Joshua Orpin Discusses What He'd Like To See For The Future Of Superboy In Titans - Exclusive Interview
Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman have had plenty of opportunities to shine over the years. "Titans," now airing new episodes on HBO Max, gives their sidekicks a chance to save the day — and over the course of three seasons, they've proven themselves more than up to the task, even if it means losing a few friends along the way.
The team may have started with Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), Raven (Teagan Croft), Starfire (Mame-Anna Diop), and Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), but it's grown into a veritable Justice League of its own. And of course, no Justice League would be complete without a Man of Steel. Superman's busy, but the Titans have the next best thing — Superboy, as played by Joshua Orpin. Introduced in Season 2, Superboy is the clone of both Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, and he has no choice but to figure out which path he's going to take: that of the hero or a diabolical villain.
Orpin had the chance to chat with Looper about his role in the HBO Max series, including the comic book character he wants to see team up with Superboy. Also, you'll learn which cartoon he holds in high regard when it comes to first-class superhero adaptations.
His thoughts on Young Justice
Were there any specific comic books or superhero TV shows with Superboy in them you looked to for inspiration before taking on the part?
Yeah, I kind of wanted to look at everything, to be honest. I, generally speaking, tried to focus more on the comic books, because I kind of considered that to be the source material. I also wanted to have a look at the other media as well. I watched some of the cartoons, "Young Justice," in particular, was one I had seen a bit of already, and I watched some of that. When it comes to that stuff, you kind of don't want your performance to be informed too much by what other people have done before you. I find it best to kind of just stick to the comics and try to create something original.
Are you a fan of "Young Justice"?
Yeah, I liked it a lot. I had seen some of the first season already, and I feel like the timing of that show is interesting because if it had come around a little bit earlier in my life, I feel like I would have watched it religiously. I feel like maybe now I'm a little older, and I'm not watching cartoons as much nowadays. I might've just missed the boat on that one, but I think it's really good. It's really strong. I enjoy it a lot.
Were you a comics fan before joining "Titans"?
Yeah. I kind of got into comics during my teens a little bit, funnily enough. That kind of stemmed from growing up watching the movies and the cartoons with the superheroes. And then, yeah, I started reading some of the more famous books as a teenager — particularly DC stuff, actually. Batman and Superman. But then when I was cast in "Titans," I had to kind of do a bit more of a deep dive and look at more Superboy-specific comics.
The hero he wants to see join the Titans
Are there any heroes you hope join the Titans maybe in later seasons?
Oh boy. There's so many. I feel like there's a couple that we've teased and also a couple that are quite fundamental to the team in the comics that fans would love to see join the team in future seasons. Namely, I think Roy Harper is one of them. I think we name-dropped him a couple of times, but he hasn't shown up yet, so maybe him. Maybe some kind of speedster. I feel like at the moment, Conner's kind of taken up that role on the team of the speedster character. I know that they kind of just introduced one on the "Flash" TV show, but we could have an Impulse, so we could have a Flash of some description kind of join the team, which I would be really personally excited about.
Are there any specific storylines you want to see? I know with Season 3, we're getting the famous "Red Hood" storyline, but are there any others you want to see enter the fold?
Yeah, it's tough to answer that one because with "Titans," it's kind of ... one of the best things about it is they can kind of just cherry pick stories and elements from storylines, from various comic books and beloved character arcs and kind of jumble them all in together for whatever story they're trying to craft season to season. We're seeing elements of, for example, like "Judas Contract" in Season 2, although we didn't have Terra, that was kind of occupied by Rose Wilson, that kind of role in the story. Again, yeah, "Under the Red Hood" a little bit, this season, there's some Scarecrow in there as well. What storylines would you like to see in the future? You can't, you can't really do like direct adaptations, like cut and paste to the show.
I guess there are elements that I'd love to see. Selfishly, from my point of view, I'd love to see characters pertaining to Superboy come in more into the spotlight, like your Lex Luthor and your Clark Kent. Even the craziest stuff like a Superboy-Prime or something, which I know is tied into the "Infinite Crisis" stuff. In my wildest daydreams, those are the kinds of things that get me quite excited. You never know what's going to happen. We've got many other characters on the show. It's always going to be a challenge to find that balance.
Who could play Superman on Titans?
Speaking of, if you could have any actor portray Superman on "Titans," like dream casting, who would you want to see wearing the cape?
That's a good question. I haven't been asked this before. I don't know if I can come up with an actor off the top of my head by name. I think that I would be satisfied if they had even a slight kind of resemblance to me, like to my face. If I could look at their face and be like, "No, okay. I can kind of see, I could share genetics with this person potentially." I think for "Titans," that would be my number one criteria. Because if they cast someone and they look nothing like me, I'd be like, "Oh, that's a bit strange. I'm supposed to be a clone of this person, right?" Geez, in terms of naming a specific actor, I think I'd have to think about it. I can't think of anybody off the top of my head.
No worries. You could play Superman theoretically.
I think I'm probably too young at the moment. I don't know, maybe in 10 years or something.
On Superboy joining the DC cinematic universe
So which upcoming DC movie do you think Superboy could work best in? I know the TV and the movies are kind of separate, but again, dreaming, which one would you want to be included in?
In terms of the cinematic stuff?
The cinematic universe. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. I always thought that tonally, what "Titans" was doing wasn't too far away from what Zack Snyder was doing with his series of films. The DC extended universe? Is that what we call it now? I feel like particularly the Brenton Thwaites Nightwing could slide into that world; I think quite easily, and be believable. Of all the films kind of coming around at the moment, I would say maybe the Zack Snyder stuff. Although that upcoming "Flash" film, or you probably know more about it than I do. They're doing some kind of "Flashpoint" thing, right? They're doing alternate versions of different characters? I can see Superboy popping up in that. They're doing Supergirl.
They are. Yeah. Supergirl is going to be in "Flash," and they're bringing back Michael Keaton to be Batman, but Ben Affleck is also going to be Batman. They're doing kind of like a parallel universe type thing.
Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. Anything goes when you bring in time travel and an alternate universe. I can see Superboy popping up in that for sure.
Do you have any other projects coming up outside of "Titans" you're able to talk about?
Nothing that I can talk about specifically, I think, at the moment. I'm doing some Australian TV. Which is a bit of fun at the moment, which is ... obviously, I live in Melbourne, Australia, so that's nice to be working at home, for once, instead of away in Toronto. To be honest, at the moment, I'm kind of just enjoying a bit of downtime and making up for lost time with my family and friends. Season 3 was a lot of fun to shoot, but it was also a long time to be away from everybody during a global pandemic. I'm keeping busy. There's a little bit of Australian TV, which is going to be a bit of fun before the end of this year.
New episodes of "Titans" air every Thursday on HBO Max.