Ask any fan of the Teen Titans where they first encountered the team, and they're likely to cite the 2003 cartoon that aired on Cartoon Network through to 2006. It ran concurrently with the lauded Justice League series in an animated block that captivated viewers for hours on end, imparting what was - to many - the definitive picture of DC's sidekick outfit.
And though any live action TV show would have trouble adapting all the little elements the cartoon sported, it wouldn't be difficult to capture the overall tone and feel of the show. Like many DC productions of the period, it strove to find the perfect balance between light and dark, and even featured the talents of one Ron Perlman as Slade Wilson - or Deathstroke, as he's more widely known by these days.
There's an entire generation of DC fans who've probably missed out on the series, but it's still the most successful adaptation of the property to date, and one that plenty more will hold up as the definitive incarnation of the Titans team.
The main lesson it imparts, however, is that a comic book adaptation can be both light and dark - one needn't rely on one so heavily over the other.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
