3 Years Later, Alan Ritchson’s 4-Season Action Series Still Doesn’t Get The Respect It Deserved

Although Alan Ritchson’s Reacher role redeemed the star’s small-screen action hero reputation, his earlier role in the DC series Titans never received its flowers during the show’s run. There have been plenty of DC shows over the years, and these streaming and network TV efforts vary wildly in terms of tone.

There are playful shows, darker, more self-serious series, and, in the case of Legends of Tomorrow, at least one series that started out as the former and ended up as the latter. However, not all the legendary comic industry force’s TV shows received the praise they earned, as proven by one underrated superhero team-up.

Before he became Reacher, the title character of Prime Video’s Dad TV hit of the same name, based on Lee Child’s novel series, Alan Ritchson starred in one such show. Running from 2018 until 2023, Titans is a criminally underrated superhero series that deserves to be remembered as more than Ritchson’s pre-fame calling card.

DC’s Titans Series Was Impeccably Cast (& Ritchson Is A Great Example)

Based on the already-underrated DC superhero team, the Teen Titans, Titans was a sci-fi action adventure series from Akiva Goldsman, Greg Berlanti, and Geoff Johns. The show focused on Dick Grayson, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Jason Todd, and numerous other lesser-known heroes. Amongst them was Ritchson’s Hank Hall, or Hawk.

Blessed with superhuman strength, in the comics, the volatile Hawk is a foil to his more level-headed brother, Don Hall, or “Dove.” Although Ritchson was not yet well known as an action star when he was cast, Titans made perfect use of the future Reacher actor‘s imposing physicality in this role.

In fact, the entire cast of Titans was perfectly selected, from Anna Diop’s Starfire to Minka Kelly’s Dawn Granger. There wasn’t a weak link in the show’s lineup, which is a tough trick to pull off in a show that has over a dozen main characters. In Titans, Hawk and Dawn form a crime-fighting duo.

In an interesting twist on what viewers might have expected from a Teen Titans TV show, Titans did not pull any punches when it came to the show’s tone and content. On the contrary, Titans was a grim, gritty series with a moody atmosphere and plentiful moments of gruesome violence, something most of the show’s reviewers noted was an unexpected addition.

Despite Its Flaws, Titans Got A Lot Right

This made Titans a perfect proving ground for Ritchson’s future Reacher role, as that dark thriller also came with a generous helping of brutal moments. Admittedly, the dark tone of Titans sometimes clashed with the show’s colorful costumes and outlandish premise, but there is no denying that the DC show still got a lot right.

From Nightwing to Barbara Gordon to the balance of the titular team’s chemistry, which needed to feel real and lived-in but also required some meaningful conflict, Titans nailed a lot of the show’s most important elements. The series also featured some strong villains, thus justifying its dark tone and helping Titans stand out in a busy field of superhero TV shows.

This was reflected in the critical appraisal of the series, which grew stronger with each passing season. Titans season 1 was criticized for its excessive violence and the slow pace of the series, with many critics bemoaning how long it took for the eponymous team to finally assemble. Admittedly, the show’s first few outings did arguably drag out this process.

However, after season 1 earned a Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of 78%, the show’s fortunes improved when season 2 managed to pull this average up to 81%. By season 3, Titans had turned things around, earning a perfect 100% critical rating upon release and massively improving on the show’s original reception.

While Ritchson left Titans after season 3, this didn’t hurt the show’s overall reception, and season 4 managed to hold onto that perfect 100% rating. Despite this success, Titans still struggled to find a consistent home, moving from the DC Universe in seasons 1-2 to HBOMax for seasons 3-4.

Not All Of Titans’ Big Swings Paid Off, But It Deserves Credit For Trying

The series concluded in May 2023, but not before Titans could take an admirable stab at offering a truly daring, original spin on the DC universe. It takes a lot for a superhero show to stand out in the era of The Boys, the MCU, and countless other competitors, and Titans made up for this with sheer audacity.

Since the show was competing against so many other superhero universes, Titans took some truly wild swings, like killing off the Joker and Lex Luther, among its more deservedly infamous exploits. Inevitably, not all these ploys paid off, but Titans as a whole still deserves to be remembered as a daring addition to the ever-growing superhero show genre.

Even if its star went on to bigger and brighter, or at least more consistently critically acclaimed, shows, this DC series remains an interesting part of the superhero franchise’s small screen story. Titans took a lot of risks that helped raise Alan Ritchson’s profile before he starred in Reacher, and the series deserves credit for these big swings.