'Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans' Tenders a Terrific Time Through a Transdimensional, Titanic Teamup

In the mid-credits scene of Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, the Teen Titans team of the 2003 Teen Titans animated series – the predecessor of the 2013 Teen Titans Go! animated series – makes a surprise appearance.  For a while, it inspired some excited speculation among fans on what it meant.  A movie?  A revived series?  As it turned out, it was teasing Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans.

Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans is a feature-length crossover between the 2003 and the 2013 animated versions of the Teen Titans.  The two teams are abducted by the Master of Games, and are forced to fight each other to determine which team is superior.  Soon, they discover that the ones behind it are the 2003 Trigon and the 2013 Trigon.  In order to save the multiverse, the 2003 and 2013 Teen Titans must learn to work together to stop the two Trigons.

I’m a fan of neither shows, but I can tell that those who are fans of either or both will have a blast with this movie.  As far as crossover goes, it’s certainly fun and winning.  It checks all the boxes of what makes an effective crossover.  Not only do the characters feed off each other, but the dynamics and elements inherent to each show do so as well.  In the process, the differences and similarities of the two are highlighted to an entertained audience, and their melding produce something more special than the sum of their parts.

Furthermore, the incarnations of the Teen Titans involved in this movie aren’t limited to two.  There are a whole lot of them, and they have an Avengers: Endgame-esque big moment (this isn’t necessarily a spoiler because this was already revealed in the trailer).  The concept of a mega, interdimensional teamup of the different versions of a particular character/team/property isn’t really new.  It has been explored before, most notably in Spider-Verse (the movie and comics) and in those Power Rangers anniversary specials.  But the approach of this movie reminds me more of the 2009 TV film Turtles Forever.

Anyway, it’s such a delight seeing these Teen Titans come in various themes and styles – many of which amusingly reference certain mediums, eras, and animated properties.  Heck, the DCAMU version even show up.  However, it fails to include the DC Universe live-action version to the gag, which I think is a massive missed opportunity.  Moreover, I wish it invented a Timmverse version of the team.  I was also initially disappointed that there were no Young Justice contingents, for even though that universe has no Teen Titans, it does have versions of those characters.  Then I quickly remembered that there are no versions of Starfire and Raven in Young Justice yet, so it wouldn’t work.

Just like Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, the comedy in Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans ranges from juvenile and silly to clever and meta.  It particularly teases and services the fandom of the two shows, especially those who couldn’t get over with how Teen Titans was given up in order to give way for Teen Titans Go!.  It has significant bits that seem to point out that, yeah, the former is superior to the latter, but the latter brings in more dough.

The tone is mostly Teen Titans Go!-ish.  This movie, after all, is a Teen Titans Go! movie first and foremost; this crossover is happening in the Teen Titans Go! “homecourt.”  So, just like Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, its childish sense of humor and characterizations sometimes get on my nerves.

Thankfully, it happens to be smarter under its surface.  Through the teamup between the two incarnations of the Teen Titans, as well as in the arc of Raven, it asserts that there’s room and time for both the silly and the serious – for jokes and plans, for fun and grind, for campy Adam West Batman and gritty Christian Bale Batman.  You get the point.  More than that, there are facets to a whole, and even though there are facets we dislike, we must acknowledge them as they nonetheless add up to making that whole – especially if we love that whole.  This is true to both the IPs we become fans of and us as individuals.

All in all, Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans isn’t necessarily groundbreaking or mindblowing.  But it’s stimulating, comical, and nuanced at appropriate amounts to provide ample enjoyment to the most casual of fans.