Superboy Shares Thoughtful Gratitude Post About the End of Titans’ TV Show
Share
Actor Joshua Orphin who plays Conner Kent/Kon-El/Superboy on HBO Max’s Titans wrote a poignant and thoughtful gratitude post on Instagram following Wednesday’s announcement that the show will be ending after the current fourth season.
RELATED: The Moment Titan’s Conner and Komand’r Became TV’s Hottest Couple
When you’re an actor, you take what’s on offer.
Characters come and go. It’s all part of the gig, and you’ve got bills to pay… But every once in a while, a role comes along that’s so enthralling, so fascinating, so alien and yet human, that you’re compelled to give a little more of yourself. You’re driven to connect a little deeper, to access parts of yourself you may not have even known were there. You pour your heart and soul into the work, so much so that to say goodbye to such a character would be like severing a part of yourself. In these cases, saying goodbye is tough.
This is one of those.
What a ride! There are no words that can truly express what it’s meant to me to have been given this colossal opportunity, to have been entrusted with the immense responsibility of playing this part. I suppose these will have to do:
For me, this was a once in a lifetime thing, a dream role. I’m incredibly grateful – believe me when I tell you, I’ve savoured every single moment.
Thank you to the dedicated producers, writers and directors, who took these legendary characters from the pages of Teen Titans and built this show from the ground up. To my fellow cast, and the world class team of hard working crew members who made every day of working on this show an absolute joy.
Most of all, thank you guys. The fans of the show who’ve stuck with us over the years, and especially those of you who’ve personally shown me such astonishing love and support from the moment I was cast. It means the world.
But it ain’t over yet! Season 4, Part 2 is still to come! I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished this season, particularly the way we ended it. We got to go out on our own terms, and left nothing in the tank. This season’s conclusion was for the fans. I can’t wait for you all to see it.
So… Farewell, Superboy. You’ll always have a place in my heart.
#titansforever
View this post on Instagram
On Wednesday it was announced that both Titans and Doom Patrol would be ending at the end of both of their respective fourth seasons. Both shows were created by Greg Berlanti the architect of The CW’s Arrowverse and began on the DC Universe streaming platform.
View this post on Instagram
“While these will be the final seasons of Titans and Doom Patrol, we are very proud of these series and excited for fans to see their climactic endings,” an HBO Max spokesperson said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “We are grateful to Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television for making such thrilling, action-packed, heartfelt series. We thank Titans showrunner Greg Walker, executive producers Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns, Richard Hatem, and the team at Weed Road Pictures. For Doom Patrol, we celebrate showrunner Jeremy Carver and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns, Chris Dingess and Tamara Becher-Wilkinson. For four seasons, fans have fallen in love with the Titans and Doom Patrol, investing in their trials and tribulations, and in their legendary battles saving the world time and time again.”
In light of the news, a disgruntled viewer tweeted new DC head James Gunn, and suggested that he and his new partner Peter Safran have “a mighty big hill to climb to win the majority of fans over.”
Gunn responded by revealing that he and Safran didn’t make the call to axe the superhero series.
“The decision to end the series precedes us,” he stated candidly. “But I certainly wish the best for the talented group of creators, actors, and the rest of the crew that produced both shows.”
The decision to end the series precedes us. But I certainly wish the best for the talented group of creators, actors, and the rest of the crew that produced both shows. https://t.co/jdqDc9TqU1
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) January 26, 2023
Gunn also confirmed that he has the power to bring the HBO Max heroes back into the DC. Questioned if he has the “jurisdiction” to “incorporate” those shows into his DCU, Gunn responded that he and Safran have free reign to cherry-pick whichever “characters/performers playing those characters” from Titans and DP they want to, although he once again maintained that they don’t have the ability to “keep any TV show running indefinitely.”
@JamesGunn I have a question that I am genuinely hoping you can ask – even though you had no involvement with Titans and Doom Patrol ending, if you had wanted to incorporate those shows for your DCU, would that option have been within your jurisdiction or no? Hope you can answer!
— Andy Behbakht (@AndyBehbakht) January 26, 2023
While Doom Patrol was critically praised, Titans was more of a mixed bag with many fans having contradictory feelings (myself included) about the writing. The plot of the series hewed closely to the storylines of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez’ run on the legendary comic book The New Teen Titans that began in the 1980s.
Appearing on newsstands August 14, 1980, the team was gathered by a mysterious new character named Raven who told the former sidekicks, “You were not assembled simply for this mission, my friends. Indeed, even now the menace is growing… one which only your powers can hope to overcome.”
But in terms of casting and as the first live action iteration of the Teen Titans it will definitely always have a place in our hearts, in particular casting actor Brenton Thwaites who played Dick Grayson/Nightwing.
The more recent casting of Jay Lycargo as Tim Drake was particularly masterful and well executed; which is why I’m happy it appears he will likely reprise the role in Matt Reeves sequel to The Batman.
RELATED: Actor Brenton Thwaites Brings Big Dick Grayson Energy to ‘Titans’
View this post on Instagram
Created by Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, and Berlanti, Titans centers on young heroes Nightwing (Brenton Thwaites), Starfire (Anna Diop), Raven (Teagan Croft), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), and more as they join forces in their fight against evil. The first half of season 4, which aired between November 3 and December 1, 2022, saw the gang hit the road back to San Francisco after saving Gotham. Following a pitstop in Metropolis, however, they found themselves up against a dangerous supernatural cult.
RELATED: Seasons 4 of DC’s Titans and Doom Patrol Will Be Their Last
“I’m immensely proud of our gifted cast, crew, and writing staff and their efforts in bringing to life all forty-nine episodes over the last five plus years,” showrunner Greg Walker said of the unexpected wraps elsewhere. “I’m incredibly grateful for their unyielding trust throughout this process. Lastly, I have to thank our incredible fans for their continued support, engagement, and the passionate community they’ve built around our show. We have six episodes left to unleash upon the world that we hope will give our beloved characters the creative closure we all know they deserve.”
I’ll save my goodbyes until Tim masters his Bo staff! Until then let’s get ready for a badass ending in Part 2 ay!!🥋❤️👑 pic.twitter.com/NVTjLwtdvU
— lycurgo (@jaylycurgo) January 26, 2023
“To our wonderfully supportive partners at HBO Max, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions, and DC Studios, thank you for indulging us these past four seasons,” added Doom Patrol boss Jeremy Carve. “Also, what were you smoking? To our brilliant cast, indomitable crew, fearless writing staff and, most of all, to our beautiful fans: thank you all the more. You made this a once-in-a-lifetime ride.”
Starring Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Jovian Wade, Michelle Gomez, Matt Bomer, and Brendan Fraser, Doom Patrol’s fourth season, which aired its first half between December 8 and January 5, has so far seen the eponymous group vow to do more heroic deeds as the threat of Immortus looms.
Though never mentioned there are many connections between the two teams historically and in the comics.
Doom Patrol, first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 in 1963. Billed as “The World’s Most Bizarre Heroes” the misfit heroes were gathered by a mysterious man in a wheelchair named Chief. There are many parallels to another comic that debuted that year, Marvel’s X-Men, although Patrol came out a good three months prior. The team went for two decades without a book after the series was canceled in 1977.
With Doom Patrol #19 in 1989, DC Comics did a complete 180 on the whole concept of the team. Grant Morrison, fresh off of stellar runs on books like Animal Man and Arkham Asylum, decided to lean into the weird and surreal aspects of the team, and away from usual supeheroics and fights in tights. While the X-Men would continue to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Doom Patrol would now fight the surrealist Brotherhood of Dada. By the early ’90s, the Doom Patrol was now as different a beast from the X-Men as one could get.
Morrison created new characters like Crazy Jane, an otherwise ordinary looking woman with 64 different personalities (and powers). He fused Negative Man with a woman, creating an intersex hero called Rebis. Robotman was still around, but now he was like the “normal guy” in a group of aggressively stranger and stranger heroes. And while the Chief remained as leader, Morrison eventually made him far less altruistic than his counterpart Professor X. It was in Morrison’s seminal run that he revealed that the Chief actually caused all the accidents that deformed the Patrol in the first place.
It is Morrison’s version that the current DC Universe/HBO Max series is primarily based on.
Ironically the character of Garfield Logan/Changeling/Beast Boy was an originally a member and Rita Farr/Elasti Girl was his mother and Steve Dayton/Mento was his father and the HBO Max version took Victor Stone/Cyborg who was created for the New Teen Titans and made him central to the TV series.
Titans season 4 and Doom Patrol season 4 will return to HBO Max later this year.
