Live action adaptations of comics have found their niche in primetime television, and that niche seems to be growing bigger and bigger with each new season, as more and more viewers realize that superheroes are actually super cool. One set of super cool superheroes that won’t be getting their new show as expected is, sadly, the Teen Titans, whose Titans series on TNT was cancelled before it ever really got off the ground. According to DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, however, the Teen Titans could still show up elsewhere.
Geoff Johns gave this juicy scoop to TVLine at the recent TCA press tour:
We [at DC] have known about [Turner nixing Titans] for months and months and months. That’s not new news to us. We have plans for Titans. It’s a huge piece of DC and we have plans.
So not all hope is lost for DC fans on the Teen Titans front. Although Geoff Johns was vague on just how the group of young superheroes may be hitting the small screen next, there are plenty of possibilities.
The best case scenario would definitely be another whole project just for the Titans. The Titans series falling through at TNT doesn’t necessarily mean that another network couldn’t pick up the premise. Leagues of superheroes are hot commodities at the moment, and a Teen Titans series might be the closest that DC could get to a live action Justice League on television.
If a Justice League-esque series with the Titans isn’t in the works, then there’s still the possibility of members of the group showing up on existing shows. DC has a major presence on The CW, CBS, and Fox at the moment. CBS has the biggest audience and Fox has the Batman universe presence, but The CW could be the perfect home for some visiting Titans. Wally West has already joined the crew on The Flash, and Roy Harper was a presence on Arrow for its first three seasons. Arrow even snuck in a reference to Oracle in a recent episode, which could open the entire Arrow/Flash/Legends of Tomorrow universe up to importing a few non-Batman characters from the Dark Knight mythology.
The reveal from Geoff Johns that DC still has plans for the Teen Titans on television does help soothe the sting of knowing that the long-promised TNT show won’t be happening. The project was announced to be in development in late 2014 with Johns himself reporting that a pilot would shoot in 2015. News was mostly scarce in the months leading up to word of the official abort, which was particularly tough, considering the exciting collection of likely heroes who were to be part of the show.
Assurances from Geoff Johns that the loss of Titans on TNT doesn’t mean that they have lost their chances at live action adventures would be more helpful if he had mentioned any specifics, but fans of the team of superheroes will have learned patience the hard way by this point.
In the meantime, there's plenty of DC programming already on TV to enjoy. Be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere schedule to see when they hit the airwaves in 2016.
