Now Showing: Titans: Evil Incarnate

 

Titans: Evil Incarnate

Genre: Action/Superhero

Director: Travis Knight

Writers: APJ & Jimmy Ellis

Based on DC Comics characters

Cast: Taron Egerton, Haley Lu Richardson, Avan Jogia, Asa  Butterfield, Joey King, David O'Hara, Charlie Tahan, Louis Hofmann, Garrett Wareing, Ivana Milicevic, Meg Foster, Madelaine Petsch (CAMEO), Scoot McNairy (VOICE)

Plot: Explosions rock a city street. A group of criminals have stolen an armored truck full of gold bricks. A masked figure lands in front of the speeding, armored truck. The figure lifts the armored truck off of the roadway with one arm. The figure punches through the windshield of the truck with his free hand and pulls the criminal driver out. He tells the criminal that crime doesn’t pay. The figure then throws the criminal into a nearby lake. He then returns the truck to the bank, apologizing to the bank staff for not arriving on the scene sooner. Movie credits begin to roll across the screen as lights come up in a movie theater. Gar Logan aka Beast Boy (Asa Butterfield) and Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle (Avan Jogia) sit in the mostly-empty theater with massive tubs of popcorn in their laps. They get up and walk out of the theater toward Gar’s Winnebago. Jaime is clearly not in a good mood. Gar comments that if a bad action movie and a giant quantity of popcorn covered in delicious artificial butter-flavored syrup won’t cheer him up after leaving home and seeing half of his hometown destroyed, then he’s out of ideas.

Meanwhile in another dimension…

The demonic Trigon (David O’Hara) and his sons, Jacob (Charlie Tahan), Jesse (Louis Hofmann) and James (Garrett Wareing), stand on the plains of Azarath. Trigon tells his sons that the time has come to expand upon his vision. The four of them begin to chant in a mysterious language, however Trigon seems distressed as the incantation does not work as expected. He immediately seeks out the priestess Azar (Meg Foster) for consult. Azar tells Trigon that he will need ALL of the Children of Trigon to complete the takeover of Earth, not just his sons. Trigon informs his sons that they have a sister and that they must go to Earth, find her, and bring her to Azarath.

Rachel “Raven” Roth (Joey King) is asleep in her dorm room at Western State University having a “nightmare” of Trigon welcoming her into Azarath. Raven wakes up drenched in sweat with a purple glow filling the room. She looks at her hands, which are surrounded by a glowing purple energy. Raven, panicked, calls her mother Angela (Ivana Milicevic) who assures her nothing is wrong and that she must have just had a bad dream. After the phone call, Angela begins frantically praying with a rosary.

Gar and Jaime are in Gar’s Winnebago driving through a redwood forest. Gar drives the Winnebago around. He looks to his friend Jaime, who is still upset at destroying most of El Paso and leaving his family. He leans over asking him what the two of them should do in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Gar begins listing some things off they could do, but Jaime stops him, he says that the beetle has picked up a signal. Gar slams on the brakes of the RV, nearly causing cars around them on the road to crash. He asks Jaime where they need to go.

Dick Grayson aka “Nightwing” (Taron Egerton) is meeting with Barbara Gordon (Madelaine Petsch) in the Gotham Clock Tower, which she has begun decking out with high-tech equipment. After the incident with Dorrance she has become something of a shut-in. She feels she has no one to talk to after the death of her father. Well, no one except for Dick. As the two are talking they see a report of a disturbance in Bludhaven. Nightwing heads out to patrol the area, putting an earpiece in given to him by Barbara. Through surveillance cameras in the area Barbara can see a demon-like creature, one of Trigon’s sons, Jesse. She gives some directions to Nightwing to help him get there quicker. Nightwing picks up the pace on his motorbike as he is joined in the chase by Koriand’r aka “Starfire” (Haley Lu Richardson), who emerges flying beside his motorcycle. The two of them close in on the location, a house. They sneak to the door and see the being, Trigon’s son Jesse, holding Angela Roth by her neck. Nightwing runs in and kicks Jesse away, he grabs Angela and takes her into another room. At this time Starfire comes in and blasts Jesse to the outside through a wall. Jesse breathes fire at Starfire, knocking her over. Jesse then retreats from the area, seemingly getting some information from Angela.

Beast Boy and Blue Beetle run to the college campus of Western State University. They use the beetle for directions but ultimately don’t need it as they hear a loud explosion and fire erupt. When on the scene they see Trigon’s son Jacob ripping apart the dormitory calling out for “sister”. Blue Beetle fires an energy blast in his direction, knocking him off balance. Jacob turns to the two heroes and charges at them, he knocks Blue Beetle over but Beast Boy turns into a Gorilla and holds his ground, he grabs Jacob and throws him away. Blue Beetle pulls Buggles (Voiced by Scoot McNairy) from his back and tells it to look for any people nearby. Gorilla Beast Boy runs toward Jacob with Blue Beetle in tow. Blue Beetle fires blasts and Beast Boy tries to hit Jacob but he avoids it all. Buggles comes back to Blue Beetle and tells him there is only one. They can’t defeat Jacob, he seemingly takes no damage. Blue Beetle runs to the civilian, Raven, and calls for Beast Boy, they must find a way out. Beast Boy grabs Jacob once more, throwing him away. Gar turns into a Pterodactyl and grabs Blue Beetle and Raven, Jacob comes after them, but in a split second the three are surrounded by purple smoke and appear to be somewhere else, away from danger. Raven looks at her hands, freaking out, apologizing to the two of them.

Nightwing has Barbara contact Helena Bertinelli but the call cannot go through. Dick instead decides to call Blue Beetle. Beetle answers the call with Gar and Raven by his side. Dick asks him to come to Bludhaven as there has been an attack. Beetle tells him that he knows, there was one in San Francisco too. Raven closes her eyes, and suddenly, she, Gar and Jaime are all on the street in front of the destruction of Raven’s childhood home in Bludhaven. Raven runs toward her mother and hugs her. Nightwing and Starfire are on the scene and greet their old “Teen Titans” friends. Starfire hugs Beast Boy and Blue Beetle with her apologizing to Beetle after what happened in El Paso. He says he doesn’t want to talk about it. The four of them leave Angela and Raven to talk as they talk about what they encountered. Gar tells them that they saw what seemed to be a demon, but of course they don’t exist right … Silence … Right? Nightwing reminds him that the Beetle on Jaime’s back is from outer space as well as Starfire herself; he believes there are definitely such things as demons. Raven overhears the talks and speaks with her mother, she demands to know what these things are that were after them. Angela comes clean, she tells Raven that she is the daughter of the demon Trigon, he masked himself as human and the two had a child together - Raven. When she found out she visited a magician by the name of John Zatara, who banished Trigon to a realm other than our own, but he did say he would return one day. Raven heads toward the team and tells them this information, she tells them she wants to help any way she can. Starfire tells her that they will do everything they can to keep her safe. The group eats at a Bludhaven diner while they try to figure out their next move.

Trigon himself emerges out of the ground and into the Earth Realm. He uses his powers of manipulation to disguise himself as a human. Shortly after James rises from the ground, being met by Jacob and Jesse. The two of them are berated by their father for not capturing their sister. He says he never should have sent them, as he clearly should have simply done it himself. The four of them close their eyes and chant in the same language as before. A red orb floats up and begins to move, the four of them follow it. The orb floats its way towards the Titans with the Beetle sensing its presence. Trigon and his sons converge on the diner. Starfire notices the demons through the diner windows. As the group gets up to prepare to fight, Angela Roth tells them all to get out of there while she talks to Trigon. Before she leaves the diner, Angela pockets a knife. Angela nervously walks outside. Jacob, Jesse and Jared surround the building, not allowing the heroes to escape. Angela pleads with Trigon to leave their daughter Raven alone. Trigon tells her that Raven has a destiny to fulfill - to help him take over Earth. Angela pulls the knife out and stabs Trigon in the chest. He roars in anger. Raven watches through the diner windows as Trigon vaporizes Angela into oblivion. Tears stream from Raven’s face as a purple glow surrounds her. Suddenly, Raven teleports away from the diner and to her favorite place: a carnival. Jared, Jacob and Jesse are about to destroy the diner, but Trigon stops them, informing them that their sister is no longer inside. James ignores his father’s commands and begins ripping the building to pieces. Starfire begins firing starbolts at James, sending him flying back. James gets back up and begins charging at Starfire. As she readies for the attack, Trigon and his sons then suddenly vanish.

Nightwing, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy and Starfire head to the Gotham Clock Tower for help from Barbara. She manages to track Raven’s unique energy levels to the Keystone City Carnival. Beast Boy calls Barbara an “Oracle” for her ability to find where they need to go. Barbara says she likes that name. Nightwing isn’t sure Raven even needs their help as this situation feels above their pay grade. Nightwing suggests bringing Batman into the loop despite their recent problems. Blue Beetle agrees with Nightwing, but Starfire and Beast Boy insist on the entire group going to the carnival grounds to help Raven in any way they can because they consider Raven to be their friend at this point.

Raven wanders around the carnival, which has closed for the night. On the midway, Raven is surrounded by Trigon, Jacob, Jesse and James. Trigon explains Raven’s parentage to her, stating that she would be fulfilling her destiny by joining all of the family that she has left by contributing her power to her brothers’ to help eliminate the bridge between Azarath and Earth, making them one dimension. Raven, still distraught after the death of Angela and desperate for a sense of meaning, agrees to help Trigon if that is indeed what she was born to do.

Nightwing calls in a favor, and the Titans fly to the Keystone City Carnival in a borrowed Batwing. Beast Boy is elated at being able to take a ride in such a famous crime-fighting vehicle. When they arrive at the carnival grounds, the heroes find Raven, Trigon and his sons, all reciting an incantation together. Blue Beetle, Beast Boy and Starfire exit the Batwing and engage Trigon’s sons in battle. Jesse, given the power of envy manipulation by Trigon, causes Beast Boy to become envious and try to rip the scarab off of Blue Beetle's suit. Beast Boy transforms into a large snake to attack Blue Beetle, wrapping him up and beginning to constrict him. James, given the power of greed manipulation, causes Nightwing to begin breaking into all of the carnival's arcade machines, causing coins to spill all over the midway. And Jacob, given the power of lust manipulation by his father, causes Starfire to bow down before him as his servant. He commands her to attack her friends. Trigon and Raven watch from atop the ferris wheel as things continue to spiral out of control as the Titans stop fighting the Sons of Trigon, and instead focus on fighting each other. After seeing the Titans fighting among themselves, Raven screams out for everyone to stop, sending a purple shockwave through the area which negates her brothers' manipulation powers. Trigon creates a portal to Azarath, dragging Raven down with her. The Sons of Trigon then jump through the portal. Beast Boy notices a plastic red gem ring from a carnival prize machine on the ground of the midway. Beast Boy tells everyone to follow him, and jumps through the portal himself. Blue Beetle quickly follows his friend, followed by Starfire and finally Nightwing.

Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy and Blue Beetle find themselves in the hellish dimension of Azarath. The Blue Beetle scarab guides them as they make their way toward a large tower. Meanwhile, Raven has joined her father at his throne where they prepare for the ritual that will combine the dimensions of Earth and Azarath. The Titans climb a tall staircase to make it to the top of the tower where they find Trigon, his sons and Raven. Beast Boy tells Trigon to leave their new friend Raven and the world of Earth alone. Raven, hearing that the Titans consider her their friend, snaps out of her father’s manipulative spell and stops helping him. Raven tries using all of her magical powers against her father, but he laughs off her attacks, insisting that she cannot defeat him. Jacob, Jesse and James begin attacking the Titans, easily overpowering them with increased powers in Azarath. Beast Boy, thinking he is near death, gives Raven the red ring he found on the ground. Raven looks at the ring and becomes emotional. She realizes that she is more powerful in Azarath as well and saps her brothers’ powers. She then looks at her father. She tells him that she may not be able to defeat him, but that doesn’t mean she can’t use her hellish powers for good and imprison him. She then conjures up every bit of power she can in Azarath, using all of it to imprison her father and brothers into the red plastic gem. Trigon calls out from the ring that a piece of plastic won’t hold him for long. Raven holds the ring to his head, and the red plastic gem embeds itself in her forehead. Trigon mentally communicates with Raven through the gem, informing her that all she has done is give him another dimension to rule over and eventually use to conquer Earth. Raven focuses hard and drowns out her father’s voice.

Raven then creates a portal back to Earth from Azarath. All of the Titans make their way back to Earth. Finding themselves back in the carnival grounds, Blue Beetle mentions that he always liked riding the bumper cars. The Titans all have fun crashing into each other in the bumper cars, with Blue Beetle even finally cracking a smile. Raven thanks her new friends - not just for being friends, but also standing up against her father with her. Nightwing tells her that is what Titans do.

Mid Credit Scene: Raven is down on both knees next to her mother’s headstone beginning to sob uncontrollably. Beast Boy walks up next to her and places a hand on her shoulder, telling her all the titans are here to support her. As the camera pulls out we see all the Titans standing there together.

Post Credit Scene: Beast Boy and Blue Beetle arrive back at Beast Boy’s Winnebago, as they walk inside Blue Beetle notices a letter addressed to Beast Boy. Beast Boy opens it. Reading it, it says “Garfield, we wouldn’t be writing to you unless absolutely urgent, The Chief is missing, we have seen you on the news and think we could really use your help. Please meet us in the woods of Midway City (we had to flee the house). Steve Dayton” Blue Beetle looks to Beast Boy", looks like we’re going on a road trip. Beast Boy has a look of uncertainty on his face.