DC Comics seems to have a strong belief in the future of comic book television shows. We are not only going to have four shows based on DC properties showing on the air this fall - Arrow, Flash, Gotham and Constantine - but now there is news of two more coming down the pike. Earlier this month we found out about a Supergirl show that is currently in development, and now comes word that the Teen Titans will soon be coming to cable.
Deadline is reporting that a deal is near competition that will soon see the creation of a pilot for a prospective series called Titans - based on the aforementioned series of comic books. Akiva Goldsman, the producer/writer responsible for the early 2014 flop Winter's Tale, is taking care of the script for the new show along with Marc Haimes, a former executive turned screenwriter.
So who will be making up this live-action version of the Teen Titans? The source confirms three names, but all are characters you would expect. Leading the gang will be Dick Grayson, the former Boy Wonder who has graduated from Batman's School of Kickassery and has changed his name from Robin to Nightwing. Also set to be included are Starfire, the alien princess with all kinds of superabilities and the power to fire starbolts; and Raven, a half-demon/half-human with powers like astral projection, teleportation, and demonic transformation. While this seems rather limited number of characters, Deadline promises that "many others" will be part of the show as well. I wonder if that means we'll get to see Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Cyborg - as it's honestly strange that this announcement doesn't mention them.
While Akiva Goldsman does have an Academy Award - having written the script for the Oscar winning A Beautful Mind - his blockbuster credits may give some comic book fans pause when they think about him as the man in charge of bringing Teen Titans to live action. Before Winter's Tale - which was also his feature directorial debut - he was responsible for writing scripts for movies like I, Robot, Lost In Space, and, yes, even both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin two movies that truly did their part to try and ruin the Caped Crusader's legacy in pop culture. It's harder to know what to expect from Marc Haimes - whose first screenplay credit will come with the upcoming horror move The Last Word, starring Sean Patrick Flanery. As a studio executive, though, he oversaw movies like Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the Farrelly brothers' The Heartbreak Kid and Michael Mann's Collateral.
The timetable for Titans has not yet been revealed, but you can be sure that we'll provide more updates as it moves through development.
