Norm Felker
The news everyone has been waiting for is here – season 4 of the HBO Max series Titans will air on November 3rd, 2022. Before that, three of the Titans and Showrunner Greg Walker, visited New York Comic Con to give us a quick glimpse into the latest season. I sat down with Greg as well as stars Brenton Thwaites (Nightwing/Dick Grayson), Ryan Potter (Beast Boy/Gar Logan), and Joshua Orpin (Superboy/Conner Kent) to talk about the upcoming season.
Having saved Gotham, the Titans hit the road to head back to San Francisco. But after a stop in Metropolis, they find themselves in the crosshairs of a supernatural cult with powers unlike anything they’ve faced before. The main antagonists announced for this season are Brother Blood, Mary Mayhem, and Jinx. Played by Joseph Morgan, Franka Potente, and Lisa Ambalavanar respectively.
Season three left the Titans battered and bruised, in more ways than one. Hank Hall aka Hawk (Allen Ritchson) was murdered by Red Hood aka Jason Todd (Curran Walters) and Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser). Dawn Granger aka Dove (Minka Kelly) feels the effects of Hank’s death right away as she leaves the group to mourn Hank’s passing. But she isn’t the only one suffering from Hank’s death. So is Conner Kent.
“The various experiences of seasons two and three are all formative for who Conner is now. You see the influence of Hawk’s death and his inability to save Hawk. And there is guilt associated with that.” Joshua explains, “And by the same token, by the end of season four, as a person, he’s just wildly different to who he was at the beginning of season four. So much happens to him this season that you couldn’t even expect a person to be the same as he was.”
With this season largely taking place in Metropolis, Conner will be brought more into the spotlight as his two sires are pretty big mainstays in the fictional city. For those that don’t know, Conner is the genetic combination of Superman/Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, with the latter creating Conner using genetic technology. At an exhibit on the NYCC Showroom floor for Titans, fans were treated to a letter between Superman and Superboy. Joshua confirmed that this will be a part of his storyline this season. But being this genetic cocktail of the two will not define who Conner is.
“One of the very exciting things about this season of Titans is that Conner is, in a very real sense, introduced to his parents for the very first time. Because up until this point it’s all been hearsay. It’s what other people have told him about Superman, and what other people have told him about Lex. He’s had to colelese those ideas into an interpretation of who his fathers are.” Joshua tells us. “He has to decide who he is.”
Another Titan on the path to self discovery, and also self care, is Gar Logan aka Beast Boy. “It’s been three seasons of trauma for Gar. And this season is diving into mental health. It’s diving into using pain as the fuel for self growth and self discovery.” Ryan tells us. “His powers evolve in ways we haven’t seen on the show, quite drastically and quickly.”
Also, Gar finally gets a super suit. This is big for two reasons. The first of which is that Gar will no longer shed his clothing while transforming into his animal shape. That has been a problem in the past as he often found himself naked when reverting to his human form. The second is the implication that Gar will no longer be ‘the guy in the chair’. “You mean tech support? There is always a little bit of that to some degree. But yeah, Gar/Beast Boy they are in the field…maybe a little too far out in the field.” Ryan teased.
The new ‘guy in the chair’ will most likely be passed onto Tim Drake(played by Jay Lycurgo). Who in the comics would later become the third Robin. But first Tim needs to be properly trained and vetted by Dick Grayson, leader of the Titans. Tim’s training will be put under a microscope after what happened with the second Robin, Jason Todd, becoming the Red Hood in season three. “That’s definitely on his mind. Trying not to let him be misled or taken advantage of or directed down a path he can’t come back from.” Says Brenton, “The way to remedy that is, Dick Grayson doesn’t let him into the field of action too soon. He’s trying to hold him back until he’s ready. And that frustrates Tim. He’s a kid, he feels ready and wants to be a part of the Titans. We need Tim before Dick feels like he’d be ready. (Eventually) they form basically a trusting relationship.” A sneak peak released before the panel shows that Drake will also see time in the field, though not in costume.
The future of the show past season four is currently unknown as the Warner Bros and Discovery merger has cast many shows into doubt for renewal. Showrunner, Greg Walker, did mention that he would love to find a way to bring in a fan-favorite Titan from the comics and the Teen Titans animated series. “I’d love to bring Tera in. But we just don’t have the effects (budget) yet to be able to do that, her powers,” Greg explains. “She’s such a cool character and a complicated villain. She seems really interesting to write.”
Hopefully, a strong season four, which already features fan-favorite villains and teases both Superman and Lex Luthor, can green-light a fifth season. Season four starts streaming on November 3rd, 2022 on HBO Max.
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