The 'Titans' Trailer Puts An Incredibly Dark Spin On This Beloved Superhero Sidekick

When Batman's away, Robin does not play. On Thursday, DC Universe released the first trailer for Titans, and the streaming service's inaugural show brings viewers a much darker take on Batman's beloved sidekick Robin, who takes no prisoners and even cusses.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, based on characters from the Teen Titans comic book series by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, the new Titans show takes a more mature tone than some its contemporaries. The trailer introduces Raven, a young girl who is struggling to control her power, played by Teagan Croft, as she asks detective Dick Grayson, aka Robin, for help. In the trailer, Grayson is introduced as a former acrobat who fights crime at night by the name of Robin, played by Brenton Thwaites. Robin then comes upon a group of thugs in an alley and it quickly becomes clear that Batman's sidekick is playing by his own rules. "Where's Batman?" one of the criminals asks before Robin takes the group on and gunfire breaks out. His face splattered with blood, Robin states, "F*ck Batman."

As the trailer shows, he takes Raven under his wing. And, along with other fan-favorites like Starfire and Beast Boy — played by Anna Diop and Ryan Potter, respectively — they fight crime and try to find their way in an unforgiving world.

As if the swearing weren't enough to signal the series' darker tone, towards the end of the preview, Raven tells Robin, "My mom says there's no such thing as monsters," to which Robin replies, "I used to think that. I was wrong." Dark, indeed.

Upon the trailer's release, fans took to social media to share their reactions, which were fairly mixed overall, with some voicing their disappointment while others seemed excited about Robin's darker persona.

@Cole_Freshkorn tweeted, "The only thing in that Titans trailer that looks okay is Robin. That's it. End of story," and @PaulRom95 said, "The Robin stuff looks pretty good, but otherwise, I’m not sure what to think of the #Titans trailer. Need to get used to seeing the other characters in that type of tone. I’m sure the show itself will be good though."

@CdnCapedCrusader also said, I don’t know that I 'loved' that #Titans trailer but damn if I’m not kinda pumped heading into the gym after seeing that Robin action," along with a couple of shrugging emojis, while @ItyeboiIcarus wrote, "What do I think of #Titans I thought the trailer was Meh..... UNTIL ROBIN SAID F**K BATMAN, that changed everything."

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman and Geoff Johns, the show is a marked departure from the long-running Cartoon Network series Teen Titans Go!, which was recently adapted into a feature film, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, which hits theaters on July 27.

According to a press release from the streaming service, Titans is the first of a slew of live-action and animated series DC Universe will bring to the small screen. Doom Patrol, another DC Universe original, will follow the exploits of DC outcasts, Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Woman, and Crazy Jane as they are called into action by Cyborg. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing will center on Abby Arcane as she tries to get to the root of a deadly swamp-born virus in small-town Louisiana, but soon realizes there is much more to the swamp than meets the eye.

DC Universe will also bring beloved characters back to TV in animated shows like Harley Quinn and will air the third season of Young Justice, which was previously on Cartoon Network, set to be titled Young Justice: Outsiders.

So far, the fan reaction to the trailer seems pretty mixed, but viewers can make their minds up about the show — and hopefully see Robin use a few more expletives — when Titans premieres this fall.