The Titans live-action television series has just picked up their lead character. Actor Brenton Thwaites, most recently seen in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has been cast as none other than Dick Grayson, according to a report at Deadline. Interestingly, the report does not specify which iteration of hero Grayson will be. The original article shows a picture of Robin alongside Thwaites’ photo, but earlier reports suggest the Titans series will cover Grayson’s transition from Robin to the adult hero Nightwing.
DC Entertainment CCO Geoff Johns released the following statement on Thwaites’ casting:
“Dick Grayson is one of the most important and iconic heroes in the DC universe, and it wasn’t easy to find him but we have. Brenton has the emotional depth, heart, danger and physical presence of Batman’s former protege and the Titans’ future leader. We’re extremely lucky he’s chosen to bring his talents to this project and this character.â€
Among Thwaites’ other roles are The Giver, Gods of Egypt, and Maleficent.Â
Thwaites joins the recently cast Starfire (Anna Diop) and Raven (Teagan Croft), and the actor playing Beast Boy should be announced soon. Other classic characters from the pages of DC Comics’ Teen Titans are also going to be showing up on the series, although it is up in the air if Cyborg will be one of them, due to his status as a Justice League character. But if we can have a movie Flash and TV Flash, why not Cyborg?
Dick Grayson is one of the most iconic superheroes in all of pop culture. He debuted as the original Robin the Boy Wonder in the pages of Detective Comics in 1940, and spent the next 44 years as the most well known kid partner in history. The Batman ’66 TV series made him a household name. Then, in 1984, Grayson finally became a man in the pages of The New Teen Titans as Nightwing, and became even more popular, thanks to Marv Wolfman and George Perez’ reinvention of the character.
We will soon be seeing two versions of the popular hero, as there is a live-action Nightwing movie set in the DCEU that is being planned by The LEGO Batman Movie director Chris McKay. It’s highly doubtful that version of the character will mention his Titans comrades.
The Titans series is coming from DC TV guru Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, DC CCO (and former Teen Titans writer) Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros TV, which is set to premiere in 2018 as part of the inaugural slate of a new DC-branded direct-to-consumer digital service. Alongside the Titans show will be a third season of the Young Justice animated series. That show will also have a Dick Grayson in it, which means fans of Nightwing will have three versions to choose from soon. It seems after all these years, Dick Grayson’s time in the spotlight has finally arrived.
What do you feel about the actor chosen for this very iconic DC hero? Are you excited, or did you have another actor in mind for the part? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.
Images: Warner Brothers / Disney
