WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Titans Season 2 premiere, "Trigon," streaming now on DC Universe.
The mere promise of Titans Tower in the second season of Titans was enough to excite fans of the DC property. The iconic, T-shaped headquarters of the team of teen heroes is well-known, across comic books and animation, and its live-action debut would be a momentous occasion, at least among superhero adaptations. But while the location is revealed in the closing moments of the Season 2 premiere, it's not exactly what viewers may have envisioned.
Debuting in 1980 in DC Comics Presents #26, in which the New Teen Titans were introduced, the original Titans Tower was built by Cyborg's father, Dr. Silas Stone, on an island in New York City's East River. The T-shaped structure contained apartments for the Titans, a meeting room, a gymnasium, computer labs, an infirmary, hangars for aircraft and even a submarine, with tunnel access to the river. Following its destruction in 1991, two other versions were constructed, with the third, and current, one located on an island off San Francisco Bay. Similarly, the 2003 Teen Titans animated series featured a Titans Tower on an island off the coast of California, possibly near San Francisco, while Teen Titans Go! places the T-shaped building in fictional Jump City.
The tower on Titans is also in San Francisco, although it off the coast ... and it isn't T-shaped. Instead, it's a sleek, but normal-looking skyscraper, located smack-dab in the middle of the city. (It's the tallest building, at the center of the image below.)
It seems unlikely "Titans Tower" fills the entire building; it's more probable the team's headquarters is limited to the dark, horizontal band that appears to take up three floors.
The Season 2 trailer offered glimpses of the headquarters; those scenes were distinguishable from the cool, blue tones. The former base of the original Titans (Robin, Wonder Girl, Hawk and Dove, and Aqualad), it's been shuttered since that team disbanded. However, someone has certainly been keeping up the place. A conversation between Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) and Bruce Wayne (Iain Glen) suggests it's a Wayne property, which answers a lot of questions.
Viewers are treated to a brief, partial tour of the facilities as Dick steps off the elevator with a wide-eyed Rachel Roth (Teagan Croft), Garfield Logan (Ryan Potter) and Jason Todd (Curran Walters), the latter of whom was sent along as Bruce's "one condition" for the Titans re-forming. To the sound of "This Must Be the Place," by Kishi Bashi, Gar and Jason excitedly dart around the headquarters, moving beyond the spacious living area to the training facility, shown prominently in the trailer, and what we can presume is the meeting room. It's there a wide-eyed Gar, a superhero fanboy, is stopped in his tracks by the realization of where they are: Titans Tower. However, as Dick tells Rachel, they're simply, "Home."
It's, somewhat surprisingly, an emotionally impactful scene. Although it's difficult to believe to believe that Jason, who only earlier was riding a motorcycle through the halls of Wayne Manor, built atop the Batcave, would be impressed by what he sees, the look of awe in Gar's eyes feels genuine. So, too, does the seeming feeling of contentment, of belonging, that falls over Rachel, who lost what might have passed for family -- her adoptive and biological mother, and her demonic father, Trigon -- but found a new one.
After spending the first season bouncing around Chicago, Ohio and Washington, D.C., Titans will put down roots in Season 2. It's not the Titans Tower we were expecting, of course, but it's still pretty swanky.
Streaming now on DC Universe, Titans Season 2 stars Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Kory Anders, Teagan Croft as Rachel Roth, Ryan Potter as Garfield Logan, Curran Walters as Jason Todd and Conor Leslie as Donna Troy, with Minka Kelly as Dawn Granger, Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall, Joshua Orpin as Superboy, Chelsea Zhang as Rose Wilson, Chella Man as Jericho, Drew Van Acker as Aqualad, Esai Morales as Deathstroke and Iain Glen as Bruce Wayne.