Titans has returned to HBO Max for its third season, and the premiere certainly kicked things off with a bang. The series has taken a lot of liberties with the source material since launching, so it's not overly surprising that "Death in the Family" plays out a little differently here than it did on the page.
In the episode, Jason Todd manages to track down The Joker (who is never shown beyond a blurry sillouette) and ends up being brutally attacked by a crowbar wielding Clown Prince of Crime.
Later, Bruce Wayne bursts into Dick Grayson's room and throws a crowbar to the ground before exclaiming, "He started it. I ended it." Nightwing is understandably confused, and it's then the Dark Knight responds, "Do you know what he was doing as I caved in his skull? He was laughing. He laughed at me because he'd won. You and Barbara were right. It's all a game I should've stopped playing a long time ago. It's over for me now. It's over."
After telling Dick to "be a better Batman," he flees, and with that, we learn this Caped Crusader has just murdered The Joker in retribution for what the villain did to Robin.
This is definitely a major departure from the source material, and leaves Nightwing in a position to pick up where his mentor left off. It seems like Batman's time in Titans has also ended, though the limitations put on the series by Warner Bros. means it was always unlikely we'd actually see him suit up properly on screen.
As for Jason, it's no secret his story is going to continue as the Red Hood. How that will differ to what's come before remains to be seen, but we're betting this version will also surprise us...
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