The team consists of Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Herald (Mal Duncan), Bumblebee (Karen Beecher), Impulse (Iris West II), Bunker (Miguel Jose Barragan) and Red Star (Leonid Kovar).
Incidentally, I need to make an amendment to what I said about Leonid's comic ideology as a socialist. Evidently, he was actually a patriotic communist, not a socialist. It was an honest mistake that I didn't catch the first time writing the proposal. Apologies if this caused any confusion with readers unfamiliar with the character of Red Star, or if any die hard Teen Titans fans were annoyed that I got this detail about the character wrong.
Another small detail about this series that I neglected to mention; I'm having it set in Bludhaven. If you're unfamiliar with this city, it's basically Gotham's sister city only with a worse crime rate starting within the mayors office and working it's way down. It's where Nightwing started off when he became a fully independent vigilante separate from Batman and the Titans. Bludhaven makes for a great location for this iteration of the Titans to operate out of and allows for some visual creativity as Bludhaven typically seems more sophisticated but is actually more of a glorified cesspool of crime and corruption around every corner. Think Mega City One from 2000 A.D just compressed into a New York-esque city.
Regardless, now that we have established our heroes, it only makes sense to start building up their opposites. In other words:
Who are the Villains?
Much I like I had done with the heroes, I don't want to use the biggest villains that the Titans have faced in their many years of comics and other adaptations. Thus, there will be no Deathstroke, H.I.V.E, Trigon, or Brother Blood. These are the biggest names in the Titans' rogues gallery and they have already featured prominently in other DC material outside of the comics; most notably, the Teen Titans cartoon where all of these characters had faithful renditions with appropriate upgrades to their characterisation. I'm also not using characters from the future, as I want to start things off simple but effective with this version of the team, so we're not seeing the Fatal Five either (especially as they are more or less the adversaries of the Legion of Super-Heroes). We don't have to mention or reference any of them, either, as they are not important to this version of the team.
So instead, I have decided to bring in another villain group known as the Brotherhood of Evil:
These guys haven't had as much prominence as the other villains I've mentioned, and I don't believe any of them have even gotten a live action incarnation. They're apparently mentioned in the live action Doom Patrol, but I haven't watched that series so it isn't fair to draw a comparison, especially if they haven't physically appeared on screen.
Also, they'll simply be called the Brotherhood in this show. They may be the villains, but I always found group names that end with "Evil" or "Doom" to be a bit ridiculous. Not as dumb as the Ravagers, but still silly nonetheless. Some members will also be swapped out for others, if only because I have certain ideas for them.
Let's start off with the team's traditional leader, The Brain.
His deal is simple; he's a French mad scientist who had his brain put inside of a mobile drone with speech functions as to better communicate with his underlings. Much like how the Titans have cruxes, I want each member of the Brotherhood to have a desire; something that they want to attain and use underhanded, duplicitous means of achieving those desires. The Brain, for instance, is primarily a logic and strategy driven individual, but uses those under him to find the materials he needs for a new, carbon based body. All of these years inside of a moving jar of water has made him realise that he misses the sensation of actually being able to move around on two legs and interact with people on a normal level. His goal is to make this carbon based body in order to finally become human again and continue to his criminal schemes. Kind of like an android he can simply replace every 50 years or so.
As a side note, I'm using the design he had in the animated series, which seemed to be based on a Dalek from Doctor Who; I'm using it if for no other reason than simply loving that design as a Eccleston/Tennant-Era Whovian.
But of course, he isn't often alone in his pursuits; enter his assistant, Monsieur Mallah.
Mallah kind of has a similar theme as DC supervillain Gorilla Grodd; a hyper-intelligent primate with pursuits of world domination. The main differences between these damn dirty apes revolve around three things:
1. No psychic powers. Mallah is a basic silverback gorilla whom the Brain gifted with heightened intellect (apparently his I.Q is 178), whereas Grodd more or less gained his super intelligence by accident.
2. Mallah is Brain's most loyal underling, whilst Grodd is a dictator who uses his powers to force other people to do his bidding.
3. Mallah has canonically been confirmed to be the Brain's lover. Yes, this is really a thing from the comics, and this is what leads to Mallah's desire in this series.
Above all else, Mallah's main goal will be not simply helping Brain get a body, but also to ensure that regardless if they succeed or fail, he will always be there to cheer up the man (or brain in a jar) that he has fallen in love with. Whether or not Brain reciprocates these affections is up in the air right now, but it will all depend on whether or not I write up an episode breakdown detailing how each episode builds the story.
Next up, we have arguably one of the oldest characters in the DC Universe; General Immortus.
As one could easily gather from his name, Immortus is a military leader who is implied lived for centuries, often partaking in some of the most infamous wars on the planet. This in turn makes him one of DC's most dangerous villains due to his intellect. However, he apparently needs to keep drinking a specialised serum in order to remain immortal, or he will rapidly age and die. This is where his desire comes into play; despite having been around for so long, Immortus is afraid of dying and seeks to create a means of making his longevity permanent. Hence why he has sided with the Brain and Mallah; their goals align with his and he can provide them with insight to the greatest tactics used by the likes of Alexander the Great and Sun Tzu. In fact, similar to his short appearance in the Teen Titans cartoon, I will have Immortus quoting "The Art of War" to showcase his in-depth knowledge of strategy. This makes him a more credible threat as well as selling his intellect to the audience.
Just like how this version of the Titans has the duo of Herald and Bumblebee, I think the Brotherhood could benefit from a duo as well; enter the mother-daughter team of Madame Rouge and Gemini De Mille.
These two have pretty much the exact same power set; their bodies are incredibly elastic, thus allowing them to stretch to insane proportions and shape-shifting their appearances to create feasible disguises. Now one may be wondering as to why I have to people with the exact same powers on a team of villains, but refused to do so for the main heroes. Well, firstly, it's to add contrast between them so that the heroes have more of a significant threat especially when those two people are a duo. Secondly, I'm having Gemini's initial arc be focused around trying to prove to her otherwise strict and uncaring mother that she is worthy of being a member of the Brotherhood. Thirdly, this ties back to Madame Rouge's personality. Or rather, her dual personalities. In the comics, and subsequently this series, due to a car accident she kept flip-flopping between the personalities of a kind hearted woman and a ruthless psychopath, the latter allowing her to more easily fit in with the Brotherhood. However, when she was killed in the comics, she momentarily reverted back to her kind hearted nature to forgive then-Doom Patrol member, Changeling, for knowing of her manipulation by Doom Patrol leader Niles Caulder. This is what motivated comic-Gemini to join the Brotherhood as she believed that Changeling had a hand in her mothers death.
As much as I despise the "Woman-In-Refrigerators" trope, I am going to invoke that somewhat by having Rouge jump between the personalities constantly, with her good side prevailing only to be killed by Immortus. The general then frames the Titans for it as to motivate Gemini into becoming more ruthless like the mother she knew, her arc then becoming one of proving her loyalty to the Brain and her usefulness as a whole. Again, I really did not want to incorporate this trope into this story because of how universally despised it is by comic book fans, but it is the only way I could get Gemini to have a more tangible desire as a villain. Besides, this is also something from the comics, so it would seem weird if Gemini was just suddenly there without any acknowledgement of her mother.
Nonetheless, if anyone has a better idea of how this could've been done in regards to Rouge's incorporation into the series, please leave a comment and let me know. I would love to hear your ideas.
Finally, we need someone to amp up the creep value of the Brotherhood, and for this, I can think of no-one better than the supervillainess Phobia.
Much like Immortus, Angela Hawkins' deal is very simple; her psychic powers allow her to force her enemies to hallucinate that they're experiencing their worst fears. This makes her one of the most dangerous members of the team. More or less, I will be keeping her backstory in this series faithful to how she is depicted in the comics; brought up by an aristocratic family, but refused help from them due to being the black sheep and only joined the Brotherhood as a means of experimenting with her powers as well as conquer her own Monophobia (fear of being alone). As expected, this all ties back to her main desire for this series; to understand more about the human condition, particularly phobias, and exploit it as a means of manipulating events to boost her strength as a psychic. And with how Titans team member Iris West II (Impulse) is afraid of not living up to the legacy set by her predecessors in my version of the story, this can naturally lead to Phobia being something of a foil for Iris to face and overcome her insecurities. Phobia is here not only as a means of making the Brotherhood seem creepy, but as a means of providing a strong psychological challenge to the team for them to overcome their weaknesses and become stronger as a result.
On the flip-side, this could also be used against the Brotherhood to advance her own goals; as stated, Immortus is afraid of dying, so she could blackmail him to get her higher up in the villain food chain. Same with Gemini, but instead of blackmailing her, Phobia could be something of an unintentional mentor to her; telling her to discard her fears of inferiority and use those around her to become stronger. Thus, both the heroes and the villains will need to stay on their toes when Phobia is involved as she could very easily pose a threat to both thanks to her understanding of how to manipulate ones fears and insecurities.
Nonetheless, this is our Brotherhood of Evil for this show. A mad scientist in a jar who desires to be human again; his gorilla assistant who wants nothing but to appease the man that he loves; an ancient warlord who seeks permanent immortality; a mother-daughter duo who are struggling to prove themselves as to be worthy of standing alongside a group of villains; and a psychic who uses her understanding of fear and manipulation to rise up in the ranks of villainy.
The Brotherhood in this series would make for a perfect foil for this version of the Titans, because although most of them use duplicitous means of achieving their goals, not all of them are inherently evil. This, in my opinion, is what makes for a great villain; you don't have to agree with their methods, but you can understand why they do what they do and can thus become more attached to them as you see them go up against our heroes.
Still, that's just simply how I would personally use the Brotherhood if they were ever the main villains of a Titans series. You like what you've read, then please leave a comment letting me know what you thought. I welcome any constructive feedback, especially from comic book fans, so let me know how I could improve or if any details were unclear. If you want to hear more random thoughts I may have, I'd appreciate it if you follow me on Twitter, I'm @MediaHood23 (please retweet as well). Also check me out on YouTube, I'm Media Hood Reviews. I apologise for the lack of content for the last few weeks, real life got in the way.
Regardless, I would like to wish you all a happy holiday and a happy new year. Here's hoping that things improve in 2020.
But until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the Media Hood, signing off!
