Titans Actress Explains How Close Season 3 Sticks To Comic Stories For Oracle, Batgirl And The Joker
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It’s been a long time since we saw Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl/Oracle, in live-action, with Dina Meyer playing her in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series (and let’s not forget that in 1997’s Batman & Robin, Batgirl was known as Barbara Wilson). But along with In the Height’s Leslie Grace being cast to lead HBO Max’s upcoming Batgirl movie, Babs will also feature prominently in Titans Season 3, with Boyhood and Six actress Savannah Welch bringing the character to life. But how closely will Titans adhere not just to Barbara’s history as Batgirl and Oracle from the comics, as well as her ties with Batman’s arch-nemesis The Joker?
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Savannah Welch ahead of Titans Season 3 premiering on HBO Max (which you can subscribe to with this link). As fans who’ve followed along with Season 3’s development and seen the trailers know, at this point in her life, Welch’s Barbara Gordon is in a wheelchair and is now serving Gotham City as commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, the position her father, James Gordon, once held. When I asked Welch how it felt playing a version of Barbara we haven’t seen in live-action before, as she’s no longer Batgirl, but hasn’t become Oracle yet, here’s how the actress responded:
While the first two seasons of Titans certainly didn’t skimp on exploring the Batman mythos via Brenton Thwaites’ Dick Grayson, particularly with the inclusion of Curran Walters’ Jason Todd and Ian Glen’s Bruce Wayne, Titans Season 3 is delving deeper into this corner of the DC universe through Savannah Welch’s Barbara Gordon and Vincent Kartheiser’s Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow. As far as Barbara is concerned, Welch noted that not only is her character still getting used to be in a wheelchair, but she’s also getting the hang of being the GCPD commissioner. That said, Barbara definitely hasn’t wasted anytime establishing a unique platform in her new job, as showrunner Greg Walker told EW in June that she feels superheroes disempower people from "solving their own problems.”
Though that’s not to say that Savannah Welch’s Barbara Gordon is entirety anti-vigilante, as she’ll work closely alongside Dick Grayson, who’s now beating up criminals as Nightwing. And thanks to a stunt choreography video released earlier this year, we also know Barbara will mix it up in at least one fight scene, if not several. Regarding whether or not the character will break out her computer and other Oracle-y skills, Welch said the following when I inquired about how close we’ll come to seeing that version of Barbara in the new season of Titans:
As for why Barbara Gordon is in a wheelchair on Titans, just like what was depicted in Batman: The Killing Joke, The Joker shot her, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. And she’s not the only Bat-Family member the Clown Prince of Crime has targeted in the Titans continuity, as much like what went down in the A Death in the Family storyline, we’ll also see him brutally beating Jason Todd, paving the way for him to become Red Hood. However, don’t expect to see a flashback of Joker shooting Barbara, as Savannah Welch told me this:
While Barbara Gordon being shot by The Joker certainly isn’t as ingrained in general pop culture as Thomas and Martha Wayne being murdered in front of young Bruce Wayne, longtime comic book fans/fans of Batman media know the moment well enough that it’s understandable why Titans Season 3 won’t show the horrific event. The goal is to show the character dealing with a new stage of her life, both personally and professionally, and while that won’t necessarily lead to Barbara outright becoming Oracle by the time the season’s over, there’s no question that big things are in store for her in the future. It’s also worth mentioning that along with Barbara, this new batch of Titans episodes will introduce Tim Drake, another longtime member of the Bat-Family who will be played here by The Batman actor Jay Lycurgo.
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Titans Season 3 will premiere its first three episodes on Thursday, August 12 on HBO Max, with one episode per week to follow. Learn what other shows will premiere soon with our 2021 fall TV premiere guide.
Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.