Light spoilers for those who aren't caught up on DC Universe's Titans.
In its first episodes, DC Universe's Titans introduced the various badasses of its dark and eclectic superhero squad, which hasn't technically come together in full just yet. But one member we've really been missing out on is the shapeshifting fan-favorite Beast Boy, otherwise known as Gar Logan. As such, it's been hard to tell how the character will compare to past versions from the Teen Titans comic books and beloved animated series. Thankfully, star Ryan Potter clued us in.
For the Titans red carpet premiere, Beast Boy portrayer Ryan Potter spoke with CinemaBlend's Mike Reyes, hinting at his live-action hero being similarly fun and funny as previous iterations, though with a suitably emotional foundation. When asked about what B.B.'s fans will enjoy about Titans' furriest character.
I think there are different Beast Boy fans. I think there's kinda like the O.G. Beast Boy fans of Wolfman and Perez's interpretation of the Titans in New Teen Titans, and then there are Beast Boy fans from when he started getting solo storylines, kind of in the Geoff Johns era, and the New Teen Titans he wrote. Beast Boy got a lot more solo time. In Teen Titans he was the jokester, the butt of the joke. In this iteration, I tried to bring a mix of all three of those, but also keeping the lightheartedness. While Beast Boy can be jokey, it comes from how big of a heart he has. He's got the quote of, "If I didn't tell jokes, I'd probably be depressed all the time." So, it comes from a truthful place.
Though Titans fans haven't seen A-Z reveals for the other characters yet either, Robin, Raven and Starfire have definitely gotten all the focus. Really, Starfire is probably the most "light-hearted" of the three, if only for the joy in her eyes when she's scorching things. So it should be quite the noteworthy tonal shift once Gar Logan gets to actually hang around more, and we're hoping for some of the other version' solid standalone stories, as well as group action.
Beast Boy's comedic side is born out of trauma in Titans, presumably from events similar to his comic book origins. Such as having science-preferring parents who riskily saved him from a lethal virus by turning him into a monkey. (The story of every adolescent's life, amirite?) So he won't be turning into the bluebird of happiness all the time, but as it went on the page and in the animated series, Beast Boy also won't be defined by his negative emotions. In Potter's words:
There's a lot of people that deal with depression and sadness, and they use laughter as a coping mechanism. I think Beast Boy rides the line sometimes, because he goes through a lot of traumatic events, and I think the humor has just become part of his personality, because he used it as a defense mechanism for so long that it's not even a defense mechanism anymore. It's not reactive, it's instinctive.
When things get too rough for Gar, here's hoping he feel better by morphing into a laughing hyenea. Or one of those dog-with-a-giant-smile memes.
According to Ryan Potter, some of Beast Boy's positivity will come from just being around the other main characters. The green-tinted hero's fans can attest to Gar being at his most engaging when he's mixing it up with others, either as a human or a four-legged friend.
Given the way Titans has intentionally kept the character in the background, the star couldn't delve into everything we'll see during the rest of Season 1. Ryan Potter did, however, hint at Beast Boy's current lifestyle when viewers catch up with him in Episode 4, which will be the highly anticipated introduction (and semi-backdoor pilot) for the comics' Doom Patrol.
We start with Beast Boy in this state of comfort. He's living his best life with his family at the Doom Patrol mansion. I can't really say any more, because as soon as Beast Boy's pulled into the horror world of Raven, the sci-fi world of Starfire, and the superhero detective story of Robin, he gets to fanboy and ride along with each of those stories. Every day on set it's a new location, or it's new costumes, or new props.
The Doom Patrol is getting its own separate live-action series on DC Universe in the near future, which should be a gleeful riot for fans. Especially if the team's Titans installment is as weird and enjoyable as we're hoping. (Note that the episode will only feature half of the Doom Patrol heroes, with the other half arriving in the full series.) Will we get to see Beast Boy show off his powers more?
A live-action Beast Boy is definitely going to stand far apart from animated and illustrated versions when it comes to actually transforming into other creatures. Such visual splendor hasn't been seen very much just yet on Titans, but we still asked Ryan Potter how the filming process worked out for him in that respect.
It wasn't too bad. I just had to learn the ins and the outs of the animals, breathing, body mechanics. Things like that, I tried to emulate as much as possible. The transition period was the only time I had to act the animal. Prior to the transition is CGI, so I'm not MoCapping. Season 2, I'd love to MoCap!
In a way, Titans' use of CGI means Beast Boy's animal morphing is animated, which technically makes that the most comparable element to the cartoon series. (We will go ahead and assume Titans will have an extremely limited use of waffles, though.) What animals do you guys want to see Beast Boy turn into first?
Titans airs every Friday on DC Universe, so watch it as you eat your breakfast, picturing Beast Boy as an emerald-hued Tony the Tiger. For all the other new and returning shows that may or may not feature tiger-morphing, head to our fall TV premiere schedule.
