Much like Harley Quinnand Doom Patrol, Titanshas managed to avoid the recent DC culling at HBO Max, as it was already confirmed for a fourth season last year. The gritty, often silly take on the Teen Titans has never been afraid of digging into the parents of its emotionally stunted superhero cast, and season four aims to continue that trend by bringing in Lex Luthor.

Luthor’s inclusion means the show can finally dig into Superboy (Joshua Orpin), a clone of Superman with Lex’s DNA, and who’s managed to avoid capture from his father after escaping Lexcorp at earlier in the series. Showrunner Greg Walker spoke to Entertainment Weekly about how Lex, like almost all of his previous incarnations, will challenge the Titans on a more intellectual level. After all, since he can’t go toe to toe with superheroes unless he’s got a suit of armor, he has to be powerful in other ways. “He sees the world through the lens both of his own power and his own inadequacy, and tries to compensate for both,” described Walker. “You know what he’s done, what he’s capable of doing, except like many of those people, he’s personable. He has a very sensitive, thoughtful approach to evil and power.”

Playing Lex will be Titus Welliver, who Walker said was a genuine fan of the show and easily agreed to take on the role when the two talked over the phone. “Titus is a giant, giant fan,” he recalled. “He was just walking through his library, telling me about all his Wolfman/Perez Titans editions...It was the most unexpected call I ever had.”

Walker added that this season would be a deeper exploration on all the characters, but for Superboy especially, the duality of his heritage will drive his story for the season. The human part of his heritage hasn’t been explored much, and this’ll be the perfect time to do it as the Titans embark on a road trip. If this journey into Conner’s origin means that we’ll be getting an appearance from Superman himself to give the kid some guidance, Walker isn’t saying. Not expected, given that it’s a weird time to be Superman right now.

Titans will return to HBO Max in November.

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