Interview: Titans star Curran Walters breaks down Red Hood in season 3

Titans returned for season 3 on August 12 and Curran Walters is ready for the roller coaster as he says goodbye to Robin and hello to Red Hood. While fans will miss his exuberance as Batman’s sidekick, Walters promises there is much more to come from Jason Todd in season 3. Winter Is Coming had a chance to speak with Walters about what’s coming in the new season.

There couldn’t be a better actor to portray the first live-action Red Hood. Walters’ excitement for the role and the show are palpable, and even through a phone call there’s no question the actor was smiling while he talked about how thrilled he is for fans to meet his new character.

Before we started the interview, Walters asked where I was in the world and when I told him I was in San Diego he lamented the fact that the Titans cast hasn’t been able to connect with fans at San Diego Comic-Con for two years now, and with everything going on in season 3 it’s a shame that they weren’t able to be there. Not only that, but Walters has never had the SDCC Hall H treatment. “It’s a whole experience I have not been to, either,” he noted. “We’d probably be all over Comic-Con.”

Titans star Curran Walters: “It’s an honor” to play Red Hood

After years and years of waiting, comic book fans and fans of the Bat family finally get to see one of the most pivotal Batman stories play out in live action. Titans season 3 begins with Jason Todd’s death in the hands of the Joker, capturing the essence of the Death in the Family story.

“It’s something that’s been in comic books forever,” Walters said. “So it’s an honor. It’s a treat to finally give [Titans and comic book] fans what they’ve been waiting for. It’s been years and years, and finally we get the first live-action Red Hood.”

Jason’s death is short lived because he soon returns as Red Hood, but his death is a catalyst that forces Batman to rethink everything, and his death will also hit the Titans hard, too. “It’s interesting,” Walters continued. “It’s a totally different dynamic [with the Titans] than the dynamic with Batman, obviously, but it’s cool that we still get to explore it and then still have his relationship with the Titans.”

Ahead of filming season 3, Walters noted that the time he spent in lockdown proved to be a boon as he prepared to take on Red Hood:

I was able to do a lot more research than I would have been able to. The minute I found out I was playing Red Hood, I went online and went off to every comic book store I could find around me. And I went out and brought all the comics with Red Hood. I probably watched Under the Red Hood 50 or 60 times. So I did my studying. I brought a little bit of the comics obviously to the screen, but I also did what I wanted to with the character, same as I did with Jason in the first two seasons. I think they’re going to love it.

As Jason, Walters was playing a very complicated character who was always dealing with being misunderstood and, to a large degree, written off by the people around him. “The season starts out with me becoming Red Hood right off the bat. We won’t explore how he became Red Hood until a beautiful story that comes in episode five. But Jason has always felt he was Bruce’s mistake, and that’s what leads him down this path. And he feels like Dick wasn’t there for him as well. So it’s a little bit of both. He felt like he was a mistake to Bruce and felt let down by the Titans and in a way [becoming Red Hood] was his only option.”

Not only does he play a villain, but he plays one who completely bucks Batman’s philosophy. It’s not as easy as Jason might think, though. “I think it’s a lot more problematic than he envisioned it,” Walters notes. “Especially after dealing with Jonathan Crane, as we see their relationship develop throughout the season as well. And we see Jason struggle with wondering if this was the right decision. After [what happens to him] he didn’t want to risk the Titan family members. And I think that’s a beautiful thing we get to explore because at the top of the season Jason is all about being Red Hood, like it’s the best decision ever and blah blah blah…but then throughout the rest of the season [he thinks] maybe this isn’t what he wants.”

Walters also has the distinction of having the best of both worlds in the DC universe as he plays a hero and a villain. “It’s been an absolute honor to play. Obviously it has its challenges and whatnot because you’re going from playing an outgoing, fun superhero to an absolute killer and a villain and they’re two total opposites,” Walters said.

“But it was a good challenge to overcome. And I think fans are going to dig what I did with Red Hood. But yeah, it was so much fun. There would be days on set when I would be in my Robin costume and the Red Hood costume on the same day and I was like well, this is just a dream come true.”

Stay tuned for more from my interview with Curran Walters after Titans episode 305 airs!

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