The first season of Titans has come to a close, and the DC Universe original series is clearly unlike any other comic book TV show we’ve seen. Instead of aiming for a mainstream audience, Titans is a show whose primary goal is appealing to hardcore comic books fans and that was never more clear than in the Season 1 finale. Warning: The following contains spoilers for the finale Season 1 episode of Titans.
After spending an hour following Dick Grayson as he chases a homicidal Batman, it’s revealed that he’s actually mentally trapped in his darkest possible timeline. In this timeline, which is set five years from present day, Dick and Dawn have settled down to start a family, though they clearly don’t trust each other when it comes to those they previously had relationships with. Meanwhile, Jason Todd has been paralyzed and left in a wheelchair, Commissioner Gordon was killed by the Joker, and Batman finally snapped.
The episode as a whole was thrilling, watching Dick team up with the Gotham City Police Department to track down his former mentor, even revealing Batman’s true identity to the world before ultimately killing the Dark Knight to prevent him from murdering anyone else. None of this was actually happening, though. Instead, it was the doing of Trigon, who allowed Dick to embrace his darkness by infecting him with his demonic evil and essentially trapping him in his worst possible future. What this means for the future of Dick Grayson and the Titans remains to be seen and will obviously be a driving force in Season 2.
That wasn’t the last image viewers were left with, though. In a post-credits scene, another major revelation was made in the form of two new characters that DC Comics fans know very well. We first saw Cadmus Labs, a notorious location in DC lore. Inside the building, viewers were briefly introduced to a very naked Superboy and Krypto the Superdog.
No, they weren’t mentioned by name but that’s clearly who Titans is bringing to the table for Season 2. First and foremost, Superboy is a creation of Cadmus Labs in the comics. He is a metahuman clone of Superman that was created after the Man of Steel’s death in 1993. He was eventually given the name Kon-El by Superman himself–who obviously didn’t stay dead long.
It will be interesting to see how he’s woven into Season 2 of Titans. Just as intriguing, though, is the prospect of Krypto. The Superdog was first introduced in a 1955 issue of the Superboy comics, back when Superboy was just Superman as a teenager. He’s made numerous appearances throughout the comics over the years and even had his own animated series at one point. Krypto the Superdog ran for two seasons between 2005 and 2006.
With Dick Grayson stuck in his darkest possible future and the addition of Superboy and Krypto, Titans sure has set up a massive cliffhanger for the second season. Now they just need to get to work filming it so we can see how it all turns out.
The entire first season of Titans is available for streaming on DC Universe.
