Western Animation / Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

It's The Return of Slade! For real this time!

Behold Titans! This is every superhero movie's dream: to have your own tropes page!

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is an animated superhero comedy film based on the Teen Titans Go! animated series. The film was released on July 27, 2018, in the United States. The film is written by series developers Michael Jelenic (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and Aaron Horvath (MAD), and directed by Horvath and series director Peter Rida Michail. It's the first film based on a Cartoon Network series to receive a wide theatrical release since The Powerpuff Girls Movie sixteen years earlier, ^note If you want to count [adult swim], it's technically the third movie based on a Cartoon Network series overall after that, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters, though that only saw a limited theatrical release. and the first theatrical film based on DC Comics’ Teen Titans characters.

The Teen Titans are dissatisfied that they weren't included alongside all the other superheroes who are starring in their movies (even Alfred Pennyworth, the Batmobile, and Batman's Utility Belt each getting their solo outings), with Robin being the lowest of all. The reasoning behind this is the Titans' Designated Hero status: to the other heroes, they hardly ever do any actual heroics and instead use their powers to mess with people and, overall, are just jerks. Setting out to the Warner Bros. studio lot to remedy this situation, they discover from superhero filmmaker Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell) that they will never get the chance until they prove they can be actual heroes instead of a bunch of bumbling buffoons: an opportunity that occurs when they encounter an arch-nemesis in the form of Slade (Will Arnett) and find themselves fighting to stop his plan for world domination.

The film's theatrical run was preceded by "#TheLateBatsby", a DC Super Hero Girls short directed by Lauren Faust. The film's events take place during the show's fifth season, with the episode "Tower Renovation" wrapping up one loose end (sorta). The Stinger leads to Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans.

The film has the following cast:

• Scott Menville as Robin
• Greg Cipes as Beast Boy
• Khary Payton as Cyborg
• Tara Strong as Raven
• Hynden Walch as Starfire
• Will Arnett as Slade
• Kristen Bell as Jade Wilson
• Nicolas Cage as Superman
• Halsey as Wonder Woman
• Lil Yachty as Green Lantern
• Jimmy Kimmel as Batman
• Wil Wheaton as The Flash
• Eric Bauza as Aquaman
• Greg Davies as Balloon Man
• Patton Oswalt as The Atom
• Meredith Salenger as Supergirl
• Joey Cappabianca as Plastic Man
• Michael Bolton as Tiger
• James Arnold Taylor as Shia LaBeouf

Previews: Sneak Peek, Teaser Trailer, TV Spot, Official Trailer

Strong tweeted that there was a chance that the 2003 Teen Titans series could receive another season if this film were to be successful enough. However, the Direct to Video movie Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans is the only project involving the original series thus far.

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Teen Titans Go! To the Movies provides examples of:

• Actor Allusion:
  • "Titans, why did you do that to Superman?! He's a National Treasure!"
  • Jade's idea for the final scene of Robin: The Movie includes locking away Slade's evil device and saying goodbye to the pain of the past.
• Adam Westing: Stan Lee's cameo appearance is mocked by himself where he quips that he loves doing cameos (while his "subtle" appearance is heralded by neon lights and a dance montage), to the point where he doesn't care if it's in a DC movie.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: The Titans are much more supportive and loyal to each other here than their usual vitriolic behavior in the series.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Shazam! is seen using Eye Beams to weld the Doomsday Device. A power he's never had in the comics.
• Affectionate Parody: The film is an irreverent yet loving parody of the superhero genre and the popularity of said films, with many of those jokes being about DC Comics properties. Additionally, there are scenes that parody a number of movies, including The Lion King, Back to the Future Part II and Apocalypse Now.
• Animation Bump: Mostly. The character animation is about the same as a normal episode but the production values do give it a bigger scope. The backgrounds are also a lot more detailed, with various uses of aging and halftones to make the film almost look like an animated comic book. Even the 2003 Titans got a bump during The Stinger.
• Anvilicious: In-Universe, when Robin tries to expand on the lesson of the film. Everyone else believes that the movie has gone on long enough and start chanting for the credits to start.
• Arc Symbol: Movies play a surprisingly important role in this movie. Specifically, the two types that are prominent in this film.
  • Jade Wilson's movies represent vanity. These are only more or less what the heroes want to be seen as rather than who they really are. Robin's movie, in particular, represents Robin's desires and what he gave up on to get it.
  • The Titans' Robin movie represents True Companionship. It shows that despite all of the teasing, he really is a true hero that won't give up until the job is done, which was enough to snap Robin out of Slade's mind control.
• Arc Words: "You guys are jokes!" Everyone in the film, from fellow heroes to villains to even bystanders alike keep saying this to the Titans since they're almost never seen actually being heroes, and it's a phrase that gets to Robin in his quest to get a movie. It comes up as Robin is coerced into distancing himself from his teammates to be taken seriously but the last time this phrase pops up, he owns up to it, saying it's true but he and the other Titans can and will still be true heroes when the time calls.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:
  • The Titans tell Robin early on that their lives would be miserable without him. Beast Boy would be eating out of dumpsters, Raven would be reluctantly enslaving dimensions with her dad, Starfire would be in slavery fighting intergalactic gladiator battles, and Cyborg... would be playing professional football. Which doesn't sound so bad until you remember the concussions, bad knees, going broke, and having to be on dance reality TV shows.
  • Slade gloats how with his mind manipulation device, he shall gain control of all the world's banks and their money, have his slaves build giant monuments of him and prioritize an immediate taxi for him whenever he arrives at an airport cause it's a real hassle to wait.
• Art Shift: Constantly, just like the show itself. Batman's utility belt movie uses the "Dark Deco" style of Batman: The Animated Series, Robin's Lion King-esque nightmare uses Disneyesque traditional animation, the Titans' home-made "Robin" movie makes use of cut-out cloth stop-motion animation, and the list goes on. During Slade's Just Between You and Me rant to a captured Robin, the 2003 Teen Titans incarnation of Slade appears, hovering over the masses.
• Badass Boast: Raven provides one during her verse of "Go!", though every Titan's verse qualifies.
  Raven is here to drop it on you even harder
  There's no darker than me, I'm as dark as can be
• Bait-and-Switch: At one point, the Titans discuss superhero arch-enemies and how they need one of their own. Two of the examples they give are obvious: Lex Luthor for Superman and Sinestro for Green Lantern, and then Starfire brings up The Flash's nemesis. Instead of saying one of the obvious choices such as Reverse-Flash, Gorilla Grodd, or Captain Cold, she instead goes with... the Rainbow Raider, an incredibly minor Silver Age villain who is considered a joke even among the Flash's own Rogues Gallery, which, bear in mind, features a talking psychic gorilla as one of its most dangerous members.
• Beam-O-War: During the final battle, Slade's Giant Mecha engages in one with Starfire, Cyborg and Raven. Beast Boy's dragon fire tips it in the Titan's favor, defeating Slade.
• Beware the Silly Ones:
  • Everyone derides the Titans for being immature jokes that do not seem to know much about actual crime-fighting. The Titans themselves repeatedly show that despite their tendency to play around, they are still superheroes that are more than capable of taking down any adversary, leading to a couple of battles where they show genuine teamwork and heroics.
  • Slade is portrayed as a snarky egotist who uses childish distractions to take down his enemies. That being said, he's still Deathstroke the Terminator, and when those distractions don't work, The Gloves Come Off and he doesn't mind trying to kill his foes or having someone else do his killing for him.
• Big Bad: Slade finally gets this again.
• Big Damn Movie: Played with. While saving the world from disaster isn't anything new for the Titans, with several episodes and specials having them do so, this movie is the only time the threat is actually treated with utmost seriousness. Well, as serious as a superhero comedy film is willing to get, anyway.
• Black Comedy: Happily scattered throughout the entire film, but special mention goes to the time travel sequence where the Titans go back in time to prevent the origins of every other DC hero from happening, which includes dropping a plastic six-pack wrapper in the ocean to kill an infant Aquaman. When they have to undo all of this because the villains took over, they cause Krypton's destruction and lead Thomas and Martha Wayne to their deaths in front of a young Bruce — Raven even happily slaps the pearl necklace on Martha before Robin pushes them into the alley.
• Book Ends: At the beginning of the movie, the Titans boast their awesome theme song took down Balloon Man. It did not. At the end of the movie, they play their theme song again when fighting Slade's giant robot. This time, it does.
  Robin: Our song was so sick, it took down Balloon Man!
  (later)
  Robin: That song was so sick, it blew up Slade's robot!
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Slade's ultimate plan is to mind-control every hero on the planet. Only the Titans are left to combat Slade once the plan goes into motion. Robin becomes this too for a while.
• Breaking Speech: Slade lays an epic one on Robin.
  Slade: Thank you, Robin! You were so desperate to be in a movie, you turned your back on everything important to you — even your own friends! This shall be your final scene. (holds up detonator) Magic! (blows up Titans Tower)
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The wall gets pounded and smashed to a fine powder, which goes part and parcel with the usual Deconstruction and Self-Deprecation of Teen Titans Go!.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: The Titans, though it's more "Brilliant But Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!". For example, they're fighting and coordinating well during their fight against Balloon Man, showing true superhero tactics and using their powers appropriately. However, when Beast Boy busts a hole in him, causing him to appear as though he's farting, all of the Titans stop fighting and laugh at the Toilet Humor, before getting sidetracked further into doing a rap number about themselves. The villain who leaves to continue his rampage while they're distracted.
  Balloon Man: (rolling his eyes) Ugh. Morons.
• The Bus Came Back: After being entirely absent from the show outside a small number of cameos and references, Slade finally takes center-stage as the main villain.
• Butt-Monkey:
  • Robin, as usual, but the movie decides to deconstruct this and not play it for laughs, instead portraying it in a more realistic light, making his desire to escape this label his primary motivation for wanting to become a real hero, and in turn, get his own movie, especially since everyone (excluding the other Titans) are treating him as this throughout the movie. This is also part of the reason why Slade succeeds in mind manipulating him, whether to bring his guard down so he can escape or take control of him in the climax, even though Robin knew what he was doing. Specifically, when everyone in the theater sans his friends laughs at him for thinking he's anywhere near as important as a utility belt, he runs out of the theater embarrassed and in tears. Despite his status in the superhero world, he's also still a teenager who just wants some recognition.
  • The Atom and the Challengers of the Unknown get hit with this otherwise, but unlike Robin, it's purely Played for Laughs.
• The Cameo:
  • Commissioner Gordon, Krypto the Superdog, Jonah Hex, The Spectre, Swamp Thing, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Shazam!, Animal Man, Black Lightning, the Wonder Twins, Red Tornado, Vixen, Miss Martian, Superboy, Artemis, Kaldur'ahm, Detective Chimp, Speedy, Steel, Power Girl, Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Donna Troy, Zatanna, Black Canary, Kid Flash, Aqualad (Garth), Bumblebee, Mas y Menos, Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Kilowog, Tomar-Tu, Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), Green Arrow, Elongated Man, Firestorm, Deadman, Princess Amethyst, John Constantine, the Global Guardians and many more characters from throughout the DC Comics universe can be seen in crowd shots. Some of these characters have also appeared in the show previously, both as brief cameos and recurring supporting cast.
  • One of the funniest and unexpected cameos? Stan Lee. He even comes back a second time towards the end because he can't help himself - he loves cameos!
  • An unnamed version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also appear in a quick gag as the Titans attempt to prevent their origin. The Turtles previously had a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo in the series itself in the episode "Truth, Justice, and What?".
  • The Titans beat up Shia LaBeouf, thinking he's Slade, even after realizing he's not.
  • Michael Bolton appears as Tiger, an upbeat singing white tiger. Who gets run over and killed by the Titans at the end of that musical number.
  • In the Bad Future the Titans create by preventing all the superhero origins, among the villains present are Lex Luthor, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Black Adam, Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd, Darkseid, the Reverse-Flash, Parasite, Rainbow Raider, Bane, The Scarecrow, and Brainiac.
• Cast as a Mask: Slade Wilson and Jade Wilson are the same person, the latter being a disguise for the former. They're voiced by Will Arnett and Kristen Bell, respectively.
• Casting Gag: Nicolas Cage voices Superman, a nod to the period in the 90s where Cage nearly played the character in Tim Burton's ill-fated Superman Lives.
• Catchphrase:
  • Lampshaded. Robin adopts "Crack an egg on it... caw-caw!" as his "sweet and ominous catchphrase".
  • Played straight with Slade's mocking "Mind Manipulation!"
  • Stan Lee's last line of this second cameo is his iconic "Excelsior!"
• Character Action Title: The verb "Go!" from the TV show's title becomes the predicate.
• Chekhov's Gag: Robin's baby hands, which happen to be too small to be restrained.
• Chekhov's Gun: The Titans' homemade Robin movie, which Robin shuts off in the middle of. Turns out there was a more meaningful second part to it.
• Chekhov's Skill: The Titans "Go!" rap song was used to highlight the team's bragging nature. It becomes a diegetic Theme Music Power-Up during the climax, defeating Slade.
• The Chessmaster: Slade, as usual. He's also able to engage in some Xanatos Speed Chess when he realizes he's Underestimated Badassery.
• Combat Compliment:
  • When facing off for the first time, Robin is impressed with Slade's fighting skill.
  • :At the end of the film, after the Titans defeat Slade with their theme song, Slade comments that it was "monumentally dope" before collapsing.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames:
  • Slade is never referred to as Deathstroke the Terminator, though he does wear a belt with the letter "D" on it at some point in the film. Justified, this was how he's been referred to in both Teen Titans animated television series, and the popularity of the former resulted in him using his real name just as often as his codename in the comics since the mid-2000s.
  • Lampshaded by Jade when she's filming Batman V Superman Part 2 and calls Bruce and Clark by name to their surprise.
    Jade: Oh, am I not supposed to use your real names? (laughs) Relax, it's not a big deal, everybody knows!
  • Averted with everyone else in the film.
• Company Cross References: Starfire recognizes the Warner Bros. water tower as the home of the Warner Siblings. Both this film and Animaniacs, as you probably guessed already, were produced by Warner Bros..
• Continuity Snarl: The TV series had shown the Titans explicitly making references to Slade as someone they had encountered before, while the movie clearly shows that neither side had even heard of each other until now. Of course, TTG! runs on Negative Continuity and Rule of Funny anyway, so it's a bit of a moot point.
• Cover Version: Lil Yachty (who voices John Stewart) provides the official cover of "Go! (Remix)".
• Creepy Crossdresser: Of all people, Slade fits this, as he disguises himself as Jade Wilson for his plot.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Superman, Wonder Woman, and John Stewart take less than a second to defeat Balloon Man.
• Cuteness Proximity: One scene during the Titans' theme song has Beast Boy in cat form with the other Titans squeeing over him, with Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire having hearts for eyes and Raven's hood forming a heart shape.
• Dark Reprise: During the climax, Slade sings "My Superhero Movie" back to Robin to get him to glance at the hypnotic film.
• Deconstructed Trope: Doubles as Reality Subtext for the show itself, but the film deconstructs and discusses the Designated Hero status of the Teen Titans. They realize that constantly goofing off and not actually doing much superhero work has resulted in them not being seen as true heroes. This is what drives the Titans, especially Robin, to go to Hollywood to make a movie about themselves and prove their worth. Not even Slade thought they were worth his time when they cross paths. It's not until they show genuine heroics that everyone (Slade included) starts to take them more seriously.
• Denser and Wackier: Slade, the previous show's Knight of Cerebus, has been given the same Go! makeover as everyone else, now being more of a snarky Large Ham. That said, he's still a legitimately dangerous villain that the Titans are trying to prove themselves worthy archenemies to.
• Designated Hero:
  • Invoked, deconstructed, and the main drive of the movie: the Teen Titans, despite being the main characters, are not seen as heroes by the rest of the superhero community. They've hardly ever done anything remotely heroic and are considered sidekick material at best and completely immature at worst. Even Batman's utility belt, an article of clothing, is considered higher up than Robin. Their main drive is seeking to escape this trope and be seen as real heroes. As opposed to other versions of the character, who has a near-obsession with the team, Slade doesn't view them as even worth his time at first.
  • The other superheroes can be viewed as such too, even moreso than the Titans, due to them being too busy making, watching and starring in their own movies to focus on actually being heroes, to the point where it's pretty much all they care about, which is something that Slade counted on happening so he could carry out his plan without anyone to stop him.
    Robin: The other superheroes will-
    Slade: "Will stop me"? Is that what you're gonna say? They'll be too busy filming movies to stop me!
• Didn't Think This Through: The Titans quickly realize that preventing all of the superhero origins wasn't such a hot idea with all of the villains now unopposed.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Inputting the correct code in the Titans' vault sounds like the main melody of the Teen Titans Go! theme song.
• Divide and Conquer: The real BFG in Slade's Mind Manipulation ability.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: A quick gag has Wonder Woman accidentally cause a Shockwave Clap that knocks over some people while she was posing for a picture.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: L'il Yachty, who plays Green Lantern, sings a "We Are the Teen Titans" rap remix during the end credits.
• Dual Wielding: As usual, Slade fights with a sword in each hand. Even his Giant Mecha.
• Early-Bird Cameo: A "B v S" poster in the background features the versions of Batgirl and Supergirl from Lauren Faust's DC Super Hero Girls animated series, which would premiere the following year.
• Easily Forgiven: The rest of the Titans instantly forgive Robin for ditching them for his own movie, partly because they love the dramatic apology monologue he made thinking he was going to perform a Heroic Sacrifice, and partly because they're family and really only wanted him to be happy.
• Empathy Doll Shot: When Slade blows up the Tower, the camera lingers on some of the Titans' rooms as they burn, including a group shot photo of the team.
• Evil Is Petty: In the timeline without heroes, Lex Luthor is seen shaving other people's heads.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Teen Titans do in fact go to a movie theater (and a movie studio as well).
• Exact Words: When Supergirl says she's wearing Plastic Man, she doesn't mean the guy somehow designed a dress for her to wear. She means she's literally wearing a shape-shifted Plastic Man.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Cyborg moans that without the Titans, he'd just be a professional football player. Though he does go on to list the consequences of such before anyone can point out that such an outcome doesn't sound bad.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There's a couple of clues about Jade Wilson and Slade being one and the same.
    • The teaser poster◊ has each cast member on one row each, with different colors. Kristen Bell and Will Arnett's names, however, are on the same row and in the same color.
    • Those familiar with the comics know his full name is "Slade Wilson". This tips off a savvy/nerdy viewer that there's something not quite right about Jade from the get-go, even if the potential first guess (a disguised Rose Wilson) wasn't right.
    • At the Batman Again! premiere, notice how Jade seemed to completely disappear as the trailers start. A couple of minutes later, Slade raids Star Labs. And during the aforementioned raid, Slade says the Justice League won't come because they're watching a movie and keeping their mobile devices off.
    • After the Titans manage to steal his crystal, Slade escapes and immediately treats them like a threat, coming up with a Divide and Conquer plan on the spot. Almost immediately after this, Robin gets a text from Jade to meet her at the film lot.
    • Slade marveled at Robin's Catchphrase, calling it "sweet and ominous". The only people to hear Robin call it that were the Titans and Jade during his "My Superhero Movie" number.
    • Five-Second Foreshadowing: On the set for Robin's movie, Jade, while smirking, takes a glance at a faulty stage light, which knocks Robin out as soon as he presses a button to access the fake vault. When he wakes up, they do the scene again, with the same facial recognition and code system as the real vault.
    • This comes to a head while in the vault itself, when Jade uses the Look Behind You trick on Robin.
  • A more meta instance. A good chunk of the action scenes during the film utilize orchestral remixes of 2003 Teen Titans main theme, Slade's leitmotif from that series plays during his plotting scenes, and part of the climax is a Whole-Plot Reference to the episode "The Apprentice". Lo and behold, that incarnation of the Titans makes an appearance in The Stinger.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The Titan’s low-budget Robin movie is recorded over a tape for Young Justice (2010).
• Fun with Acronyms: Digitally Ordering Online Movies Streaming Directly At You.^note The name for Jade/Slade's movie streaming/mind control machine
  Jade: In retrospect, we probably should have gone with a better acronym...
• Gasshole: When Balloon Man gets a handful of quills from Beast Boy in his butt (albeit unintentionally), a leak is created, creating a noise that sounds like farting as the air leaks. This goes on for a while, and derails both Balloon Man and the Titans from their fight.
• Giant Mecha: The climax has the Titans fighting Slade in one of these.
• Giving Them the Strip: Robin escapes from his shackles on Slade's trap by using his "baby hands" to slip out of his gloves.
• Gratuitous Special Effects: Invoked during Robin's "My Superhero Movie", where he talks about having tons of special effects, including a special effects cape.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: The film reveals that the Titans' various exploits of actual superhero derring-do have been so eclipsed by their more prolific episodes of buffoonery and reckless behavior that, as far as everyone else is concerned, the Titans have never done anything heroic.
• Heroic BSoD: Robin suffers this three times.
  • The first one is when he sees that none of Batman's movies feature him, with every hero in the audience sans his friends laughing at him off-stage.
  • The second time happens when Slade exploits the Titans' stupidity with mind manipulation and escapes before gloating about it to them. Robin sadly retreats to his room, and lies down on his bed, looking more depressed than he's ever been.
  • The final one is when Jade reveals herself to be Slade in disguise and he reveals his Evil Plan, before cruelly mocking Robin for letting it happen and destroying the Titans Tower.
• Hope Spot:
  • A particularly funny one, when Raven portals the mind-controlled superheroes to the same dimensional void she trapped the Challengers of the Unknown in earlier.
  Challenger: Challengers! We're saved!
  (Superheroes immediately blast them.)
  • It happens again when Raven reopens the portal and brings back the superheroes.
    Challenger: (making their way to the portal) Challengers, we're free! (portal closes) Oh, drat!
  • And a more dramatic one occurs at the climax. The Titans destroy all the mind control screens surrounding Robin and think they saved him in time. However, when Robin turns around...
• "I Am" Song: '"Go!"' is a "Who We Is" rap sung by the Titans themselves while fighting Balloon Man. Unfortunately, they get distracted by their own hype and allow the villain to keep stealing and almost make his getaway.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: Why Robin and the Titans travel to Hollywood to get their own movie.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: The Titans are forced into one with Robin when he becomes Brainwashed and Crazy. They manage to break through to him by playing him the second half of their Robin movie, where they show that despite the constant teasing, they really do respect him as both their leader and friend.
• "I Want" Song: "My Superhero Movie" is Robin singing about how awesome a movie starring him would be.
  Yeah, I'd have an alter ego
  I'd be a billionaire
  Standing tall with adult-sized hands
  And gorgeous hair
• Implacable Man: Played for Laughs with Batman. It appears that even under mind control his Crazy-Prepared tendencies remain intact. When pursuing the Titans in the Batmobile, it explodes to reveal Batman dramatically emerging on a Batcycle. The cycle continues with Batman using a Batscooter, Batskates, and eventually piggybacking Alfred to give chase to the protagonists, and he doesn't even slow down. Lampshaded gloriously by Starfire.
  Starfire: Ooh, there is no stopping the Batman.
• Improbable Weapon User: One of the projectiles that Cyborg's cannon fires are giant meatballs. It's effective in blinding Slade's Giant Mecha during the climax.
• Inanimate Competitor:
  • The thing that really rubs in how little respect the general public has for Robin and the Titans is an announcement that there's going to be a movie about "Batman's greatest ally and best friend in the whole world"... his utility belt.
• Internal Deconstruction: In the main series, the Titans' childish behavior is treated as Comedic Sociopathy with no lasting repercussions. Here, their actions result in them being regarded as jokes by the rest of the superhero community. Part of the film is them (especially Robin) trying to get themselves treated on par with the others.
  • Robin's Butt-Monkey/Unpopular Popular Character trait is shown as hurting him to the point that he ditches the other Titans to star in Jade Wilson's movie since he's tired of both how his teammates treat him and him being a mockery among superheroes.
• Ironic Echo: Done three times. When Slade is first introduced, he demonstrates his powers of Mind Manipulation in the hammiest way possible. However, when Jade pulls the Look Behind You trick on Robin...
  Jade: Made you look!
  Robin: No! (Jade kicks him back, causing him to get locked in restraints) So everything. The movie, turning me against my friends. It was all just-
  Slade: (in the most taunting way possible) Mind manipulation...! [...] This shall be your final scene. (holds a detonator) Magic! (blows up Titans Tower)
• It Only Works Once: The Teen Titans don't fall for the Look Behind You trick a second time. In fact, it makes the Titans immune to his other obvious Mind Manipulation tricks, like the old "what's that on your collar" trick. It forces him into using his most powerful ability: Divide and Conquer.^note It does work when Jade Wilson uses this trick, since Robin has no reason to believe she's evil at that moment.
• It's All About Me: Said almost verbatim throughout the song "My Superhero Movie".
  Yeah, it's all about me.
• It's All My Fault: Robin blames himself for the Tower's destruction and possibly getting his friends killed. He's not completely wrong, but the others quickly forgive him either way.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Though Robin is a little unpleasant most of the time, he's not wrong in calling out the Titans for doing their shenanigans while he's genuinely trying to be seen as a hero by everyone else.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: In the show proper, the Titans usually get away with their antics with little to no consequences. Here? Not so much. Case in point...

  • Balloon Man just keeps robbing the people of Jump City while the Titans were playing their song, until the Justice League arrives.
  • The Titans (sans Robin) causing their usual shenanigans throughout the Warner Bros. studio causes Jade to change her mind about making a movie about the whole team to focus only on Robin, the one Titan that didn't cause any trouble. Though this was most likely invoked.

• Kinder and Cleaner: While still faithful to the spirit of Teen Titans Go!, the film is noticeably less cynical than the series. The jokes, while still irreverent, are also a bit tamer (with the exception of a few moments of Black Comedy). The Teen Titans themselves also go through an Adaptational Nice Guy change as they are far kinder and more supportive of one another here than their usual vitriolic and abusive selves in the show.
  • The film even has some emotional moments between the characters where they talk about themes of friendship, teamwork, and forgiveness...this kind of stuff would NEVER happen in the series.
• Knocking the Knockoff: When the Titans first meet Slade, they mistake him for his expy, Deadpool. Slade, in response, tells them how much more serious he is along with how people should be confusing Deadpool for him on account of him coming first.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Robin has one in his "My Superhero Movie" fantasy.
• Latex Perfection: Exaggerated. Jade Wilson is secretly Slade in disguise, made even more absurd by how he's still wearing his usual face-obscuring helmet and body armor, as well as carrying all his heavy weapons underneath the fake suit. Robin points out that having to wear it constantly must have been hot and sweaty, to which Slade quickly agrees. Achieves ridiculous status when Slade's mask is removed, but his head is atop the lithe, feminine Jade body.
• Left the Background Music On: The Titans start their theme song, but it's completely diegetic — Balloon Man rolls his eyes in disgust when they start, leaving them to their nonsense while he resumes his crime spree.
• Let's Get Dangerous!:
  • From Alfred: The Movie ("The Ultimate Grime Fighter"):
    Alfred: It's time to clean up this city. (brandishes a broom menacingly)
  • When the Titans manage to take the MacGuffin away from him, Slade drops the condescension and treats them like a real problem, quickly coming up with a plan to take down the team.
• Let's You and Him Fight: The climax has Slade use a crystal to brainwash every superhero on Earth, leaving the Titans the only team protected from his thrall.
• "Lion King" Lift: After Robin's humiliation at the movie premiere, he has a nightmare spoofing "Circle of Life" where he's presented by Batman, only to get dropped off the rock for being a "sidekick".
• Logo Joke: The DC Films vanity plate is animated in the Teen Titans Go! style of the film (including Cyborg). This is then followed by a parody of rival Marvel Cinematic Universe's vanity plate, using issues of New Teen Titans.
• Manipulative Bastard: Slade. For instance, when Robin has him dead to rights, he's able to distract Robin by saying that truly great heroes let their arch-nemesis get away to foil their next plan, ensuring a great superhero movie. Robin suddenly zones out thinking about having a movie, giving Slade the chance to pull a Stealth Hi/Bye. He also manages to mind control Robin by aiming at his insecurities and making him look at his movie, despite Robin knowing what would happen if he gave in.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Slade's initial Mind Manipulation consists of the "rubber pencil" trick, the "detached thumb" trick and Look Behind You.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The Teen Titans' movie set and props uses the flat color schemes of the backgrounds on the TV show. There are even physical versions of the show's "TT" transitional wipes. Also, the animals that have been sitting on the rocks outside the tower during the first four seasons of the series (the seagull from Season One, the crab from Season Two, the pelican from Season Three and the octopus from Season Four) are seen walking through the soundstage at one point.
  • When Slade realizes that the Teen Titans are more competent than he thought, he decides to zero-in on Robin in a plan to break up the team, much like how he took a great fascination to him in the 2003 series. In fact, his so-called mind-manipulation abilities seem to be a Call-Back to his 2003 counterpart in regard to how he was able to play the Titans like a fiddle. Robin even became his "apprentice", technically, for a short time.
  • Robin shaking his ass is a joke calling back to the infamous "Robin twerking" scene from the show's first season. The "baby hands" gag similarly makes a reappearance.
  • One Robin movie poster is "ROBIN: The Dark Hero Returns", featuring Robin with a Milleresque bolt of lightning behind him. Another, Robin 2, parodies the classic Action Comics #1 cover. In the same sequence, there's a reference to the original Star Wars poster with Starfire clinging to his leg a la Princess Leia.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Discussed and turned into a Running Gag, as the Titans comment on how an arch-nemesis should have a catchy, ominous name, like Lex Luthor or Rainbow Rider. They're impressed by the name "Slade", saying it in a long, drawn-out manner. Later, every other hero is impressed with the name too, and does the same.
• New Media Are Evil: Deathstroke launches a purported film streaming platform as a front to set up a global mind control device.
• Only Sane Man: Robin, to a degree. For example, being the only one who knows that the toilet on the movie set is only a studio prop. (Okay, Raven probably knew too, but just wanted to screw with him.)
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: One of Starfire's main character traits include almost always using "the" in every sentence she makes. When Robin shoos the Titans away so he can make his movie, she doesn't use "the" at all. What she does say is a completely coherent and sincere statement.
  Starfire: (while hugging Robin, and shedding a tear) Good luck to you, Robin. I hope to one day see your movie. I think it will be very good. (leaves)
• Our Product Sucks: The film's early advertisements played with the fact that the show has a very vocal invokedPeriphery Hatedom. One piece of advertising has them reading the negative comments that resulted from the teaser trailer, ending with Starfire deciding that even if some people don’t like them, it's fantastic to even have people discussing them.
• Pedestrian Crushes Car: Near the end, a brainwashed Superman stands in the path of the Titans' vehicle to crush it.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: When Jade lies to Robin about the Titans holding him back, he shoos them away so he can make the movie without them, hurting their feelings in the process.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Robin does one before he and his team take on Slade.
  Robin: So, laugh at us all you want, but we're still gonna take you down!
  Slade: With what? One of your stupid songs?
  Robin: ...Exactly!
  (Cyborg inserts his "Who We Is" tape into his chest)
• Public Service Announcement: One of the tie-ins for the film was a PSA about choosing the right car seat for your child.
• This Is Reality: When the Titans talk about their terrible fates had they not become a team, Cyborg mentions that he could've become a professional football player. Before the others can point out that such a thing actually sounds like a good deal, Cyborg talks out the less glamorous side of it. Namely, the serious injuries, going broke, and having to compete on a reality dance show.
  • The Titans time travel to prevent superhero origin stories from occurring, thinking that they will be the only superheroes around to have a movie. However, when they succeed and travel back to the present, they find the world in ruins and supervillains running amok. Realizing that with no heroes, the world has become a horrific wasteland, villains can do any heinous crime they want, and no more movies are being made, they go back to restore those origin stories.
• Ripple Effect Indicator: When going back in time to get rid of the other superheroes, Robin watches them fade from the covers of their comics.
• Running Gag:
  • Comments about Robin's baby hands. It's even used as a Chekhov's Gag!
  • Saying Slade's name ominously. SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAADE.
  • On that note, every character dramatically says their name with their name appearing behind them. Even Stan Lee.
  • And in the case of Slade, the Titans referring to him as Deadpool.
  • "Oh right – portal!"
• Scenery Porn: While the backgrounds are not always clean, the film has gorgeous colors. Even when the film switches styles for a specific sequence, they are very pleasing to the eye.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • The Titans immediately bail after they accidentally run over and kill Tiger.
  Cyborg: I think his dad's a cop!
  Team: RUN!!!
  • Stan Lee when he realizes he's in a DC movie.^note Though he does end up coming back a second time. Because he loves cameos!
    "This is Stan Lee — doing my subtle cameo! *assistant whispers in ear* This is a DC movie? I gotta get outta here!"
• Self-Deprecation: It's Teen Titans Go!, so naturally a lot of jokes revolve around the film mocking itself and the show it is derived from.
  • Beast Boy says "No one wants to see us, fool" in the teaser trailer.
  • The trailer announcer remarks that the movie will be such a failure that it will kill the superhero genre.
  • The film constantly roasts the titular team for their lack of heroic feats, with the Justice League knowing them more for slacking off and wrecking Jump City than their actual impressive (and much less frequent) moments of saving the world.
  • In the 2003 series, Slade was very interested in the Titans and actually began their conflict himself. Here? He doesn't (initially) view them as worth his time and one of their major desires is to make him take them seriously.
• Ship Tease: Raven/Beast Boy and Robin/Starfire each get at least one, doubling as a Mythology Gag.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: The moment Robin pushes away Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven and Cyborg to make his own movie without them can be seen as this, with the stakes becoming higher with the truth about Jade Wilson.
• Shout-Out:
  • The opening shot of the Titans Tower in this movie starts off with the Teen Titans comic pages rapidly flipping by à la Marvel Studios' logo. It soon turns out that a seagull is reading an issue of the 1980s Marv Wolfman/George Pérez The New Teen Titans comic series.
  • During the Titans' rap in the beginning, Beast Boy briefly morphs into Animal.
  • Slade gets annoyed at everyone mistaking him for Deadpool and has to remind people that he predates that character. This is even better when one also remembers that Deadpool was originally created as a Captain Ersatz of Deathstroke.
  • Balloon Man asks if the Teen Titans are the Guardians of the Galaxy, to which Raven replies that it's a completely different superhero universe.
  • Robin's nightmare is a parody of the "Circle of Life" sequence from The Lion King.
  • The Titans' homemade movie for Robin was apparently taped over a VHS copy of Young Justice (2010).
  • One of the posters on the WB lot features Doctor Manhattan with rabbit ears, titled What's Up, Doc?
  • When the Titans walk through the Warner Bros. studio lot for the first time, Starfire points out the water tower and that it's where the Animaniacs^note (More accurately, just the Warner Brothers and their sister, Dot.) live.
  • During the Titans' time travel montage, they prevent four turtles from walking into mutagen.
  • The time travel sequence is a reference to Back to the Future Part II. There's a nod to the previous movie when Raven says there are no Libyan terrorists who'd sell them any plutonium.
  • Superman's ringtone is the music from the first Superman: The Movie with Christopher Reeve.
  • During the Bad Future, Sinestro has conjured Pac-Man to help destroy the city. An alien has actually done this before in another film.
  • When Superman gets hit by Cyborg's rubber chicken, he facepalms and mutters "Somebody save me," which were the lyrics featured prominently in the Remy Zero song "Save Me", the theme song for Smallville.
  • In the same Bad Future, Lex Luthor is seen making everyone as bald as he is. Anyone else thinking of the Hair Hunters right about now?
  • Slade tells Robin, "You and I are destined to do this forever."
  • The shot of Robin conducting an orchestra, both in silhouette against colored footlights, during "My Superhero Movie" spoofs the overture of Fantasia.
• Show Within a Show: Batman Again!, Alfred: The Movie, among many others. invoked
• Sickeningly Sweet: Parodied in "Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life", which features rainbows, cosmic narwhals, Michael Bolton as a singing tiger, among other things. They pretty much nailed The '80s perfectly.
• Skewed Priorities: When Robin sees how much of a desolate wasteland the city has become, he asks whether they are still making superhero movies.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The film does have more heart than the show with a good moral to boot. On the other hand, the movie has a lot of irreverent Black Comedy and has scenes involving the Titans destroying planets and ending lives. They never face their consequences for their actions. Overall, this movie seems to lie somewhere in the middle.
• Spanner in the Works: Slade-as-Jade made sure every superhero was distracted by them having their own movie, even The Challengers Of The Unknown. What he didn't count on were the Titans, who had no movie and therefore were the only ones who confronted Slade at S.T.A.R. Labs, and he really didn't count on them being competent enough to grab the MacGuffin away from him, countering his moves. This drives "Jade" to try to distract the Titans by Divide and Conquer while making the Robin movie the main vector for his Mind-Control Device.
• Stealth Insult: The teaser trailer goes from praising the Wonder Woman movie (and no other DCEU movie) at first and then hopes that this film will be what finally "ends" the superhero film genre for good.
• The Stinger:
  • Mid-credits: The 2003 animated incarnation of the Titans appear in a static-filled message broadcast, stating that they think they've found a way to return.
  • Near the end of the credits, the Challengers of the Unknown appear in the margins, establishing the crawl's setting as the void that Raven put them in earlier in the film. Ace, their leader, states that they have missed the rest of the film.
• Story-Breaker Power: Played for laughs. The Justice League corners the Titans, who hold each other and wait for the inevitable. Cue Raven opening a portal to suck the brainwashed heroes into another dimension, ending the fight in a fraction of a second.
• The Talk: The final joke is Robin scrapping the lesson he was going to teach the audience and instead telling the kids to ask their parents where babies come from.
• Take That!:
  • Overall, the film is a big rebuke towards the oversaturation of comic book movies, regardless of intellectual property — even though it's a superhero movie itself, albeit a Parody/Satire.
  • Many towards the DC Extended Universe, including:
    • One that doubles as one towards Aquaman in the teaser, saying that if he can get a movie, why not Teen Titans Go!?
    • A series of posters for the film parodies the Justice League movie ones.
    • Among the fictional movie posters in Warner Bros studio lot is one for Detective Chimp and the Case of the Missing Mustache. Another is for Batman v. Joker: Yawn of Justice. When the Titans do the Kryptonite Party, they produce a Kryptonite spear and have a Kryptonite spray. There's also a poster that shows B v S — which stands for Batgirl vs. Supergirl, though they're friendly on the poster.
    • Jade filming a sequel to Batman V Superman starting with the two titular heroes instantly becoming friends over their mothers being named Martha. And then instantly going back to fighting each other when they realize their fathers have different names.
  • At one point, Starfire asks the Justice League if they ever had their own films before, prompting this response from Green Lantern:
    Green Lantern: There was a Green Lantern movie. But we- we don't talk about that.

  The funniest part? The embarrassed Green Lantern is John Stewart, who wasn't even part of that movie.

  • The Titans think they are beating the crap out of Slade, but it's Shia LaBeouf (not actually voiced by him) playing Slade in their movie. They go "Ohh" and continue to pummel him, with Beast Boy saying "That's even worse than being a villain!"
  • Cyborg's fate if Robin was not there was is being a professional football player.
    Cyborg: Which sounds good, but you're forgetting the concussions, bad knees, going broke, and having to be on one of those awful dance reality TV shows!
• Take That, Audience!: Slade gives a jab to people who go to the movies and keep their cell phones on.
• Take That, Critics!: Par for the course with the show, the sneak peek for the second trailer consisted of the Titans reading negative tweets made about their first trailer before choosing to ignore them and focus on the fact their movie is even being talked about. These were actual tweets and the Teen Titans GO Movie page on Twitter actually asked each user if they could use them for the sole purpose of putting them on blast.
  • Surprisingly averted in the movie itself for the most part, where Robin takes the criticisms seriously, until the end that is.
  • When the heroes jeer at Robin during the Lion King spoof and look like total jerkasses for it, someone can be heard yelling "The old series was better!"
• Temporal Paradox: Some villains wouldn't exist without certain heroes — The Joker wouldn't exist without Batman, for example — so it's curious they are still around in the Bad Future. It's best to just ignore the logic and just enjoy the spectacle. invoked
• Theme Music Power-Up: The Titans weaponize it against Slade during the climax.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: The Titans may not have gotten a movie, but they end up earning the respect from the other superheroes.
• Title Drop: Robin says the full title as part of his command to head to the Batman movie premiere.
• To Be Continued: At the end of the theatrical release, at the very end of the credits is a "To Be Continued on Cartoon Network" note, which led to the episode "Tower Renovation", which dealt with one of the unresolved plot points of the film. It was probably also a reference to Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, and a potential reference to a possible sixth season of the 2003 series. Said note is removed from the home media releases.
• Toilet Humor: There's several fart jokes and a minute-long poop joke.
• Took a Level in Badass: The Titans in the final battle, but special mention goes to Raven, who finally uses her powers to their fullest for the first time in the series' history, showing what Trigon's Daughter can really do.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In this movie, the Titans are much more supportive of Robin and his goals while acting like genuine friends to him, whereas on the show, they're much more likely to treat Robin as The Friend Nobody Likes and sometimes even physically abuse him without provocation.
• Totally Radical: The Time Cycles that the Titans use are powered by "radness". When they're not being rad enough, they bust out some sick moves that are "sick" and "gnarly". When that fails to get them to maximum radness, Robin has them deploy the bike's streamers that allow them to hit the mark and go back in time.
• Traitor Shot: When Robin comments at how real the Teen Titans Tower set is, Jade flashes a truly malevolent smile before telling him it is real.
• Triumphant Reprise: The Titans sing "Go!" again during the final battle against Slade. This time, the music sounds more heroic and the Titans do defeat Slade by the end of it.
• True Companions: The series always depicted the Titans as housemates who often chafe each other. The film raises the stakes and allows for moments that show the Titans are more a Family of Choice that really do love each other.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Slade seems to be parodying this, as part of the humor seems to be how he's a genuinely dangerous and serious threat the Titans are trying to get to take them seriously.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After their first battle, Slade invokes the trope, saying that a true arch-nemesis will escape, allowing for Serial Escalation. Robin isn't having any of it, but Slade uses some Mind Manipulation to distract Robin long enough to Stealth Hi/Bye.
• Villain Respect: After Slade's Giant Mecha is destroyed by the Titans and their Theme Music Power-Up, he stumbles out of the head and manages to compliment "That song... was monumentally dope" before collapsing.
• Wham Line:
  Jade: Whoa! Robin! What is that?!
  Robin: (confused) Huh? I don't see anything, there's nothing there-
  Jade: Made you look!
  Robin: (realizing) NO!! (gets kicked into a trap)
  
  2003!Robin: This is the Teen Titans! Can anyone hear us? We think we've found a way back!
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The destruction of the Tower never gets resolved in the film. However, the August 13, 2018 episode "Tower Renovation" serves as the epilogue to the film. (Unfortunately, the Universe decides to screw the Titans over and re-destroy the Tower.)
• Who Are You?: Balloon Man asks this to the Titans, which prompts them to start singing their "I Am" Song.
  Beast Boy: Yo, Cy! This guy don't know who we is!
  Cyborg: Oh really? Then I think it's time we tell him!
  (Cyborg inserts a cassette tape into his chest labelled "Who We Is")
• Who Would Want to Watch Us?: Beast Boy says "No one wants to see us, fool" in the teaser trailer.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The climax takes many cues from the Season 1 two-part episode of Teen Titans (2003) "Apprentice".
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Slade turned out to be Jade all along.
• Wolverine Publicity: Lampshaded with everything Batman related getting their own movie.
• Worth It: Stan Lee returns for a second cameo, stating he doesn't care if it's a DC film — he just loves doing cameos!
• You Are Not Alone: After the destruction of the Tower, the Titans assure Robin that he won't have to face Slade alone.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Uttered verbatim by Slade when Robin tells him he would make a good arch-nemesis for the Titans.
  Slade: You guys are a joke! Everyone knows that!

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"Kids! Ask your parents where babies come from!"