Could Titans be having a death in the family?
Heroic Hollywood is reporting that the upcoming DC Universe digital series Titans may have Curran Walters as Jason Todd, better known to DC Comics fans as the second Robin who grows up to become the superhero vigilante known as the Red Hood.
Twitter user @KylePuth has posted several reports from recent Titans filming of Episodes 6 and 7 in Canada, including the following post of a picture of himself with Curran Walters...
Another post three days later states that Puth has just seen Walters in costume, although he did not state the specific character he would be playing. Episode 7 is rumored to be titled "Jason Todd", which certainly fuels this particular rumor.Just met the new male cast member of titans pic.twitter.com/yayou3Nlgy— Kyle (@KylePuth) February 23, 2018
Walters has appeared in the movie 20th Century Women and on episodes of the television series New Girl, Game of Silence, Girl Meets World, Too Close to Home, Alexa & Katie, and Speechless.
Created in 1983 by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, Jason Todd first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #357 as the son of circus acrobats Joseph Todd and Trina Todd, who were killed by a criminal named Killer Croc, and was later adopted by Bruce Wayne. Distinguished by strawberry blond hair, Todd wore various pieces of Dick Grayson's old childhood disguises as a costume to fight crime until Grayson presented him with a Robin costume of his own. At that point, Todd dyed his hair black, and grew as the second Robin under Batman's tutelage.
In 1987, the character was revamped in Batman (vol.1) #408 by Max Allan Collins and Chris Warner. Due to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Jason Todd was reworked as a young street orphan who first encountered Batman while attempting to steal the tires off the Batmobile in Crime Alley, the very place where Batman's parents were murdered years before. The son of Willis and Catherine Todd, Jason lived on the East end of Gotham in the Park Row district called Crime Alley. Catherine was a drug addict who died of an overdose some time before he began living on the street. Willis, a former medical student, was working as hired muscle for Two-Face and had disappeared suspiciously following a botched assignment. Bruce Wayne saw that Todd was placed in a school for troubled youths—which turned out to be Ma Gunn's School for Crime. Jason earned the Robin mantle a short while later by helping Batman apprehend the gang of thieves. However, Todd didn't start wearing the Robin costume until six months of training. Batman noted that while Todd didn't possess Dick Grayson's natural athleticism and acrobatic skills, he could become a productive crimefighter by channeling his rage. He also believed that if he didn't help the boy, Todd would eventually become part of the "criminal element".
Over a year later, during the Batman storyline "A Death in the Family", Jason Todd discovered that Catherine Todd was not his biological mother, and he ran away to find the woman who gave birth to him. After following a number of leads, Todd finally tracked his biological mother Sheila Haywood to Ethiopia, where she worked as an aid worker. After being overjoyed to be reunited with his real mother, he soon discovered that she was being blackmailed by the Joker, using her to provide him with medical supplies. Sheila was embezzling from the aid agency and as part of the cover-up, she handed her own son, having arrived as Robin, over to the Joker. The Joker beat the boy brutally with a crowbar, and then left him and Sheila in a warehouse with a time bomb. Sheila and Jason tried desperately to get out of the warehouse, but were still inside as the bomb went off. Batman arrived too late to save them, and found Jason's lifeless body in the rubble. Sheila lived just long enough to tell Batman that Jason died trying to protect her. Todd's death haunted Batman, and he considered it his greatest failure. He kept the second Robin's uniform on display in the Batcave as a reminder.
Years later, while trying to discover the identity of a mysterious figure plotting against him, Batman discovered that Tim Drake, Jason's successor as Robin, has been kidnapped. He confronted the kidnapper, and was stunned he discover that he was apparently an adult Todd, standing at his own desecrated grave site. Batman subdued this mystery "Jason" and discovered that it was Clayface impersonating Todd. However, Todd's actual body was missing from its grave. It was later revealed that Todd had indeed died at the hands of the Joker, but when Superboy-Prime altered reality from the paradise dimension in which he was trapped by throwing punches against the barrier keeping him from the rest of the universe causing temporal ripples, Jason Todd was restored to life, broke out of his coffin, and was eventually hospitalized.
Todd later paid a group of mercenaries to help him return to Gotham. Upon arriving, he enacted a plan to get revenge on Batman, whom he resented for refusing to kill the Joker and thus avenge his death. After successfully capturing the Joker (who failed to recognize him), Jason contemplated burning his killer alive after dousing with gasoline. However, Jason realized that he didn't want the Joker to die, but desired to punish the villain with Batman. Jason spared the Joker and decided to wait for the right opportunity, later reappearing in Gotham City as the Red Hood. Red Hood assumed control over several gangs in Gotham City and started a one-man war against Black Mask's criminal empire, eventually resolving his feelings toward Batman.
In 2011, DC Comics rebooted its continuity with The New 52, with Jason's new origin changing the manner in which Batman first met Todd (stealing medicine from Leslie Thompkins, after she had treated him from a brutal beating). In this version, the Joker was responsible for orchestrating the major moments of Todd's life, such as his father's imprisonment and death, his mother's overdose, his introduction to Thompkins, and his adoption of the Robin identity. He soon joined a group called the Outlaws, along with the superheroes Arsenal and Starfire.
This will be the first time the character will appear in live action, although the Red Hood has appeared in the animated project Batman: Under the Red Hood (voiced by Jensen Ackles).
Titans is expected to debut on the DC Universe digital service sometime in 2018.