DC’s TV portfolio has been shrinking over the past year, and it looks like it’s about to get even smaller. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, both Titans and Doom Patrol will be ending after their fourth seasons.
Given the turmoil at DC Studios and HBO Max, this news isn’t particularly surprising. Sources claim that producers on both shows “saw the writing on the wall” and planned accordingly. So both Doom Patrol and Titans should get “proper endings” that will presumably give fans some modicum of closure.
Which is more than can be said for other DC shows, which ended their runs pretty abruptly and without so much as a goodbye. Fortunately, Titans and Doom Patrol were renewed before the turmoil and culling really began, which appears to have given the creative teams enough warning that a fifth season wasn’t guaranteed.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, an HBO Max spokesperson said: “While these will be the final seasons of Titans and Doom Patrol, we are very proud of these series and excited for fans to see their climactic endings.”
They then went on to thank the creatives behind the shows, as well as fans for tuning in to both shows and “investing in their trials and tribulations, and in their legendary battles saving the world time and time again.” Greg Berlanti, producer on both shows and The CW’s once-heavy slate of DC TV shows, echoed those comments in a statement of his own.
For those that were wondering, there aren’t many DC TV shows left. The Flash will end after its upcoming ninth season, while Superman & Lois and Peacemaker will be back for at least one more run. It’s unclear what’s happening to Pennyworth, which just concluded its third season, or whether audiences will respond to The CW’s Gotham Knights — which premieres on March 14.
Other shows are supposedly in development, including two spin-offs of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but it’s unclear what the status of those shows actually are — or if they’ll ever happen.
DC is in a state of flux right now, and we don't definitively know whether its strange mish-mash of content will survive, or if the new team at DC Studios will attempt to incorporate more of it into the upcoming reboot of the DC Cinematic Universe. So don’t be surprised if the few remaining live-action DC TV shows end up on the chopping block over the next year or so.
But at least we still have animation. Harley Quinn is a must-watch, and is confirmed to be returning for a fourth season. We’re also hoping that Batman: Caped Crusader, from the same team that developed Batman the Animated Series, is able to find a home after being unceremoniously dumped by HBO Max.
Titans’ fourth season began on HBO Max last November, with Part One concluding on December 1. Doom Patrol season four premiered later that week, and Part One concluded on January 5. Each show’s respective final episodes will arrive on HBO Max at an unspecified point later this year.
