Titans will return to the small screen in the fall for its second season to finally reveal what happens next after the killer cliffhanger with Trigon, not to mention Dick Grayson being corrupted by Trigon's influence. A bunch of new actors have joined the cast for Season 2, and we now know that one scene-stealing Season 1 character will be around a lot more. Curran Walters, who plays Jason Todd, was bumped up to series regular status for Season 2.
In a twist on DC Comics canon, Jason Todd made his debut as the second Robin before the first Robin gave up the mantle. Although Dick Grayson had left Batman and Gotham City behind, intending to no longer fight crime the way Batman taught him, he still hit the streets as the not-so-Boy Wonder.
Jason turned up with updated armor, a serious bone to pick with officers of the law, and no problem with Batman's methods, including the fact that Batman had secretly implanted a tracking device in his first sidekick. Basically, Jason is a very different kind of Robin than Dick.
Of course, Dick's Robin suit got torched before the end of Season 1, and he had a bit of an existential crisis that took him to hang out with Wonder Girl. Now, Jason is the only Robin, and Dick may have a ways to go before seizing his destiny as Nightwing. He's a little occupied at the moment with issues other than picking out a new superhero identity and ditching the cape. What does more Jason Todd mean for Season 2?
Well, if Jason is around more often because he joins the team, then even diehard comics fans can't predict what's going to happen based on canon. There's also the question of Jason being allowed to ditch Gotham to hang with his Bat-bro. Dick debatably has enough on his plate (and trying to restrain his own impulses) without needing to deal with Jason's violent tendencies, and would Batman really just be cool with Jason hanging out far from Gotham on a regular basis?
There's also the point that Season 2 seems poised to tackle the Judas Contract arc, as Titans has cast its own Deathstroke, Jericho, and Ravager. Would Titans substitute Jason Todd in for one of the prominent players of that comic arc, or go in a completely original direction? Only time will tell.
Curran Walters' bump to regular status does make me wonder if Titans is going to deliver his famous comics fate by the end of the second season. The death of Jason Todd is arguably one of the best-known in the history of DC Comics, both for why it happened and how it impacted Batman.
Even his resurrection (which is apparently being covered on another DC Universe TV show) hasn't made his death at the hands (and crowbar) of the Joker any less impactful. Will the greater focus on Jason serve to make his death all the more heartbreaking?
In the dream world Trigon constructed for Dick in the Season 1 finale, Jason was alive but crippled. The season did end with an opening for Jason to return in the real world, as Dawn woke up from her coma to announce that she and Hank need to find Jason Todd. Still, there are more questions than answers. We still don't even know how Superboy fits into everything!
Unfortunately, we still have a wait before we find out for ourselves. Titans Season 2 doesn't premiere until the fall. DC Universe will have other TV projects hitting the airwaves in the meantime, though. Swamp Thing premieres on May 31, and the second half of Young Justice: Outsider will debut on July 2. Stargirl won't be available until 2020.
