I’ve made no secret of dislike for the current trend of making everything more dark and gritty. Sadly, I felt like the trailer that was released for DC’s Titans fell right into the same trap that plagues the DCEU.

For the most part, the criticism of the DCEU falls pretty squarely in the camp of “the movies are too dark, and they aren’t as fun as Marvel”. I’m one of the people leveling that criticism. I haven’t been a big fan of much coming out of DC Cinematic these past few years. Except, of course, Wonder Woman, which I loved, as did everyone else.

Additional criticism about the DCEU is that they were impatient. Marvel built their shared universe over years, introducing the most important characters in solo endeavors first, and then teaming up them up 4 years after the first MCU movie released. While DC did the same 4 year span, there was one less film released, and one of the films, Suicide Squad, did nothing to further the story of the main characters who teamed up in Justice League. That’s significant because when Justice League released we essentially met The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg for the first time, whereas in the MCU, we had met everyone before The Avengers team-up. The criticism here is ultimately that DC rushed things because they were playing catch up to Marvel.

Fast forward to earlier this week when the trailer for the new series Titans was made public. Remember the criticism – that DCEU is too dark, that they rushed things because they are trying to play catch up. Now, DC is also not following the same model of the shared universe across all platforms. The DC universe on the CW is doing fairly well, and, by the way – those shows certainly aren’t as dark as the DCEU, and that little universe was built over years, with new shows added and crossovers created once characters were established. Both of those are plays out of the Marvel playbook.

READ: Lots of Titans and Teen Titans titles at Amazon to read before the launch of DC’s Titans

In recent months, DC has been pushing their new streaming service DC Universe that will include new original live action and animated content, as well as access to comics. The new content presently on order will include live action versions of Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Stargirl and Titans. Animated versions of Young Justice Outsiders and Harley Quinn are also slated. The benefit of their own streaming service is that many of the rules imposed on content shown network TV are not present behind the paywall.

Most importantly, and here’s the crux of my argument, the content can be much more gritty and adult on a subscription pay service. Wait for it…much like Marvel did with the Netflix MCU shows. Marvel and Netflix have enjoyed some great success on their Defenders heroes collaboration, but it is the dark side of the MCU. Much more violent with adult situations and language. The violence in The Punisher (and even both seasons of Daredevil) is off the charts, and definitely not for kids.

Alright, go have a look at the trailer if you haven’t seen it and we’ll pick up on the others side.

So, here’s the thing – DCEU is criticized for being to dark and gritty, and for rushing things by playing catch up. This trailer most certainly depicts a very gritty interpretation of our young DC heroes. That Robin would say “F*** Batman” was both shocking (I’m sure that was the desired effect) and disconcerting enough that I instantly cared less about the show (probably not what they were going for). I know that Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne enjoyed a pretty contentious relationship after the first Robin moved on to other things, and, I am also aware that Raven has a backstory that gritty would fit. I think that this direction may not be helpful to DC’s overall problems.

As for the playing catch up, the ultra-violent, adult content created by Marvel and Netflix was released in April of 2015, and it was generally very successful (I’m looking at everyone over there except for “The Immortal* Iron Fist, protector of K’un-Lun, sworn enemy of the Hand”…yeah, whatever, Danny) . It looks very much like DC is trying to capitalize on that success with this version of Titans.

Here’s my thought. Marvel started with the much lighter than DC films of the MCU. They added the TV side which continued in the lighter vein, and then added the much more dark, adult content to the streaming service. DC, on the other hand, started with a much darker tone, even in Man of Steel that kicked it all off. A darker tone that they were roundly criticized for, and that they tried to correct allegedly on the fly, and unsuccessfully in both Suicide Squad and Justice League. People apparently don’t like the dark tone as much in the DCEU as they did in The Dark Knight trilogy.

Marvel moved to darkness, DC continues to wallow there. For my money, Titans was a perfect place for a pivot. The characters are younger, not as hardened by the years as Batman is. If young Dick Grayson just becomes a copy of Batman, then why bother? (Full disclosure, Keaton in Batman 1989 is my favorite version of the Caped Crusader) Certainly, Titans producers could have attempted a lighter tone and then darkened to taste in later seasons, much like CW did with both Supergirl and The Flash. They might have found that the lighter side was where the sweet spot was, and the younger Titans were the perfect title to try that on. Instead they opted for more of the same, and the appearance that they are playing catch up yet again.

SHOP: Titans and Teen Titans gear at Amazon

I am not adverse to dark tone, and adult content, by the way, but I like a varied menu to choose from. I imagine I’ll still give it a shot. Maybe, maybe not. Now that I am aware that the cost will be $7.99 per month or $75 per year for a DC Universe subscription, I’ll need to look at my entertainment budget that already includes Netflix, Amazon Prime, and CBS All Access. Does this same old, same old out of DC warrant me dropping another $8 per month? We will have to see.

What do you think of the trailer? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment below and we’ll talk.

The Grumpy Geek, Pete Herr is the author of “10 Things We Should Teach You In High School and Usually Don’t”. He is the oldest geek in the Geekiverse by a factor of two. Follow Pete Herr on Facebook, Twitter,and Instagram .

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