Within the premiere of Titans, Detroit police detective Dick Grayson explains to his new companion why he’s been avoiding her.

His final companion, by which he secretly means Batman, was a hero. However he solved issues along with his fists. And at first, Dick seemed as much as him. Then he realized he was changing into an excessive amount of like him, so he needed to step away. Now he’s uneasy about teaming up once more.

“So, you’re not an asshole,” she says.

“Don’t inform anybody,” Dick smiles, “it’ll kill my rep.”

In the event you noticed the primary “Fuck Batman” trailer of Titans, the flagship present of DC Universe, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Leisure’s new subscription streaming service, and puzzled whether or not there was something deeper within the collection than Robin swearing in an alley as he dragged a drug seller’s face throughout a brick wall, preserve these two traces from the present’s pilot episode in thoughts.

Polygon noticed the primary two episodes of Titans at its world premiere forward of New York Comedian Con this week, and we will inform you that it’s darkish and violent — in a manner designed to appear gratuitous. However the important thing phrase there may be “designed.” The present’s soiled little secret is that by means of the darkness, Titans goals to point out you the actual coronary heart of its characters.

And it has loads of enjoyable doing it.

[Ed. note: This post contains mild spoilers for the first two episodes of Titans.]

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The present begins with our leads — Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Hawk and Dove — disjointed, however after all, slowly coming collectively. Raven has unusual, deadly powers that lash out at anybody who tries to hurt her, which is occurring loads at first of the collection, as a result of there’s a cult devoted to killing her earlier than she will deliver in regards to the finish of the world. Destiny brings her to Dick Grayson’s precinct, the place he finds out that she’s an orphan, too, and instantly units about breaking the legislation to guard her. He’s his surrogate father’s son.

Dick isn’t able to be a protector all on his personal, so he calls upon the assistance of some previous associates, Hawk and Dove. The 2 are a pair of vigilantes who’re yet one more bust away from placing down their final drug dealing ring, stealing a bunch of untraceable money and retiring to the nation. And they should do it quickly, as a result of Hawk’s physique has been so destroyed by their crime preventing way of life that he’s a 30-something in want of a hip substitute.

In the meantime, Starfire wakes up in Austria with no reminiscence of who she is, and a hapless safety guard is scared shitless by a neon inexperienced tiger making an attempt to steal a mouthful of Xbox video games and run off into the woods.

Did I point out that Titans is absolutely humorous? At one level, Dick Grayson asks a lady who has a literal demon within her if she ought to actually be watching Sport of Thrones, to a deadpan stare in response. A combat scene in a flashback to Robin, Hawk and Dove’s youthful days set to a canopy of “We’re the Children in America.” Even “Fuck Batman,” in context, is definitely a well-set-up punchline.

The motion, sure, is brutal, significantly and pointedly within the case of Robin, whose combat scenes had me wincing greater than as soon as. However lacking from the trailers for Titans is the purpose that the present is making an attempt to make in regards to the violence. Robin is frightened by his incapability to tug himself again, of how he’s being swallowed by his mentor’s darkness — his associates are fearful of this transformation in him, too, and so they say as a lot.

Titans mixes the tones of the very best teen superhero staff comics, the place everyone’s darkish superhero origin is at all times catching up with them — however that doesn’t imply they’re not additionally watching must-see TV like everyone else. Titans jogged my memory of certainly one of my favourite comics of all time, Gail Simone’s Secret Six, which was a really humorous and touching collection about deeply damaged individuals desperately clinging to no matter paper skinny ethical compass they’ve left.

Like Secret Six, Titans is tempering brutal violence and darkish subject material with humor — and by giving its characters loads of time to stretch, breathe and turn into hooked up to 1 one other. “I’m not good at household,” Dick Grayson protests to Dove, because the present careens him in direction of being the revered chief of a superheroic staff of misfits.

Regardless of what you might have heard, Titans isn’t darkish only for darkness’ sake. And exactly what it decides to say with its darkness would be the motive to look at it week after week.

The primary episode of Titans premieres on DC Universe on Oct. 12, with a nine-episode first season and new episodes releasing each week. On the heels of NYCC, DC additionally introduced that the collection would return for a second season in 2019.