this season, it is unclear if and when Lycurgo may suit up like his comic book counterpart.
Titans stars Lycurgo, Brenton Thwaites (Dick Grayson/Nightwing), Anna Diop (Starfire), Ryan Potter (Beast Boy), Curran Walters (Jason Todd) and others. The first two seasons are available to stream on HBO Max in their entirety, the current season releasing an episode each week on Thursdays.
Source: DC Fan News