After the sudden death of Joker in season 3, returning to Gotham as Red Hood. By the end of Titans season 3's premiere, Bruce Wayne had killed Joker in Jason's name, and despite initial skepticism over whether the Clown Prince was actually dead, Titans continuity maintains that Batman did indeed kill Joker on that fateful night.
Titans season 4 copies the Joker trick almost verbatim. "Lex Luthor" introduces Titus Welliver as the episode's titular villain - a comic book icon and Superman's best-known adversary. By the time end credits are rolling, however, Lex is laying motionless in a pool of his own blood, with episode 2 later confirming the villain as officially deceased. Lex's demise repeats the trick of murdering a famous DC antagonist in a season premiere that Titans used previously with Joker.
Why Titans Keeps Killing Off Major DC Villains
Fox's Gotham TV series was infamously restricted in how far it could depict major DC characters such as Batman and Joker (via Joker is only glimpsed from a distance in season 3. Titans season 4 may be lumbered with a similar ban for Lex Luthor, whereby the villain can only feature in a limited capacity. One would certainly imagine that if Titans was permitted to use Joker and Lex Luthor as regular main antagonists, the HBO Max series absolutely would.
In each case, the death of one villain serves as the introduction to another. Joker's death in Titans season 3 led Jason Todd to Scarecrow, who assumed main antagonist duties for the entire run. Likewise, Lex Luthor's spooky final moments seemingly establish Franka Potente's Mother Mayhem and Joseph Morgan's Sebastian Blood as Titans season 4's primary villains. Not only is Mother Mayhem the foremost suspect for Lex's murder, but Titans' new narrative is more concerned with the Church of Blood and Raven, teasing a possible Trigon return in Titans season 4.
Is Lex Luthor Actually Dead In Titans Season 4?
Despite predictions that Joker's off-screen death in Titans season 3 was part of some elaborate Batman ruse, the criminal clown never appeared again. Naturally, then, questions will be asked over the legitimacy of Lex Luthor's death, and despite those aforementioned Joker suspicions going ultimately unproved, the balding megalomaniac's chances of returning in Titans season 4 look good. Conversing with Superboy, Lex reveals his research into life extension and cheating death after receiving a terminal diagnosis of Kryptonite poisoning. Lex is also confirmed to have been delving into the occult, and was collaborating with Mother Mayhem's Church of Blood until very recently. Lex Luthor's supernatural studies may allow him a return to life later in Titans season 4.
When Joker featured in Titans season 3, no actor was announced as playing Batman's nemesis, and his final moments happened entirely off-screen. Titans season 4 not only goes to the trouble of casting a recognizable name in the role of Lex Luthor, but audiences actually watch his death play out. Lex's heavier presence compared to Joker may prove his role in Titans season 4 remains active.
Titans continues Thursday on HBO Max.