The Titans Season 3 Scene That Went Too Far
The "Titans" TV series has always been a violent, grim take on the young team — ever since the days when it was streaming on the DC Universe app. The overarching story of the first two seasons charts Dick Grayson's (Brenton Thwaites) journey to becoming a full-fledged hero away from Batman, and he eventually dons a slick black-and-blue suit as Nightwing.
It also brings characters like Raven (Teagan Croft), Starfire (Anna Diop), and Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) to live-action for the first time, while also examining what makes them all tick. But when Warner Bros. shifted all the live-action shows over to HBO Max, things would only get darker for Nightwing and the gang. The 3rd season introduces Scarecrow (Vincent Kartheiser), who targets Grayson, the Titans, and the entire city as payback for Batman (Iain Glen) locking him away in Arkham Asylum years before the series picks up. His plan turns the city against the team, framing them as killer vigilantes rather than helpful heroes.
But a key part of the season sees the Titans go up against one of their own: Jason Todd (Curran Walters), who throws away his Robin persona to become a violent new crime boss in Gotham, calling himself Red Hood. But there's one scene in "Titans" Season 3 that went too far.
Batman kills the Joker
The "Titans" world is a little darker than other versions of the DC Universe, and it's one where Batman is pushed into breaking his one rule. When the Joker (Mustafa Bulut) brutally murders Jason Todd with a crowbar, Batman is pushed over the line and retaliates by killing his archnemesis. It's a huge departure from the comics, since Bruce Wayne has always refrained from crossing that line — aside from stories that are set outside of continuity or in a different universe, of course. In the source material, Jason comes back from the dead thanks to the Lazarus Pit, but he's incredibly upset to find that Batman hasn't avenged his death — which pushes him to take revenge on his former mentor.
Unfortunately, because the series has Bruce kill the Joker, it completely bypasses Jason's original reason for becoming Red Hood. Fans weren't happy about the change, with @oddluvr writing, "if batman kills the joker what reason does jason have to become the red hood?????" They also added, "that's literally the biggest part of that origin story lmfao... and HOW many adaptations do we have to see where bruce kills people ffs."
Meanwhile, @Memoirsepiphany expressed annoyance that the show altered Batman's story, commenting, "I'm low-key mad that they made Batman kill the joker instead of Jason Todd this season because not only did that take away all the character development from Jason but literally ruined Batman character."
It's certainly an interesting choice from the writers, but at least it was a different approach to the character — and there are plenty of other versions of the character in live-action to enjoy.