10 Lessons The DCU Teen Titans Movie Needs To Learn From The Animated Series

DC’s recently announced Teen Titans movie would be smart to take some cues from one of the most popular adaptations of the team, the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon show. As of now, DC hasn’t announced the roster of heroes that will be on the DCU’s Teen Titans team, so it’s hard to say if the movie can really take any one-for-one stories from the show. However, the show does do a good job tackling important themes that would be relevant to any iteration of the team.

Like Marvel’s teased Young Avengers, the Teen Titans are younger than typical superheroes. This means they will likely be struggling with both being superheroes and growing up, especially as this kind of story has been demonstrated to work well in movie adaptations via younger heroes like Spider-Man. This is also something that Teen Titans did very well, often integrating typical themes of teen media into the larger superhero stories it was telling – meaning that the upcoming DC movie would benefit from mirroring what made its predecessor work.

10
The Teen Titans Need To Show What Makes Them Heroes Besides Their Powers

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 1, Episode 5, “The Sum Of His Parts”

One of the best aspects of Teen Titans was its ability to show the main characters’ humanity, despite the fact that they were usually suited up in their superhero costumes. The DCU would be smart to emulate this aspect of the show, because it really helps audiences connect with the characters as people instead of just viewing them as larger-than-life beings.

In the episode “The Sum of His Parts,” Teen Titans showed the perfect way to do this through Cyborg’s solution to the story’s conflict. In the episode, Cyborg is captured by Fixit, who wants to replace all of Cyborg’s human parts with machine ones, thinking this will help Cyborg be more efficient. Cyborg doesn’t win by blasting Fixit with his arm cannon, but instead by showing Fixit the world through his eyes. Cyborg’s humanity shows Fixit the parts about being human that he has forgotten, and leads to a peaceful solution where Cyborg even offers to help Fixit change his ways.

These types of moments make the Teen Titans much more heroic than if they had all simply ganged up on Fixit and beat him using their various powers. The DCU should remember this and allow the Teen Titans to achieve victory through compassion as well as physical strength. This would also go a long way toward separating the DCU from many DCEU entries that seemed to have a more “might makes right” philosophy.

9
The Teen Titans Have Some Growing Pains When It Comes To Trusting One Another

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 1, Episode 9, “Mask”

The Teen Titans may be a team, but that doesn’t mean they always work well as one. Tension among team members is a staple in most superhero teams. Add in the fact that the Titans are younger and might not have been working together as long as other heroes, and it is easy to see how trust issues might arise.

In Teen Titans, this idea was explored in the episode “Mask.” This episode saw Robin taking on the Red X persona in an attempt to get closer to Slade aka Deathstroke and find out what he was planning. However, Robin doesn’t trust his team enough to go along with the ruse, and ultimately ends up damaging the trust they have in him as their leader.

The DCU shouldn’t be afraid to show some of the issues the Teen Titans have when they start to work together. This should be especially true for someone like Robin who is used to working with a leader that makes unilateral decisions without asking for input. Other young heroes may be used to working alone, meaning they will need to learn how to trust others to have their backs. This adds an extra layer of tension to the group dynamic that can serve as additional obstacles for the team to overcome.

8
The Teen Titans Movie Should Explore Its Characters’ Many Sides

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 1, Episode 6, “Nevermore”

Superhero team-up movies can sometimes struggle to give their characters an equal amount of attention when it comes to characterization. For example, Hawkeye in The Avengers has very few expanded upon traits outside of his ability to shoot well. This issue could be especially troubling for the DCU’s Teen Titans movie since it will likely be introducing many of its team members for the first time.

Teen Titans showed a good example of how to quickly tackle multiple aspects of a single character in the episode “Nevermore.” In it, Beast Boy and Cyborg accidentally travel into Raven’s mind and meet the different aspects of her personality. The different Ravens all had distinct voices and looks, making it easy to see all the sides of Raven, who might otherwise seem like a flat character when only viewed for a short amount of time.

If Raven is a member of the DCU’s Teen Titans, this could be an easy way to show she is more than just monotone and sarcastic. Even if Raven doesn’t make the team, the idea behind this episode could still be adapted in some way. Regardless of how the DCU decides to do it, DC should take time to explore the depths of its characters in a quick and easy-to-digest way so none of the team members feel underdeveloped.

7
The Teen Titans Struggle With Their Identities

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 2, Episode 4, “Only Human”

While stories involving characters struggling with their identity aren’t exclusive to teen media, they are a staple of it. Teen Titans often used episodes to have one or more of its main cast learning something new about themselves, or struggling with an aspect of who they were that they weren’t quite comfortable with yet. A good example of this is the episode “Only Human,” which pits Cyborg against the robot villain Atlas.

In the episode, Cyborg is struggling with being half-human and half-robot. He feels like he has lost the ability to push himself harder and get stronger the way he could before, now that most of his muscles are mechanical. The episode concludes this conflict by showing that Cyborg is strongest when embracing both his human side and his mechanical side. In execution, the conclusion feels a little rushed, since the show needs to be wrapped up in 20 minutes, but the episode’s theme is still perfect for a Teen Titans story.

The DCU would probably not want to do a one-to-one adaptation of this story, but it should take inspiration from the ideas that the story explores. Teen Titans should show the insecurities its team feels, especially those centered on feeling different or othered due to their abilities. This can create a powerful message about how these differences are also their strengths, which is a good message for teens to takeaway from a story.

6
Robin And The Teen Titans Take Failure Very Personally, Just Like Normal Teens

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 2, Episode 11, “Fractured”

The heroes in Teen Titans were the most relatable to younger audiences when they acted like real teens. Sometimes this was through their sense of humor, but other times it was through their sensitive nature. Like real teens, they sometimes took things more personally than adult superheroes might.

In the Teen Titans episode “Fractured,” Robin demonstrates this sensitivity in the way he handles failure. After not being able to stop a villain called Johnny Rancid, Robin essentially gives up trying to help catch him. Though this initially seems like it’s due to his broken arm, it’s later revealed that Robin feels that because he messed up the first time, he will just mess up if he tries to stop Rancid again. He initially takes his single loss as indicative of his abilities.

While Robin does eventually bounce back and try again, his initial attitude is one that felt very in line with him being a teenager, and the complicated feelings that can arise from someone trying to find their footing in the world – as this can mean some teens have a hard time not internalizing their failures, not realizing that it doesn’t mean they can’t do better in the future. Learning that this isn’t true is a valuable lesson for a movie about teens, superheroes or not, and it is one the DCU should consider including in their Teen Titans movie.

5
The Teen Titans Team Won’t Last Forever In The Same Form

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 2, Episode 1, “How Long Is Forever?”

As a group made up of teen superheroes, the Teen Titans is typically a team that isn’t made to stay together indefinitely. Instead, it typically serves as a place for heroes to develop and work together when they’re younger before branching out into their own adult heroes. This was something Teen Titans recognized, and showed in the episode “How Long is Forever?”

In the episode, Starfire accidentally travels 20 years into the future to find that the Teen Titans have all drifted apart. Robin has taken on the persona of Nightwing, and the others have much more tragic fates, like Beast Boy ending up as a circus attraction. While the Teen Titans might have disbanded officially, all of Starfire’s friends team up to help her get home, showing their friendships could outlast the team.

It’s hard to say how long the DCU will run for, but it might be a good idea for DC to establish this idea of the Teen Titans being a temporary part of a young hero’s journey. That way, when the actors on the team start aging out, they can refresh the roster and have the older heroes go their separate ways. That said, it would also be good to have the DCU Teen Titans also continue to support each other after going solo, to show that the bonds they formed on the team were lasting ones.

4
DC’s Young Heroes And Villains Should Still Be Figuring Out Which Side They Belong On

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 3, Episode 1, “Deception”

Teen Titans did a good job showing why the threats the team faced would be handled by younger heroes. One method of doing this was by pitting them against villains of the same age. The most common teen villains were members of The Hive, who had their own evil version of the Titans.

The Teen Titans episode “Deception” ended up giving more insight into the Hive members’ lives, and even showed that they weren’t so different from the Teen Titans themselves when they weren’t on duty. They also liked to joke around and play pranks, and Cyborg even develops a somewhat positive rapport with Jinx and Mammoth while undercover as a Hive member. This showed that the teen villains had some redeeming qualities, and might possibly even be able to change their ways if they were removed from their leader Brother Blood’s influence.

If the DCU Teen Titans movie decides to pit the team against young villains, the movie should keep this idea that they could still grow and change for the better. It could also create some interesting tension by having it seem like a Titan might go evil, like the episode did by having Cyborg seemingly betray his team. This would both show how teens have the ability to choose what kind of people they turn out to be, and also create extra drama in the movie.

3
The Teen Titans’ Adventures Take A Serious Toll On Their Mental Health

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 3, Episode 5, “Haunted”

As young superheroes, the Teen Titans are often experiencing elements of being a superhero for the first time. They also might not have as strong coping skills as older heroes, meaning their exploits can take a serious toll on them. Teen Titans illustrated this in the episode “Haunted,” showing Robin’s paranoia about Slade after the villain’s apparent death.

The episode starts with Robin pouring over news articles and looking through Slade’s equipment, unable to accept that his nemesis is really gone. This leads to Robin hallucinating that Slade is still alive, fueled by a chemical the villain left on his old mask. This eventually leads to Robin nearly dying in an imagined fight against his old enemy.

This episode did a good job showing a more literal depiction of the toll that fighting villains takes on the Teen Titans’ mental health. The DCU’s Teen Titans movie should remember to include elements like this that remind the audience they are watching young people dealing with these extreme situations. It’s a great way to make the characters feel human and show the negative aspects of being a superhero that might not be explored as in-depth with older main characters.

2
The Teen Titans Still Have Room To Improve And Grow

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 4, Episode 2, “The Quest”

The Teen Titans are usually closer to the start of their superhero career than the end. This means many of them have a ways to go before they reach their full potential as heroes. This is part of what makes Teen Titans stories unique, because they show the progress heroes have to make to become like the adult superheroes audiences are used to watching.

The Teen Titans episode “The Quest” perfectly captured this idea through its Robin story. It shows Robin being defeated in a fight, and deciding he needs to learn martial arts from a master. The episode is poignant, not because it makes Robin a more effective fighter, but because it shows that the Titans still need to grow and get better. This episode was also a good continuation of Robin’s earlier arc regarding not giving up after failing at something.

Focusing the DCU’s Teen Titans movie on a story about the heroes working to improve themselves could be a good way to go. The Titans could be defeated early on, only to train and learn to work together better as a team, eventually coming together to defeat the same villain in the end. While this story is simple, it’s also an effective way to show the progress the Titans have made. A simple plot would also allow for more in-depth characterization, which will be necessary when introducing an entire team at once.

1
The Teen Titans Should Experience Real Teen Problems Too

Teen Titans Tackled This Theme In Season 4, Episode 5, “Employee Of The Month”

Teen Titans often tackled big threats to the team and the world at large, but it also made time to focus on more mundane problems that teenagers might face. In “Employee of the Month,” Beast Boy’s main concern is buying a moped, and he has to get a fast food job to make the money for it. There is still a villain story – the restaurant turns out to be run by evil sentient tofu – but much of the episode focuses on the frustrations of working a job with rude customers and an absent boss.

“Employee of the Month” likely reflects a lot of teen’s first experience in the workforce. They get stuck in jobs where they are doing the least desirable tasks, and work for people that are at best apathetic and at worst seem downright evil. While real life teens hopefully don’t end up having to fight evil alien food, other than that, Beast Boy’s story in this episode feels close to a lifelike example of any teen who has worked an unsatisfying job.

The DCU Teen Titans movie should devote some time to presenting the types of issues teens typically deal with. While it’s unlikely that a superhero movie would be able to spend as much time on a plot like this as the show does, it can still at least include one or two scenes of the Titans dealing with more mundane problems. If the DCU should learn anything from the Teen Titans show, it’s that the Teen Titans movie needs to focus both on the Teen and the Titan aspect of the title.