One of my favorite JB quotes (and I'm paraphrasing) - "It's not gritty, it's just glum."

Robin didn't seem to want help from Batman in the first issue of THE NEW TEEN TITANS. That was hostile.

But the mutual respect was there.

They've totally missed the genius of what made the classic Wolfman/Perez Titans so great: The stories were totally dark in content — full of ruthless killers, religious cults, demons, and emotionally manipulative predators — while being told in a bright, shiny world of primary colors.

This is just super-dark. What is at all subversive about that?

If so, mission accomplished, here, in a big way. I may owe BvS an apology after this.

I can't even begin to describe how repulsive this trailer is for me, it really makes me angry.  Akiva Goldsman knows no shame, but Geoff Johns and Greg Berlanti should know better.

Even though my young son is more of a Marvel kid, I'd toyed with the idea of purchasing the DC streaming service, because of their proposed archived comic book material and treasure-trove of past movies and vintage TV shows... but if a year-long subscription means I would be supporting this dreck (even though I wouldn't watch a minute it), then I'm out already.

Way to go, DC "Entertainment," as always.

Why is it so appealing to them to blot out the sun?

Like Eric said "dark" does not have to mean "literally".

Then there's the attitude...

DC was the company that had the brightest, shiniest characters, at least in comparison to Marvel. (Batman aside. And yes, Captain America is almost a DC character.)

Frank Miller can't be the only explanation. Miller did DAREDEVIL too, and yet the Marvel Studios movies aren't monochromatic. In the case of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies they go for flat-out comedy.

So what the hell? 

Personally, I think it's less Frank Miller's Batman comics, but more Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT.  That one turned the "dark" up to 11, and fans & filmmakers have been obsessed with its grim tone ever since.  For the worse, in my opinion.

This "Titans" trailer strikes me as a particularly juvenile, lunkheaded attempt at grim & gritty, to the point of self-parody.  It's almost comical how over-the-top it is, with its "so dark it must be good, right?" seriousness.

To which I questioned, why didn't they need to do that with Christopher Reeve?  

I had no expectations for this series or even kept track of it really.  After watching the first handful of Arrow episodes it doesn't surprise me though.  If DC tv is consistent across their line, Robin snapping necks and murdering multiple people won't even register a blip.

Nor did they need it for the Wolfman/Perez Titans era. That comic was full of adult content — but I could still read it at age 9.

My jaw just dropped again after seeing this trailer, but for a wholly different reason. 

So, the actor who plays Robin was asked at NYCC to explain the 'F--- Batman' bit.  His response?

"Batman is a killer and Robin wants to get away from that. The idea is that he doesn’t want to become a killer himself. And although these guys that he’s fighting are bad and they deserve, you know, they deserve what he’s dishing out, it seems, he believes that when you kill someone you crossed the line and you become almost as bad as them, so it’s pretty clear in the series that he was with Batman, Batman crossed the line and he was teaching me to do the same thing, and he’s trying to break away from that."