With Stargirl having been pushed to 2020, we ended up receiving Titans‘ second season much earlier than expected – but I don’t think anyone is complaining. After all, DC Universe’s first series to ever launch has arguably proven to be its most popular, so it’s understandable that they satisfy subscribers.
To my delight, the premiere episode proved to be every bit the nerdgasm that trailers hinted it would be. Even though “Trigon” had originally been intended as season 1’s finale, it’d been retrofitted to launch the sophomore run. In other words, an additional fifteen minutes or so had been added to set up the next major storyline.
Now that Raven’s demonic father has been dispatched, our attention turns to the new big bad in town: Deathstroke. In case you’re wondering about how he factors into the finale, we join him as he’s seemingly enjoying retirement; he’s living in a cabin and savoring the simple life. But once he sees the Titans announcing their return on the news, well, something snaps inside of his head and he’s gone back to being the world’s deadliest mercenary at the drop of a dime.
Soon afterward, Slade Wilson returns to his more lavish abode, and we see that he’s shaven the unkempt beard grown during his time off in favor of the more iconic goatee. Furthermore, he takes a tour of an armory filled with deadly weapons and his signature costume.
As a bit of a side note, I’d like to say the suit developed for this TV show is the best ever worn by Deathstroke in live action, at least in my view. In fact, you can glimpse it in the newly circulated ad pictured above. For the most part, it looks to be inspired by the artwork of Tony S. Daniel made famous by his amazing and brutally violent New 52 run.
Granted, the time we spent with Slade during the premiere consisted of only several minutes, but it did one hell of a job whetting appetites. It was intriguing to see how his hatred of the young heroes consumes him so much that he’d forego a tranquil life in favor of eradicating every last one of them. Dick Grayson and company had better look out because the worst is yet to come for them – just as the best is yet to come for we the viewers.
Titans airs on Fridays on DC Universe. For more, be sure to check out our review of the premiere.