again?

You know, it's never good to be Batman's sidekick Robin.

Not only are you very visible in low light,

thanks to a green Speedo and yellow cape.

But you're prone to getting exploded,

your head bashed in,

or just basically having a bad day.

No wonder Dick Grayson made sure to lose the booties

and become Nightwing.

- I need a name.

Batboy, Nightwing?

I don't know, what do ya think?

- And while there have been

about a half dozen Robins in comic history,

leading to quite a storied past for the character,

one of Robin's most famous

or infamous IRL moments of all time,

is being recreated on the small screen right now

for DC Universe's Titans TV show.

So what the hell is going on here?

Well first a little back story.

Back in 1988, Batman was on his second Robin

named Jason Todd.

In the storyline, "A Death in the Family",

there was a cliffhanger set up,

where the Joker may or may not have murdered Jason Todd.

With the twist being that the decision was left up to fans.

Two 1900 numbers were set up.

One for Jason to live and one for him to die.

With fans paying to call in to the phone number

to cast their vote.

Over 10,000 votes were cast at the time,

but like the Roman emperors of old,

they chose death for poor Robin number two.

As a side note, it is worth mentioning

that there was only a 72 vote lead

on the side of death at the time.

And there have been some allegations

and evidence that numbers may have been rigged,

by a disgruntled fan.

But luckily fans today aren't like that at all

and would never let their anger skew

or troll a legitimate poll.

Right?

Anyway, over 30 years later,

DC is giving fans this decision to make once again.

However before we get into that,

from here on out there will be spoilers

for the current arc on the Titans TV series.

So if you're not up to date,

now is your chance to pull the bat parachute.

(parachute whooshing)

(wheels squealing)

All right, so here's what happened.

The second season of Titans

has not been too kind to Jason Todd so far.

The villain Deathstroke AKA Slade Wilson

managed to capture Todd,

hoping to exchange him for Wilson's daughter Rose.

However, the titular Titans had other plans instead

and concocted a scheme to bust Jason Todd out.

The thing is though, it didn't go so well

and by the episodes end,

Jason Todd took a tumble out a window,

seemingly to his demise.

So what happens now?

Well as a nod to 1988's "A Death in the Family",

DC Universe set up a poll on their website

where fans can vote on Jason Todd's fate.

And at the moment of shooting this, the poll is close

and pretty much split right down the middle

as to whether Jason will live or die this time.

Even the vote in this office was pretty much split.

With some members of the production team

being much more cutthroat than others.

While this is a fun way to get fans excited

and more invested/interested in the Titans TV show,

it does present a quandary.

What will the show do in response to the poll?

If anything.

Is DC Universe bound to follow

the whims and wiles of the fans?

Is this just for fun

or are they really planning on following through?

It's worth noting that this season of the series

has already been filmed,

meaning there must be some sort of plan come what may.

While all the original comic had to do

was swap out the end page,

depending on what fans chose,

changing the trajectory of a television show

is a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot harder.

So we'll just have to wait and see

if fans hate this Jason Todd,

as much as they hated the original comic book equivalent

back in 1988.

And if the production team counted on this

for the next episode.

But, what do you folks think?

Do you want this Jason Todd to live

or should he die?

And what other ways do you wanna see TV shows

engage with their audiences?

Let's discuss.

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(upbeat music)