Fans of DC comics should be thrilled by the new series “Titans” coming out later this year. Though no official release date has been given as of yet, we know it will be available through DC’s online streaming service when the time finally does arrive.
Until then, we still have the entire history of Teen Titans stories to look back on as we wait. The Titans series has been around a long time now. So many different characters and events have taken place, many of them changing and evolving over time.
Since the Teen Titans series is so old, there have been quite a few attempts at expanding the story over the years. Most recognizable would be the Teen Titans cartoon series on Cartoon Network, which had its own fair share of abandoned story ideas. There have also been several attempts to bring the characters out of the comics and onto the screen that never came through.
Certain ideas and characters for the comics themselves were abandoned by the creators, though we still managed to find a few traces of them. Today we’ll be looking at the cartoon series along with other attempts at expanding the story that were ultimately put to rest.
For this list, we wanted to look at some of the storylines that never got to see the light of day.
15 The Not So “Lost” Episode
Originally made as a promotion for the Cartoon Network series, this episode was made available exclusively for postopia.com and was later released on the Trouble In Tokyo DVD.
This story wasn’t so much “abandoned” as it was unexpected to be seen, but it is still an interesting easter egg for fans who may not know of its existence.
The story is centered on the exclusive villain Punk Rocket, who begins starting trouble at a classical music concert by plugging in his guitar and literally blowing the audience away with his chaotic sound. The Titans come to save the day of course but have a difficult time getting close to him at all with the sonic waves emitting from his guitar. It’s only Beast Boy who has enough earwax built up who can resist the effects of Punk Rocket’s music, and tricks the villain into overloading his own speakers.
14 The Untold Story Of Starfire
Man, the writers of Teen Titans sure had a lot planned that we never got to see! Before its unceremonious cancelation, the Teen Titans cartoon was supposed to have a sixth season. As with the previous seasons, there would have been an overarching storyline spread throughout the episodes that focused on one character. In this case, that character would have been Starfire.
With only five seasons having been made, Starfire is the only core member of the Titans not to have her story told in depth.
Out of the five, the overarching story for each season focused chronologically on Robin, Terra, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. We may know a bit about Starfire already, such as her alien origins and her incomprehension of sarcasm, but it is a shame she never got the same treatment as everyone else.
13 The Unresolved Issue Of Red X Number Two
One of the most annoying things for fans after the cartoon series was canceled is just how many unresolved plot issues there are! The writers of the show obviously had a lot more they wanted to show before the plug was pulled. So many things were planned for season six, that it’s not hard to see why the cancelation was such a disappointment.
Out of all the storylines left open-ended, one of the most mysterious has to be the identity of the 2nd Red X.
While originally a disguise used by Robin in order to get close to Slade, someone wearing the Red X uniform appeared in the series later on as a villain. The Titans did manage to defeat him but the identity of this person was never revealed. We don’t know much about the writers plans for this character but since he doesn’t appear this way in any other Teen Titans media, we’re unlikely to ever get an answer.
12 Terra On The Sidelines
Season Two of the original Teen Titans cartoon was heavily meant to involve the character Terra and her relationship with the other Titans. Essentially, she is conflicted between wanting to do good and dealing with insecurities about her powers. Season Two does feature her appearing frequently with the Titans, but not in the way that was originally planned.
According to the writers, they originally wanted Terra to be featured in almost every episode as an official member of the Teen Titans.
They wanted her to feel like one of the group and like she really belonged with the rest of them, so when the time came for her to depart the impact would be that much greater. Unfortunately, she never did get to join them, and the writers settled with her as a friend of the Titans rather than a full-blown member.
11 Teen Titans East Get Overshadowed
Another group of Titans who were originally supposed to get more attention is the Teen Titans East team. According to Cartoon Network president Sam Register, they were supposed to have a bigger role in the series but were scaled down as they appeared to much like a spin-off of the original titans. Chances are they would have shown up more often and had more of a personal stake in the story’s conflicts.
The Teen Titans East team do appear in more than a few episodes, but they never stick around for very long.
Most often they are there as support rather than as central characters to the overarching story. Several of them have appeared individually in the series, such as Aquaboy and Speedster, but even then they don’t hang around longer than it takes to finish the job.
10 Slade, The Everyday Villain
As the main antagonist of the Titans, Slade frequently does his best to bring misery to the team however he possibly can. While the first season was being written, the character wasn’t nearly as complicated as we’ve come to know him. Originally the writers envisioned him as more of a Dr. Claw type of villain, who would inevitably end up being the mastermind behind every challenge the Titans faced.
As hype for the show began to grow, the writers began to worry that this approach would be disappointing to fans.
They realized that they needed something broader than just an everyday kind of villain. It was decided that as an overarching story for season one, Slade was primarily concerned with turning Robin away from the Titans and converting him over as his apprentice. Once this change was made, it also paved the way for more broad storylines and additional villains.
9 Wonder Girl Missing From Action
In several earlier versions of the Teen Titans comics, Wonder Girl was a regular member of the team. When the cartoon show was first being developed the creators wanted her as a member of the group, but this was not to be. The “Wonder Embargo” was in full effect at the time, preventing any Wonder Woman related character from being used in the media in more than one place. A similar embargo also existed for Batman and other related characters.
We don’t know exactly what Wonder Girl would have brought to the show, but we did get to see her in the Young Justice series as pictured above. She never did get to cross over into Teen Titans, but she had interacted with both Robin and Nightwing in the aforementioned series. So far we have no word on whether or not we’ll see her again in any upcoming projects.
8 Brother Blood Softens For The TV Screen
Brother Blood is a character who was cleaned up a bit for the cartoon series. In the comics, he was a mind-controlling cult leader with a much darker tone. The writers were forced to alter this persona since Cartoon Network executives felt it unsuitable for children.
Instead, the writers turned him into a mind-controlling headmaster of the H.I.V.E. academy.
As one of the primary antagonists of season three, Brother Blood definitely shaped the series at a critical point. The decision to change his character altered the continuing story in such a way that can be seen throughout the series going forward. Darker subjects and themes were forcibly lightened, giving us a version of the story not quite as serious as had been originally intended.
7 Slade Meets The Brotherhood Of Evil
While the fifth season of the show was being developed, Cartoon Network decided to shorten the season and ultimately decided to cancel the show altogether. Not only was this a disappointment to fans, it also forced the writers to scrap a number of storylines from the season that had been planned.
One such story was supposed to involve the Titan’s arch nemesis Slade teaming up with the Brotherhood Of Evil.
After Beast Boy’s old teammates from the Doom Patrol arrive in season five, the Titans are forced to deal with the Doom Patrol’s main antagonists who happen to be the Brotherhood Of Evil. The Brotherhood’s involvement in season five would have been a lot more complicated if the show had continued as planned and there’s no telling now how Slade may have worked with them. It could’ve been a formidable force indeed.
6 Thunder, Lightning And Redstar Return
These three Titans made brief appearances in the Cartoon series but were never really expanded upon. It appears that before the show was scrapped, the writers wanted to bring these three and the other Titans together for an episode. An exciting idea, giving the destructive power each of them has. Who knows what kind of enemy would present a challenge to a force such as these?
Since none of these heroes have been a major part of the Teen Titans backstory, it’s hard to know exactly what may have happened. Last we saw; Thunder and Lightning were both held prisoner by the Brotherhood Of Evil, but they managed to escape when the Titans attacked the Brotherhood base. Redstar showed up to help the Titans as well, though his presence was never fully explained.
Chances are these three would have to have been part of something big, but unfortunately its another story we may never get to see.
5 The Return Of Mento And Robotman
These are some more classic characters originally set to return in season five of the cartoon. As members of the Doom Patrol, Mento and Robotman both played a critical role in season five. It seems the writers were quite taken with these characters too since they planned to bring them back later in the season before it was shortened. After defeating the Brotherhood Of Evil, they and the other members of the Doom Patrol were not seen again.
The interesting thing about this tidbit of information was that the other Doom Patrol members weren’t mentioned.
It’s hard to imagine what these two would be doing without the rest of their team, but its another story we may never know. However, the Doom Patrol has been cast for the upcoming Titans series, so perhaps we may get to see something from these two we haven’t yet.
4 Robin Abandoned For Nightwing
It looks like the new Titans series will be focused pretty heavily on the character of Nightwing, Robin’s more matured persona. As part of the comic book lore, it makes sense since that is exactly what the original Robin became after leaving the Teen Titans. For the cartoon series, however, it was originally considered to show Robin’s maturity a little earlier.
As the show was being designed, the creators talked about ditching the Robin persona altogether and going straight into Nightwing.
One of the things that made the idea appealing was simply the costume designs between the two characters. The creators thought Nightwing’s outfit would be a lot cooler looking than the traditional Robin costume. In the end, they settled for giving Robin’s look an edgier twist and so kept the Robin persona intact.
No telling how the series may have differed if they’d chosen otherwise.
3 The Titans Who Never Lived
From illustrator Derrick J Wyatt’s personal blog, we have character designs that were never before seen until he decided to post them. Originally they were based on characters from the “Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone” comic. While the cartoon series of Teen Titans was still on the air, Wyatt suggested these characters be used in the show. According to the blog post, there was a discussion about it but ultimately it just never happened.
From the look of these characters together, it seems like a pretty safe bet to they would be a Titans team of their own. Since the number of Titans has already far exceeded the core five members it makes sense to add a few more. What their backstory and involvement in the show might’ve been is a complete mystery. Chances are, this is the only information about these characters we’ll ever get.
2 The Titans TNT Drama That Was Not To Be
Years before the “Titans” series was announced to appear on the DC streaming site, it was announced as a production coming to TNT. As recently as may 2015, the show was still being discussed, though no filming or casting had reportedly taken place. By early 2016 the show was officially scrapped by TNT, with network president Keven Reilly stating simply that “We decided it wasn’t where we wanted to go.”
No official word has been given on how much this year’s coming Titans series compares to the one TNT dropped.
Given the fact that both series are meant to focus on Nightwing and the other Teen Titans after they’ve grown into adults, it seems that the two will be quite similar. We may have missed something great from TNT, but it seems that a live action Titans story will be coming no matter what.
1 The Teen Titans Cartoon Of The 80s?
Finally on this list, we have a surprise that may have changed the way Teen Titans was perceived forever, had it had been done. The cartoon series most of us know and love started in the good old days of 2003, but there was another attempt at a cartoon from even earlier. In the ancient times of 1980, DC comics sought to auction the rights to producing a Teen Titans cartoon to the highest bidder.
Their offer was considered by several companies at the time too and very well may have happened if it were not for several copyright issues.
Essentially the rights to animate Batman and Robin characters had already been purchased. This naturally reduced the amount of content any “Titans” series could offer at the time. What might have been is a mystery, though we can safely assume the show would be quite different from the one we now know.
