ăTITANS (REWRITE)ă is a reimagining of Titans (2018). Same core idea and same cast in mind, just with different writing choices.
Logline: When a hunted girl leads him back to his fallen team, guilt-ridden Dick Grayson must reunite the fractured Titans to face Deathstroke and the truth that destroyed themâbefore history repeats itself.
Premise: A decade after tragedy shattered the Titans, their scattered members are pulled back together by a girl tied to a growing darkness and an enemy who never let them go. As old wounds resurface, they return to the place where it all ended. Forced to face their failure, their wounds, and each other. To survive, they must stop running, heal what broke them, and choose to become Titans again.
Em dash is SO beautiful. It's horrible that we force ourselves not to use it so that the text doesn't look generated. The brackets just don't give you the same oomph that the em dash does.
Dick and Donna being siblings. Rewrite Verse dialogues edition!
Siblings who were trauma-bonded by emotionally unavailable superheroes... my Roman Empire.
Donna finally turns and freezes. Dick's standing there with his hands in his jacket pockets, smirking.
DONNA (grinning): Well, well, if it isn't Boy Wonder himself.
She moves in for a hug but then stops dead when she notices Rachel behind him.
DONNA (horrified): No.
DICK: I haven't said anything!
DONNA: You don't have to! I know that look on your face. And it's not "Hello!" or "I missed you so much!" or "Sorry I haven't called you even once!"
DICK (shrugging apologetically): Hello, I missed you so much, sorry I haven't called you even once?
DICK: Donna, this is Rachel.
Donna nods at Rachel and crosses her arms, staring at Dick with a mix of annoyance and concern.
DONNA: Dick, this is a mess.
DONNA: Not everyone is a hero. But you are. Always were. Always will be.
DICK: Hypocrisy much? That goes right back at you. Â
DONNA: Oh, don't turn this around. You know it's different with me.
DICK: It's not.
DONNA: It is.
DICK: Is not!
DONNA: It is!
DONNA: Kory's language caught my interest after she... yelled at us.
DICK: At you. She yelled at you.
DONNA (turning to her book): Anywayâ
DICK (chuckling): Sweet child?
DONNA: Yeah. That's what Diana used to call me. Sweet child.
DICK: Her motherly skills were a work in progress.
DONNA (snorting): You'd know. What did he call you?
Dick tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling. A tired smirk tugs at his lips.
DICK (mocking gruff voice): Dick! How could you be so reckless?! You are benched for LIFE! Batmobile is OFF LIMITS!
They laugh. A beat.
DICK: He did call me champ sometimes. Whenever I aced a training. Or just in public, you know, for the brand. But what I really loved was when he called me a hero. After saving someone, helping those whom he could've missed.Â
DONNA: You don't know what harms you more. When they scold. Or when they praise.
I still haven't checked out the writers' names because I'm kind of afraid to put names and faces to a badly done job. My guess is that the problems started because they had no interest and genuine care for the project. Perhaps the paycheck wasn't that great and the deadlines were crazy, so you get writers who don't give a damn about piecing together a world that makes sense.
Not to mention that writers aren't the highest position on a hierarchy, so execs meddling or execs setting up stupid tasks could be it too. 2018 was the dusk of the era where people were comparing DC and Marvel, saying that the reason why they liked DC was the maturity and dark tone. Boom. Here you have it. Industry doesn't work as fast as social trends. That take on "dark" DC was soon disproven by people saying that it wasn't the edginess they liked. It was the deep psychology. Each Arkham inmate is a psychiatrist study put in an exaggerated comics world. But execs were already betting their money on Titans, where each character drops f-bombs every two minutes, violence is always graphic and never consequential for the hero's journey, and stake escalation (alongside other basic screenwriting tools) isn't a thing.
The verdict is if the product is produced with the sole reason to be sold, it won't be good.
Dick Graysonâs Copying Mechanism or Dick, Donât Be a Dick
He's Batman's prodigy. The golden boy. The leader. The man who says he doesnât want to be Batman... by acting exactly like Batman. Let's talk about Dick Grayson or, as Titans (2018) showed him, Violent Dick.
Just a quick catch-up. I'm Aurora and this is my ongoing project Titans (Rewrite), where we take Titans (2018) and fix the failed writing.
But to know what to fix, we have to know what went wrong. That's why these ranting posts exist.
In no way is this a jab at the actor's work. I love the casting of Titans (2018). If I were an actual writer on the series, I'd be beyond happy to see actors SO fitting to bring my characters to life.
The writing itself, though, raises a lot of questions. It drives me insane. When you are only starting out, when you are trying to break into the industry and giving all of you to the craft, being intentional about every little detail in your stories, it's really really discouraging to see people inside the industry not doing this job at all.
In short, I loved the series but I despised its writing. So I'm #rewriting it!
You are welcome to join the conversation and share your takes on Dick Grayson in Titans (2018) â
Starting with the official/unofficial protagonist. Why unofficial? Because every piece of marketing Titans had showed the core four as the⌠core. Even the intro. Most of the time it has the same shots of Dick (not pic... sorry, couldn't resist), Starfire, Rachel, and Gar. Yet, the plot of the series actively involved only Dick. Freudian excuse? Maybe. One thing for sure, secluding a character in the way it was done with Nightwing is going to hurt your TEAM story.
The first accusation against Dick Grayson is tied back to my first and primary complaint about Titans (2018). You can't build a story if you don't have a theme. A philosophical conflict behind it all. Because if there's not, you get a character so confusing, you have no idea what he's standing for. One can say Dick was more inspired by the Teen Titans (2003) version than his comic book canon. But honestly? No, you can't.
Live-action Titans had a huge problem where the way the character acts and the way the character is treated just don't align. The show loves to brag about how foul and cruel Batman is, but when Dick does the same stuff, nobody takes notice.
Season 1 kind of wanted to have this direction where Dick blames Batman for screwing him over and making him a monster. It suggests that the series is trying to tell a story of a man who heals from violence. The series has to be internally saying "violence is bad, our character doesn't want to be violent, the man who made him violent is bad, hence the violence is bad." Sorry for a repetitive section, but it's a showcase of a thought process. A thought process that could happen inside of the writers' minds, yet it didn't. You can't have an actual arc where Dick learns to forgive and forget the violence (count how many times I said this word) if characters around him don't call him out. And they don't.
Not in a way that characters tell him something like, "oh, don't blame yourself, you did what you had to do." No. They actually don't see him committing crimes. Nobody ever comments on him actually killing people, even if it was right in front of their faces. In fact, all of the characters are brutal, hostile, and straight-up bloodthirsty. Almost as if the series actually stands for this as a moral and says, "violence is good if you are cute as Brenton Thwaites, if you sport a cool brooding frown, and if you have a team full of people as violent as you are!" Then again, NO! The show has literal dialogue that says, "killing and stealing isn't Titans way," even if essentially they do that. That's all Titans do.
The moral inconsistency gets confusing. There's this Jericho confession where Titans got so mad at Dick for the thing he didn't do and didn't have any power over, yet when he's actually doing horrible stuff, nobody cares.
Everyone thinks Jason is too brutal and a hothead, but when it comes to Dick, the rules do not apply.
As if Dick lives in a parallel universe inside the Titans show and whenever he kills, steals, and commits other horrible crimes, it's just an NPC casualty. It's not real. It's virtual reality.Â
The whole Jericho mess is tied to the lack of theme too. We didn't resolve the violent Dick arc through season 1 and season 2, yet we drop him into another emotional context where the moral of the story is even less pronounced.
Does the series want to say that lying to your friends is bad? That befriending a deadly assassinâs kid in order to get closer to that assassin is bad? What is the theme? And why should I care? Because if their theme is "don't befriend assassins' kids," then it's not really relatable. And if the theme is "don't lie to your friends," then it's not really convincing.
If you have friends like Titans, you don't need enemies. Gif to remind you:
In the first Titans (Rewrite) explainer video, I compared Dick to Bella Swan for comedic value, but it just fits! He walks around with a stone-ass expression, is emotionally (and maybe also physically) constipated, sleeps with various women, beats up cops, kills people, blames Batman, and teaches everyone else about morals. He's probably a self-insert. Maybe Titans writers just wanted to imagine themselves in some cool, moody scenes and based the whole show around it? Who knows?Â
What I know is that this is not how you handle a character who you want to be titular. To be the lead. The hero is supposed to guide your audience through the world youâve built and through the moral of the story youâre trying to convey.
Let's imagine that Dick's arc is about overcoming violence. To build this arc, you have to have a clear contrast.
The characters who would never go too far and whom Dick loves and respects. Versus characters who get even more aggressive and violent than him, whom Dick doesn't like and doesn't want to be like.
For example, it could be a contrast between Kory and Gar, nice people (in our mental exercise, not the actual show), people who selflessly decided to help unfortunate Rachel. Versus Jason. Jason, who's chasing his own grave, who doesn't do much good because he's harnessing too much anger. And that's how Dick realizes what path he wants to follow.Â
But no. Every single hero in Titans (2018) was a bloodthirsty lunatic without any moral compass. The thematic journey didn't make sense, because there wasn't one. And Dick Grayson was the captain of this merchant ship with empty cargo.Â
Epilogue
I actually think that the whole violent Dick arc doesn't suit the character that much anyway. So Titans (Rewrite) went for another arc. Overindulgence versus avoidance.
But I'll cover it in the next post! This one is already too long and I promised to stop making Snyder cuts out of my blog :P
In the previous post I covered some of the screenwriting sins of Titans (2018). Things that begged to be reimagined in a showâs resurrection. Even if it's just a fan project!
Here I'm observing the points from that post and literally #rewriting them. Because, you know, Titans (Rewrite). Branding is everything :D
In a nutshell, I'm sharing my take on live-action Titans, a series with incredible potential but failed writing.
Iâm a fan of Titans (2018). Itâs my guilty pleasure. But I'm a screenwriter, also known as that annoying friend who comments on movies and series during the watch parties. The whole idea to remake Titans (at the best of my abilities and resources, of course) is a call of love. Not spite. Not clout. Not ego. Love.
In my humble opinion, Titans (2018) had the PERFECT cast. The core four? On point appearance-wise and ESSENCE-wise. When you see these actors in other projects, you realize that, given a different trajectory, their characters would shine.Â
This is my hopeful attempt at providing that trajectory.Â
Oh! Beware that the content below contains some heavy topics. All the same heavy topics from Titans (2018). If you are a minor or you are hypersensitive, do not interact.
Found family is THE theme of my rewritten Titans. I thought that if the series focuses on a vast ensemble of characters, the aspect of found family has to be central. The relationships between the Titans, sibling-like bickering, unconditional support, and conflict navigation are the heartbeat. Though each season has its own subtheme. The subthemes are the bloodstreams that fuel the heart.
⸝âSEASON 1: Breaking Free from the Past (or Obsession vs. Freedom)â⸝
Every major character wrestles with their past, but itâs especially prominent for the original Titans, also known as the Teen Titans. Including Robin, Wonder Girl, Hawk, Dove, Aqualad, and Kid Flash (yes, I shamelessly added my ginger boy, because just like Dick Grayson I have a thing for silly redheads... more about that in a future post).
In Rewrite Verse, the og team functioned in the early 2000s, when all of them were late teens. We see a lot of their flashbacks. Unlike the 2018 run, they are important! They are the integral part of season 1. They provide the contrast between bright, hopeful, and naive teenage years and the present cynicism and disappointment. As well as the plot! The story that still lingers and keeps ruining their lives even ten years into the future.Â
By the end, Titans learn balance: neither naivety nor brutal pessimism serves them. And yes, this is the Deathstroke season. Because no sane writer would start with Trigon as the opening act.
⸝âSEASON 2: Forgiveness & Shared Traumaâ⸝
This is Starfireâs season. And Blackfireâs. With Blackfire as the main antagonist, the theme of forgiveness takes center stage. Itâs what I think is one of the most resonating themes between the Tamaranean sisters.
But theyâre not the only ones struggling with it. The Golden trioâDick, Donna, and Wallyâhave to sort out their unresolved issues, piled up from all the years theyâve known each other. Their forgiveness is directed inward, while Koryâs is outward.
⸝âSEASON 3: Control vs. Surrenderâ⸝
Cue disgusted faces at the âwoo-wooâ theme, but stay with me. This is the season of Trigon. Season 3 is where the Titans go head-to-head with the Church of Blood cult.
With Rachel being an empath and psychic in my version, her arc leans into spiritual warfare, but in an action-packed, high-stakes way. Rachel is battling with her control over the situation with the demon, but others represent the theme just as much.
The original Titans are struggling because this is a threat theyâve never faced before. Gar & Kory feel helpless, as pep talks wonât save Rachel this time. Connerâs arc mirrors the other side of control.
My beloved Conner... Luthor believes in himself too much. And I believe in his wonderful hairline too much.Â
⸝âSEASON 4: Legacy & Trustâ⸝
After the chaos of previous seasons, season 4 grounds the Titans in their true purpose.
Not to stop armageddons. Not to solve intergalactic conflicts. But to watch over San Francisco. To be heroes here and now.
Of course, itâs not that simple. Every choice theyâve made before comes back to haunt them. This season takes vague inspiration from The Judas Contract and Young Justice. With Donna & Wally gone (they arenât dead, chill), two new faces join the team. Tim Drake and Rose Wilson. Now, connect the dots, pumpkins. Connect the dots.
Epilogue
Thank you for surviving this long wall of text. It featured significantly fewer jokes and was diving into deeper ends and not everyone likes it. Who can blame them? The deep waters are pretty cold. But you are here, which makes you the coolest!
Titans (2018) lovers, unite! Maybe we can give this project CPR and a second chance.
Anybody else just want the same casting from 2018 to make another Titans series?
All the same actors but completely different writing. A good one.
Because I've been mulling over this idea for a while now. We don't know if there will be casting this fitting for the characters in the near future, so Titans (2018) face cards feel both like a blessing and such a waste of potentialđĽ˛
This punch describes my whole relationship with Titans writing
The Titans treated these 2 brothers so badly man, especially the OG!
I don't understand why they're blaming Dick for everything :( They all made the decision to deceive Jericho together. When Dick decided to take in Jericho, he laid out the whole truth & respected Jericho's decision to see his father. He only interfered because Slade killed a bunch of Amazonians & injured Donna. How would he know that Jericho (sweetheart...) was gonna sacrifice himself to save Dick? :( And the sad part is that he knew what's gonna be their reaction, that's why he omitted the truth abt Jericho's death from them.
And I know Jason had been difficult & didn't have the best attitude, but he's a kid who just got tortured by villains & nearly died. How is their first instinct to yell at him when they thought he's acting up?? What kind of superheroes are they omg. I'm so glad they're gone for the latter seasons (~>~) If it's not for Dick, Jason would have jumped for real.
I'm really mad at Titans' writing no matter how much I love the show. That's just not how you write a team. Teams are found family. Period.
I want the Titans to feel like "us against the world," not a group that bullies one member to the edge of a building, blames another for everything, and then breaks up again. It's honestly heartbreaking đ
It's such a blessing that actors have wonderful chemistry together! If not for that, it'd be so hard to root for their "family"
I'm rewriting Titans because I love it. That's the whole reason. But if you're going to fix something, you have to see what's broken first.
Basically, Titans gets progressively worse each time you rewatch it. The first time, all you see are actors' face cards and cool music. As you go for round two, you see mistakes. But as you rewatch it yet again, you notice choices. Real writers, actual human beings, sat in a room, pitched these ideas, nodded, and later filmed them. And if mistakes can be forgiven⌠Choices? Choices are a whole other story.
I'm not here to dunk on Titans. I love it. I just wish it was done better. And if something's not written right, it's not written rightâthat doesn't mean you can't love it.
I love it enough to rewrite it. That's the whole project. Here's masterlist if you're interested
⸝âNo Clear Themeâ⸝
A strong theme is the spine of any story. Titans had scoliosis.Â
Some projects earn themselves a reputation as the f-boys of storytelling. Titans is an honorary member of their frat party. It flirted with many ideas but never committed to any of them. There was found family because of the whole âDick Grayson collects straysâ route. Responsibility with Rachel not being able to ignore Trigonâs presence. Legacy with the infamous âF-bomb Batmanâ line. And more topics that were thrown in because they were stylish, not because they served a certain purpose.Â
Look, the story doesnât have to be a therapy handbook or the most intricate metaphor web. It just needs to have an identity. Something that the viewer knows the show will provide. Columbo had a humble and bumbling everyman outsmarting the arrogant rich class. When you put the episode on, you know youâll get to see how merit wins over privilege. Even seemingly âplotlessâ Downton Abbey had the thematic trajectory of changing times and family perseverance. You can clearly feel and name what the series is about. Titans? Titans is all about shock factor, crude language, and blue tint. Otherwise, you donât know. You donât know why you would watch Titans.Â
Smallville isnât a flawless masterpiece, but one thing it provides in full measure is the thematic journey. Coming of age. Feeling like thereâs so much more to you, while fearing it as much as you desire it.
⸝âMessy Structureâ⸝
The showâs writing didnât have a big picture. Not thematically, as I stressed out earlier, and not structurally. They didnât even try to connect the plotlines.
Season 1 was about Dickâs anger and leaving Batman behind, but it didnât connect well with the Trigon planet-ending prophecy. Actually, they didnât connect at all. Two storylines, zero overlap. This problem progresses exponentially because for some reason, writers of this TEAM series struggled to create a story that involved the TEAM. Koryâs subplots never, I kid you not, NEVER had anything to do with others. Yes, Gar and Conner tagged along but only because they had nothing to do otherwise, not because it connected these characters. Gar had no agency. The last season basically separated him from the team and left him in that red, almost Doom Patrol limbo till the end. Rachel defeated Trigon with a snap of her fingers and became irrelevant because writers didnât know how to handle such an overpowered character.Â
Season 2 had Deathstroke, Cadmus, Titans break-up drama, Dickâs hallucinations, then Dickâs jail time, then Dickâs Nightwing outfit reveal, the Jericho is alive movement, Rose and Jason romance, Hankâs MMA career, and some magical Bruce Wayne hallucination that Dick mustâve infected girls with. Choose your fighter.
Season 3 could be the closest to handling a theme, with Gothamâs crime pairing well with a trauma-driven arc surrounding Dick and Jason... But then they underdeveloped Red Hood and forced Scarecrow into the mix. Why? They had the cards to fix the previous seasons, okay. They had them. They could explore Jason from the point of view that actually makes Titans rethink their choice and makes them admit their mistakes, their insolent behavior, and the way they let others down. But NOPE. Red Hood is Scarecrowâs meth-making intern. Thatâs the gist. This is my pain point, I swear. Why Jonathan Crane? Why? Titans writers were fans of Breaking Bad. We see that. But were they fans of Titans?
Actually, I have a theory here. I went to a film school too, okay. I studied screenwriting. I joined Stage 32 and watched far too many screenwriting tutorials on YouTube. All that jazz. You know what all these have in common? The story examples they use. Almost every writing course will mention Breaking Bad as a casestudy for TV and Star Wars: A New Hope as a casestudy for feature. You see where Iâm going with this one? Maybe Titans writers thought they could fix the previous seasons if they remembered their school days, but instead of getting inspired by the neat structure and flow of BB they just decided to adopt the yellow suits, drugs, and weird professor/failed student dynamics? Just a thought to mull over.
⸝âStupid Plot Choicesâ⸝
This could be a part of the previous point, but it drove me nuts so much, I had to make a separate one.Â
You canât choose Trigon as your opening big bad. You simply canât. Thereâs a reason storytelling tools are called âRAISING actionâ and âconflict ESCALATION.â Any story has to be building up, even if the stakes and scale are relatively small. In Titans the stakes arenât small. They are huge. So huge they couldnât work with themselves anymore.Â
Their lineup literally looks like this: Trigon, THE evil incarnate and destroyer of the universe â Deathstroke, a mercenary who kinda has metahuman strength â Red Hood and Scarecrow, two drug dealers who are absolutely normal human without any superpowers but with addiction to their own stuff â Brother Blood, game developer.Â
Yeah, Brother Blood is also Trigonâs son, but honestly? Just because of this complete de-escalation, you could never treat Sebastian seriously. You couldnât treat any of the villains seriously. Titans just defeated the universal threat, the greatest evil this planet has yet seen, and you want the audience to feel scared of Deathstroke? Did the showrunners think that there would only be one season of Titans and want to use their darkhorse as a one-shot? Because that could possibly explain why it was a desperate move to scale down to other villains, though not really when you remember that Titans didnât defeat Trigon in season 1. There was always a plan for season 2. They knew Trigon would only be defeated in season 2. And about thatâŚ
Yet another bizarre plot decision. The only reason why you donât defeat the big bad in the last episode of this big badâs season is because you have a concept, a greater scheme behind it. We donât solve the mystery of Laura Palmerâs death at the end of the first Twin Peaks season because the whole idea is to make this mystery unsolvable (which unfortunately had to be scribbled off because of execs meddling, but thatâs beside the point). Titans didnât have a reason NOT to defeat Trigon in the last episode of season 1. There was no clever idea, no secret knowledge Rachel was yet to obtain, and no escalation to the trouble before it got better. To be completely honest, I had to check out the Titans fandom wiki page to actually grasp what happened and how Rachel defeated the demon after all. Rachel realized that the key is her dream. As the viewer, I still donât realize what she realized. She tells Trigon that now she sees that her real family are Titans but to finally demolish him, she also says, âYou know what they say. Genetics is destiny.â So contradictory, itâs dumb.
It would be a pretty ironic watch, you know, a drinking game, if the show didnât treat itself so seriously and wasnât aiming at a status and a rating far above what was actually going on. Which brings us to the next and probably final point of this issue.
⸝âInconsistent Tone & Identityâ⸝
Dark, mature, and edgy? Or a soap opera in spandex? Titans never chose.Â
The series was the edgelordâs paradise. All these emotionally constipated characters, the forced grit, and drama for the sake of drama. Oh! And the show loves âexploringâ trauma. They keep piling up characters' hardships and difficult upbringings but they donât ever resolve them. The facts are brought up for the sheer shock value and nothing more. You canât just spell it out that Donna was traumatized when she witnessed her fatherâs death. You have to show it. Yes, âshow, donât tellâ is still a thing. You can absolutely keep the original sequence that shows what the traumatic event was. Itâs okay, especially if you are really proud of how it showcases the characterâs psyche. But it has to show in the present day. The behavior, the temper, and the response mechanism your character possesses in the present have to be tied to that origin.
Donnaâs father died in a fire, and she moved to Themyscira. So? Is she afraid of fire now? Is she emotionally distant from men because sheâs afraid of losing a loved one again? Is she overreliant on men because she wants to replicate the feeling of having stability that her father provided? No. Donna is okay. She has friends, both male and female, she has a social life, and sheâs got a normal stable job. Maybe sheâs been avoiding relationships after Garthâs death, but it honestly doesnât seem that evident. She never comments on it, so we could assume she just doesnât want to expand her love life because she feels okay on her own. She is a total jerk just like the rest of the Titans, but itâs a topic Iâll cover next time and isnât connected to that fire. We didnât need to be taught that Donna was traumatized in that fire because it meant nothing for her arc.Â
All the edginess was slapped on to spice things up. You canât convince me there was thematic (or any) value to the time Dick was running around San Francisco with a gun, hallucinating about Bruce Wayne, visiting strip clubs, and finally bursting into some random dudeâs bathroom. It didnât move the plot and emotionally it could only mean that Dick lost his mind but the show never acknowledges that heâs gone crazy. Itâs actually implied that his hallucinations are right and he should follow their lead.Â
The show tried so hard to be âadultâ it ended up looking like a teenagerâs fanfiction. A very poorly written one! Most fanfic writers care for characters enough to give them enough of a story structureâthey use basic conflict escalation for starters! Even shipping tropes has more logic and spine than Titans' writing. One-bed trope? Basic escalation. Characters were on the road when a natural disaster happened, thatâs the inciting incident. Thereâs one last room left and they get the key, thatâs raising action. They open the room and see only one bed and no couch, thatâs escalation. And they finally get down and dirty. Perfect climax, may I say.Â
Titans (2018) didnât get a perfect climax. Guess you can say the writers werenât the most attentive lovers. Thatâs why I decided to sweep in as Titansâ mistress. Figuratively speaking, of course.
There will be separate posts with each of these problematic spots rewritten and fixed. With a minimal amount of spoilers since Titans (Rewrite) is an audio drama that you will be able to listen to pretty soon!
Epilogue
I didnât want to fix Titans (2018) out of spite. I wanted to see what would happen if the same idea and same actors got the story they deserved.The tragedy of Titans isnât that it was bad, itâs that it couldâve been incredible. Thatâs the kind of story that deserves resurrection. And I'm just trying to dig up the Lazarus Pit.
My most controversial take is that Jason Todd was perfectly cast in the Titans show.
Yeah, I know a lot of people say the casting didnât make senseâbut I fully disagree. Jason is canonically a teenager/young adult when he comes back. But in the comics, heâs so often drawn like a 30 year old. That visual disconnect makes people feel like heâs older and more removed from the vulnerability thatâs actually core to his character.
So when Titans cast a younger-looking actor, someone who really looked like a teenage boy, that was actually more accurate to Jasonâs story. His whole arc is tragic because of how young he is.
Making him look like a real teenager instead of a fucking bodybuilder actually enhances that story.
The actor could create such a captivating version of Red Hood. I believe heâs the type of person who naturally looks young, no matter his age. Not sure how old he really is, but since the show had been running for a while, he mustâve been around 25, but boy did he look 16 throughout. Which is exactly what could make Jason so tragic! Instead of trying to age him up into a comic-accurate, brooding outlaw, you could embrace that contrast. A baby-faced kid whoâs completely hollowed inside out. That visual dissonance couldâve been haunting.
Like, the problem was never the casting. It was the writing.
When you as a writer have an established cast, itâs a freaking privilege. You can literally shape the writing around your actors. You know, like Sherman-Palladino created Paris Geller specifically for Liza Weil. Itâs just that Titansâ writers didnât do that.
Their Red Hood arc fell apart because there was no moral contrast between him and Dick. The show condemned Jason for things every other Titan had done before, without reflection. If theyâd made it clear that Dick was the light side (against guns, violence, and vengeance), then Jason couldâve been the foil. The counterpoint.
Itâs so cool to imagine that same actor as a quiet, still, and empty Red Hood. Keep his wildcard ADHD background but twist it. After his Deathstroke PTSD, after his death, heâs no longer the overhyped loudmouth. Heâs calm, hyper-controlled, suppressing everything just to survive. âEmotional burnout personifiedâ type of trajectory. The embodiment of neglect, trauma, and the consequences of militarized parenting (and brotherhood, if you consider his time with Dick and Titans as that).
When Dick finally faces him, he should see the ghost of the boy he failed.
All the potential was there, and the actors had it! The emotion was there, but the writing just didnât show up.
ăTITANS (REWRITE)ă is a reimagining of Titans (2018). Same core idea and same cast in mind, just with different writing choices... So different it basically became a whole different story. Still worth checking out if you are into these characters!
The original series had everything it needed to work, and somehow still didn't. This project rebuilds it with stronger focus on characters, psychology, and the tean as an actual team.
In a nutshell, I wish the same casting would just come back and play in an entirely different Titans series. So I wrote it.
Welcome to Rewrite Verse â
Here's a deep dive ăYOUTUBE VIDEOă and here's an ăINTERACTIVE PAGEă that explores the project details because I love making website pages apparently
Rewrite Verse is everything surrounding Titans (Rewrite). The analysis, comparisons, and side projects that exist alonside the main story. I am making a point-and-click game for this.. Don't ask whyâI wish I knew the answer.
P.S. Scripts are adpated to prose so you can read them all in its own masterlist!
Deep Dives
⢠Original Sins of Titans (2018) Pt. 1
Characters Before/After
⢠Dick Grayson
Titans Tower
Bigger Picture
This whole project took a lot of my time and effort as well as genuineâand sometimes foolishâpassion.
Did I rush in to gather a team and make the scripts into an audio drama before even testing sharing this story online? Yeah. It wasn't the wisest decision but it is what it is. I'm excited to see what this whole thing can turn into anyway đ¤
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