By 
For kids that grew up in the mid 2000’s, if there was one institution for Saturday nights it was Teen Titans. I would remember staying up late Saturday nights to watch the latest Teen Titans episode and talking about it with my friends at school come Monday morning. After rewatching the show last year, it really does hold up well, though if you think the show was always serious and never had any humor, let me direct you to the episode where Beast Boy fights a block of Tofu that has an army of pleasant managers all named Bob who want to take over the world.
Many people still hail it as a classic animated show, mixing slick animation with some great character arcs and episodes. Then it ended after five seasons with an infuriating finale that is just a giant deep cut anime reference that most otaku won’t even pick up on, only to be replaced by Teen Titans GO!. Needless to say, people don’t like Teen Titans GO!. I really didn’t like it when I had to see the movie last year, though my disdain for it has softened in the past year. But with the promise that the original series would return thanks to a post-credits teaser as well as a teaser in October, I was eager to see what we would get. And the answer is Into the Spider-Verse for DC..
Billed as a fight between the new team and their “serious versions” (aka the good ones), the movie looks like it’s going to be an interdimmensional battle for the fate of reality, bringing in classic Titans foes like Trigon as well as other DC villains like Gentlemen Ghost, played by Weird Al, Darkseid, and Santa Claus. Yes, that Santa. No, I don’t know why he’s here, but he’s got a gun, so I’m okay with that.
While I’m sure some people are calling this a monkey’s paw deal where they’re bemoaning we’re not getting a Teen Titans Season 6, why would Cartoon Network do that? Say what you will about GO!, but it is consistently popular with children and is the only show on their network that is most likely paying the bills now that Adventure Time is done. Meanwhile, the 2003 series has a cult following, but cult followings don’t translate to guaranteed sales. It’s like how people were clamoring for Toonami to bring back Inuyasha because it’s a staple of the block, only for no one to watch it once it was brought back. A digitally released movie seems like the most logical solution, plus it still looks fun. The action seems nice, and I’m just happy to see the OG Titans again. And no, not the 2003 versions. You can actually find the George Perez renditions of the characters, so we may see Disco Nightwing fight Darkseid, which is awesome and ridiculous on every level.
Teen Titans GO! vs. Teen Titans will release later this year.
