These days, it seems like everyone is launching their own streaming service. From Britbox to CBS All-Access and Disney, and everything in-between, the value of streaming content is well-known. The world of comics is no exception.
DC Universe is partnering with Warner Brothers Digital Networks to create a streaming service for their fans. In addition to original and live-action series, subscribers will have access to a large archive of classic films, shows, and comic books by DC. Yesterday at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2018, it was announced that the service will have an annual membership fee of $74.99. For those not wanting to commit for a full year, monthly memberships will be available for $7.99 a month.
To incentivize signups, if you order a yearly membership before the service launches, you will automatically get three months free. If you pre-order before July 22, you will also be entered into a drawing for tickets to the Aquaman premiere.
Along with this announcement was the release of the first trailer of the service’s first show, Titans. The show follows the superhero team of Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire in a much darker take on the characters than fans are used to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dIwGAYcWk
As you can see, the show won’t be shying away from the blood, gore, and language. Dick Grayson (Robin) has no love lost for Batman, as seen when a group of thugs ask where he is. Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), who was a circus performer as a child but saw his parents die, is now working as a police detective when he is sought out by Raven (Teagan Croft). She is haunted by something dark inside her and seeks out his help. We also briefly see Starfire (Anna Diop) using her powers and Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) about to transform.
For those surprised by the F-bomb dropped by Grayson, Geoff Johns has already come out and spoke on it in a Polygon interview:
“The trailer shows a piece of the tone of the show — the show’s not all that. But it does make you go, ‘Why is he saying [F**k Batman?]’ If you look at when Robin first left Batman in the comics, there was a lot of uneasiness and him being lost. Titans is really a series about these different characters that are all lost in their lives; just like the greatest comic book Titans run ever, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, it’s about all these lost characters find one another. And they’re all struggling with something, and Robin is clearly struggling with his past with Batman.”
Another show announced for DC Universe is Stargirl, helmed by Geoff Johns. The character of Courtney Whitmore was co-created by Johns in 1999 to honor the death of his sister, who was killed in a plane explosion in 1996.
STARGIRL follows High School sophomore Courtney Whitmore who inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new DC Universe series reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in a fun, exciting and unpredictable series premiering in 2019, produced by Warner Bros. Television, Mad Ghost Productions and Berlanti Productions.
Other shows created exclusively for DC Universe will include Doom Patrol, Swamp Thing, Young Justice: Outsiders, and Harley Quinn.
Publisher – DC Comics
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`Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC)
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