‘Titans’ Season 4 Open Sees Tim Drake Get a Boyfriend and Lex Luthor Pay

Savas Abadsidis November 5, 2022

For a show that’s far from perfect and which we have openly admitted to hate watching in the past, the introduction of Tim Drake’s comic book boyfriend Bernard and unapologetic and nonchalant presentation of his sexuality, saw sparks fly, and was in short, perfect for 2022.

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Drake, portrayed by British actor Jay Lycurgo, is the third Robin in the Batman comics. He aspires to take on the mantle of Robin in Titans following Jason Todd’s assumption of the Red Hood identity in Titans season 3. Tim Drake in Titans is an idealistic youth skilled at detective work but inexperienced with combat and eager to learn from Dick Grayson, now going by the moniker Nightwing.

Titans has made a strong start in exploring Tim Drake’s bisexuality. With follow-through the move is great for Titans’ LGBT representation.

Nah this scene 😂😂 https://t.co/IRfff3gUvw
— lycurgo (@jaylycurgo) November 4, 2022

Titans season 4, episode 1, “Lex Luthor” hint at a mutual attraction between him and a young man working at S.T.A.R. Labs. At the conclusion of a tour, the Titans’ guide, Bernard, singles Tim out and offers his phone number, supposedly in the event that the team has any questions. A momentary lingering of their gazes on each other during this interaction suggests the offer might be more than professional. Less than two minutes later, Tim asks Connor to take a picture of him with the retractable bo staff Bernard gave him (commissioned by Dick Grayson) and shyly admits to Rachel and Gar that he wants the photo to send to Bernard. This scene makes the attraction between Tim and Bernard, or at least Tim’s interest in Bernard, more explicit.

In the DC Comics Drake begins dating Bernard Dowd and comes out as bisexual. In the comics, Bernard is a childhood friend of Tim’s who reconnects with him as an adult. The comics’ version of Bernard, however, does not appear to have a connection with S.T.A.R. labs, and the Titans version does not appear to have known Tim prior to their meeting in Titans season 4. DC Comics promoted Tim Drake’s bisexuality with the release of DC Pride: Tim Drake Special in 2022, a collection that pulls Tim’s storyline with Bernard out from Batman: Urban Legends.

And what of Conner Kent?

The episode also sets up the arrival of Brother Blood and sees Conner’s crushing disappointment when Superman cancels an opportunity to meet his “son” and the angsty complicated confrontation he has with his other “father” Lex Luthor, who is then unceremoniously murdered moments later.

Never subtle, but always a hoot, this looks to be the best season of the teen superhero soap opera yet.

Dick and Conner share a happy moment where the two men acknowledge their bond. And they are revealed to be, what separates them from the Justice League, a family.