DC kicked off this year’s San Diego Comic-Con with the first trailer for the forthcoming DC Universe series, Titans. With a runtime that spans just under two minutes in length, the trailer offers audiences their first look at the Titans in action. Of course, much of the discourse surrounding the trailer revolves around Dick Grayson’s Robin. Particularly of note is the pointed language he uses when someone mentions his mentor and adoptive father, Bruce Wayne/Batman–“F**k Batman,” he says with contempt.

Within minutes of the trailer’s launch, the internet set ablaze. Sure, Dick and Bruce have had countless troubles in the past, but we’ve never quite seen this version of Robin speak of Batman so harshly. Many fans are pondering whether Jason Todd’s Robin may be influencing some of this iteration. According to Geoff Johns, there’s a clear explanation behind Dick’s behavior.

In an interview with IGN, John’s explains,

[Robin’s language] is actually part of the story of Titans… when we meet Dick Grayson in Titans, it’s very much the canon of what Marv [Wolfman] George [Pérez] did is this is after he’s obviously split from Batman, if that wasn’t clear enough from that. And why he did and what happened is a story to be told in this series. Dick Grayson’s really trying to find a new place in the world, a new spot, a new life, just like all the other Titans. They’re all lost and they find one another to form this surrogate family, again, kind of inspired by Marv and George’s book. That book, for its time, was very controversial. It pushed the envelope really, really hard and we wanted to do a show that did the same thing. But, I will say the trailer, some people think it’s all this or it’s all that, but the show is a bunch of different tones.

Check out the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dIwGAYcWk&t=1s

Marv Wolfman and George Pérez were the creative force behind The New Teen Titans series in the 1980s. Spawned from this ongoing series were stories such as “The Judas Contract.” One controversy from this era of Titans surfaces when Dick Grayson and Starfire share a bed.

We’ll see how the television series pushes the envelope when the show launches later this year on DC Universe.