Hank Hall’s murder in Titans season 3 is the true Death in the Family adaptation — not Jason Todd’s rushed death and resurrection. With its first four episodes currently streaming on HBO Max, Titans kicked off season 3 with their original take on the DC Comics stories Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood. This marked the first time that Jason Todd’s death and transformation into Red Hood has been seen in live-action. While Titans certainly made changes to Jason Todd’s story, the extent of these changes became better understood after the release of episode 4, “Blackfire.”
While struggling to cope with Hank’s murder, Dick forms a plan to free Scarecrow from Arkham in order to lure Red Hood into a trap. Once he’s done so the audiences finally learn Jason’s mind has been warped by Scarecrow and has been manipulated into becoming the villainous Red Hood. Meanwhile, Kory’s strange visions and dangerous blackouts are finally explained as a telepathic connection shared with her estranged sister, Komand’r. These visions eventually led Kory and Gar to Blackfire’s underground prison cell. There, Kory chooses to free Komand’r and take her back to the Titans.
At any rate, the trailers leading up to season 3 repeatedly teased the series’ adaptation of Jason Todd’s death as a major plot point. It’s now apparent this iconic storyline was a red herring limited to a single episode to quickly set up season 3’s Red Hood arc. As a result of these changes, Jason’s death carried little significance and did not affect the team. Consequently, it appeared as though the series had failed to capitalize on the historic Death in the Family arc. However, episode 4 may indicate Hank’s murder is Titans’ true nod to the famous Batman story as it affects nearly every member of the Titans.
The Titans most obviously affected by Hank’s death are Superboy and Dawn. This makes sense given their roles in Hank’s demise: Both of them feel responsible for failing Hank when they needed him most and they each deal with this pain in their own way. Dawn leaves Gotham to do some soul searching and Superboy worries his Lex Luthor DNA is to blame for his failure. Just as Jason’s demise changed Batman in the comics, Hank’s death is changing members of the Titans. These changes will likely become recurring plot points throughout the remainder of the season.
Additionally, episode 4 affirmed Dick is Titans’ Batman. Since Hank’s death, Dick has turned toward brooding and thrown himself into his work, which is very characteristic of Batman — something he’s confronted with by both Scarecrow and Red Hood in the episode. Dick violently takes out Scarecrow’s prison transport in a desperate attempt to take down Red Hood solo. Unfortunately, this reckless plan blows up in his face. It was always obvious Nightwing would be Batman’s stand-in, but it’s become clear losing Hank is what changed Nightwing, not Jason.
Titans exploited Jason Todd’s murder to promote season 3, but it was never meant to bear the significance it did in the comics. Titans’ timeline guaranteed Jason wouldn’t stay dead long enough for the Titans to organically process the loss. In this way, Hank’s death is a more faithful adaptation of the Death in the Family story — just with different characters. Even the manner in which he dies alludes to the comics: Hank’s lack of judgment, his solo attempt to bring down the villain, and a ticking time bomb all reference the source material. Jason Todd may be a major plot point in Titans, but it’s Hank’s death that fundamentally changes the course of the series.
