Thanks to DC's new September solicitations, it's been revealed that the Teen Titans roster from the HBO Max series Titans is coming to the comics universe. Led by Dick Grayson's Nightwing, the HBO Titans featured the likes of Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy, though their ranks have greatly expanded as the series went into the second season. Now, with a third season on the way this August, the new Titans United miniseries will be arriving only a month later in a move of smart corporate synergy, seeing as how this particular version of the team has never quite assembled all together in DC comics' past.
As it stands, the second season's roster of Titans consists of Nightwing, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Superboy, Hawk, and Dove. The finale also saw Deathstroke's daughter Ravager joining the Titans against her father, though it remains to be seen if she'll be a recurring team member. Likewise, the death of Donna Troy's Wonder Girl may or may not be permanent, and while Jason Todd's Robin was a part of the team as well, the end of season 2 saw him leaving to forge his own path, one that the recent Titans season 3 trailer revealed will lead to his death by the Joker and resurrection as the Red Hood.
Now, Titans United has been announced in DC's new solicitations, which will see many of the original Titans coming together for the new miniseries from writer Cavan Scott and artist Jose Luis. While many of these Titans have been teaching the next generation of heroes at the Teen Titans Academy, there are some notable additions to the roster that have clearly been added in response to the HBO Max roster such as Hawk, Dove, Superboy, and Red Hood. Here's the solicitation for the issue and preview art from DC Comics:
All in all, it certainly looks to be quite the dynamic team (whose members haven't actually all been on the same team at the same time). Furthermore, the synopsis revealed that the Titans' primary challenge would be their own powers, seemingly evidenced by Beast Boy attacking Raven in the preview art. Have the Titans lost control of their various abilities due to some mysterious force? Regardless, it should be pretty cool to see Red Hood as a part of a team again, seeing as how his band of Outlaws recently disbanded. Furthermore, Superboy's inclusion hopefully means that Conner Kent will eventually find a way to escape Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad, seeing as how he's currently a part of Task Force X against his will.
In any case, Titans United should prove to be quite interesting with its classic team of heroes many fans outside the comics should be familiar with thanks to the HBO series, and to some degree the popular cartoons on Cartoon Network as well. Hopefully, this familiar but new roster for the Titans will attract new readers to the great stories being told in the comics that in turn inspire the various shows and films, while also still holding enough of an interest for long-time DC readers when the series releases this September as well.
