The first series for the new DC Universe streaming service launches Friday

In DC Universe’s “Titans,” Dick Grayson has lost the Batman to his Robin, but he’s gained a pretty significant anger problem.

The new series, debuting Oct. 12, is not just a new addition to DC Entertainment’s ever-growing collection of episodic television, where it has found a success (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” etc.) it hasn’t quite managed on the big screen.

“Titans” bears the privilege -- or burden? -- of launching the studio’s new streaming service DC Universe, the future home of the upcoming locally shot series “Swamp Thing.”

For its inaugural series, DC ditches the moral code often found within flagship heroes on screen. “Titans” chronicles the escapades of Dick (Brenton Thwaites), now a Detroit-based detective who has sworn off the Caped Crusader and his good-boy sidekick image in the process.

Dick is a killer, who doesn’t just fight bad guys, he puts them down -- or at the very least, drags their face along broken glass, which, honestly, is worse to watch.

Not long after his relocation from Gotham, Det. Dick crosses paths with Rachel (Teagan Croft), a blue-haired teen running from the man who killed her mom. But far more dangerous than the hitman on her heels is the darkness within her, a dead-eyed demon trying to claw its way out.

Together, Dick and Rachel, along with a few allies along the way, head off a steady stream of forces converging to capture her power or contain its biblical potential.

Like so many series, “Titans'” pilot doesn’t do justice to its potential. Weirdly paced and a little boring, the premiere episode is a drag, in part because it relies so heavily on Dick and Raven. Thankfully, there’s a spark right in the middle to perk up your ears.

“Titans’” best asset, at least in the three episodes given to critics, is Cory (Anna Diop), a magenta-haired amnesic with the ability to act as a human flamethrower. I get that a series painted in the gray color palette of Gotham needs its moodiness, but Cory is bringing the kind of energy and fire (no pun intended) that cranks up “Titans” to an exciting decibel.

With a confident stride, a warpath attitude and no time for your bull, Cory demands your attention and gets it in a way nothing else on this show quite manages yet.

Elsewhere in the first few episodes, guest appearances from Alan Ritchson (“Smallville’s” Aquaman) and Minka Kelly (“Friday Night Lights”) as beaten-down vigilantes Hawk and Dove anchor the show a bit more than the wayward pair of Dick and Raven; while a vicious family of assassins provides some intriguing narrative fuel to the fire. The arrival of the shape-shifting Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) is used very sparingly in the first three episodes, but when he pops up, it also provides a jolt of fun energy.

DC Universe has a long road ahead, with no less than a half-dozen major shows headed to its streaming airwaves. But everything has to start somewhere and “Titans” makes for a serviceable, but timid first impression.

With a foul mouth and violent tendencies, it certainly stands out from the basic cable DC pack. If you can get past the blood and the dull first hour, “Titans” is the first evidence DC Universe has the ambition to take big swings within the superhero genre (at least on TV).

Now, let’s see if it can land the punch.

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com. Hunter is a member of the Television Critics Association.