Star Conor Leslie and Alan Ritchson promise Season 3 is "by far, the best season of the show" yet.
"Titans" fans got a surge of excitement this week when star Conor Leslie was spotted back on set for the first time since her character Donna Troy's death in Season 2.
Not only did she show off her rather impressive Gollum impression in the short clip shared to the show's social media pages, but the video was the confirmation many viewers had been waiting for after her return was previously teased by showrunners.
is that...👀... pic.twitter.com/ylVhRJeKlf
— DC Titans on Max (@DCTitans) February 19, 2021 @DCTitans
The question now is how she'll be back -- as both Leslie and costar Alan Ritchson confirmed Donna 100% died in the finale, after getting electrocuted trying to save the day.
"You used 'death' in quotes, but she really died," said Ritchson when TooFab caught up with him and Leslie for their new film together, "Dark Web: Cicada 3301." Added Leslie, "I died. I really did die, fully dead."
The show's EP previously teased DC Comics' always-handy Lazarus Pit as a potential source of her revival, but neither Leslie or Ritchson are saying much about her return just yet.
"Maybe I'm playing Gollum," joked the actress. "I could just be doing a Gollum impersonation."
She added that the team has been affected by her death as well, but neither would divulge much else. Ritchson, instead, opted to hype Season 3 in a more general way.
"I'll say just about Season 3, it's always been a big cast and a big show and a lot of different storylines to follow and that's kind of been the fun of it, but everything's been sort of focused and the writers and everybody's figured out what really works about the show and it just seems way more hyper-focused this year," he said.
"Just from a production standpoint in bringing this stuff to life, it feels like this has been the best, by a long shot, the best season that we've had yet," he added. "So, without hyperbole, I think it's by far the best season of the show. It took a few years to get its feet under it."
Leslie said she's excited for fans to see all the main characters "start to come into their own a bit more" as the season progresses. "Now you know these characters and they're finding out how to kind of write for them. There's a lot of new additions, so I think that in itself is an exciting thing for people to look forward to. That's all I think I will say."
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View StoryThe show will really expand on its DC characters when it returns, with Jay Lycurgo joining the show as the third Robin, Tim Drake, and Savannah Welch jumping into the fray as post-Batgirl Barbara Gordon. The show will also introduce Dr. Jonathan Crane (AKA Scarecrow) and Curran Walters' Jason Todd will become villain Red Hood.
"Curran is one of my favorite people on the planet, like I just have such a fond affection for him," Ritchson said of his costar. "He's so curious and wide eyed and just he's just fascinated by the world. Being around his energy is always so fun, and it comes through his characters. I think his character is one of the coolest on the show."
Ritchson also praised Lycurgo as a "brilliant" and "phenomenal actor."
"We have a great cast. I don't think that’s a biased thing for me to say. I've worked on a couple shows by now and everyone really wants to work hard and likes what they do and I think that ultimately translates," added Leslie. "I like that Alan and I got to work together a bit more this season, so I always find that fun too. And there is always a part of you, you want to work with the people you haven't gotten to work with a lot and so that's definitely been a nice treat for me."
Something that was a little less of a treat for Leslie: seeing Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman literally ride lightning in "1984," shortly after her own Amazonian warrior's high voltage death.
"How do you think I felt? I could say so much," Leslie said with a laugh when asked what went through her mind after seeing that scene. "I think that trailer came out like what, two weeks after Donna dies from an electric pole? I was like, yeah, it's stupid. It's stupid. Let’s call a spade a spade. It was not a bright way ... not a great way to go out."
We'll see how she makes her triumphant return when "Titans" Season 3 debuts on HBO Max later this year. The first two seasons are streaming now.
"Dark Web: Cicada 3301" hits VOD on March 12, 2021.