Warning: SPOILERS for the Titans episode “Project Starfire” are ahead!
Although Jay Lycurgo’s version of Tim Drake has been part of Titans since Season 3, going into Season 4, it was unclear if he would follow in his comic book counterpart’s and become a full-fledged superhero. Then in late March, it was officially announced that Lycurgo’s Tim would indeed become the new Robin, and a few weeks later, showrunner Greg Walker talked about the big way Tim stands out from his predecessors, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd, as the Boy Wonder. Tim’s Robin debut finally happened in today’s episode, “Project Starfire,” and ahead of it premiering to HBO Max subscribers, Lycurgo talked with CinemaBlend about his character’s mini-team-up with Curran Walters’ Jason, as well as training with a bo staff all season long.
The latest Titans episode saw Brenton Thwaites’ Dick not only sending Tim to Gotham City to find a source who could provide information on Mother Mayhem, but also giving him a Robin suit for the mission. However, there’s more to being a superhero than wearing a costume, but luckily for Tim, upon getting into a fight with some hoods back in his hometown, Jason Todd, a.k.a. Red Hood, arrived to bail him out. It soon became clear that Tim hadn’t truly been sent back to Gotham to find this source, but rather go through his next round of Robin training, now with Jason instructing him. When I asked Jay Lycurgo what it was like getting to work with Curran Walters on this sequence, he answered:
Tim Drake and Jason Todd briefly met in Season 3 after the former was fatally shot by the latter’s then-boss/partner, Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow. Fortunately, Tim was able to make it back to the land of the living with Donna Troy, and by the end of that season, Tim had officially been recruited into the Titans. Now with Jason Todd’s help, he’s ready to properly fight the forces of evil as Robin, with Jason telling Dick on the phone that Tim will “be a better Robin than me.”
Of course, it’s not like Tim Drake didn’t already have a little combat training under his belt before his time spent with Jason Todd. Throughout Titans Season 4, viewers have watched him learn to use a bo staff, and I was curious about how it was for Jay Lycurgo handling Tim’s signature weapon from the comics. He enthusiastically reflected on the experience, starting with the following:
While Lycurgo won’t be going out at night to fight criminals dressed in a red, green, yellow and black costume, he nonetheless needed to learn how to use a bo staff properly if he was going to convincingly show Tim handling it. So the actor figuring out how to wield it lined up nicely with Tim needing to do the same thing, and he spent as much of his free time as possible perfecting his technique. He continued:
Tim Drake becoming Robin comes just as Titans ends with its fourth season, which was announced in January. So we’ll only see him active as Robin for a total of two episodes since next week will deliver the series finale, but hey, better late than never! And should the day come that Lycurgo ends up playing a character who also needs to be proficient with a bo staff, he can dust those skills off.
Titans will wrap up on HBO Max next Thursday. While you wait for the final episode, check out some of our other recent coverage for the series, like Beast Boy actor Ryan Potter talking about putting together the big DC multiverse sequence from two episodes back, or Superboy actor Joshua Orpin discussing the “fun” of giving his character Lex Luthor vibes.