TITANS Casts Ryan Potter as Beast Boy

Titans together...at last.

Deadline has word that the upcoming DC Comics direct-to-consumer digital service series Titans has cast Ryan Potter as Garfield "Gar" Logan, better known to DC Comics fans as the superhero Beast Boy.  Potter joins Brenton Thwaits as Nightwing, Teagan Croft as Raven, Anna Diop as Starfire, and Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly as Hawk and Dove.

According to the article, Beast Boy has the following description -- "As a child, Garfield 'Gar' Logan contracted the lethal disease, Sakutia, while on an African expedition with his geneticist parents.  Treated with an experimental drug, Gar survived but not without developing some bizarre side effects.  Along with skin and hair turning permanently green, the wisecracking, fun-loving Beast Boy is able to reshape himself into any animal of any size he can imagine."

Potter, 22, is an actor and martial artist probably best known as the voice of Hiro Hamada in the animated film Big Hero 6.  His other films include Underdog Kids and Senior Project, while his previous television appearances include episodes of Supah Ninjas, Lab Rats: Elite Force, Figure It Out, and Fred: The Show.

Created in 1965 by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown, Beast Boy first appeared in Doom Patrol (vol.1) #99 as Garfield Logan, a young child who lived with his scientist parents in Africa, who were developing "reverse evolution" to bring back extinct creatures.  Garfield contracted a rare illness called Sakutia, which was lethal to every species except the West African green monkey.  To save his life, his father used an untested serum to change him into a West African green monkey for 24 hours, so that the virus could die out.  The serum had the unintended effect of turning his skin, eyes, and hair green, and granting him the ability to metamorph into any animal of his choice.  His parents later died in a boating accident.  

After being rescued from two kidnappers who forced him to use his powers to help them in their crimes, Garfield was left under the care of a court-appointed guardian, Nicholas Galtry, who renamed him "Craig".  Galtry realized that his embezzlement from the Logan estate would be exposed when Garfield reached maturity and received his inheritance, so he plotted to kill Garfield.  The villains he hired to kill Garfield were stopped by the Doom Patrol.  Elasti-Girl and her husband, Steve Dayton, exposed Galtry's embezzlement and adopted Garfield, who later joined the Doom Patrol as Beast Boy.  He eventually joined the West Coast team of the Teen Titans (known as Titans West), then later joined the New Teen Titans under the new alias Changeling.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as The New 52, Beast Boy debuted as a member of the superhero team The Ravagers, led by Caitlin Fairchild.  In this incarnation, Beast Boy was red instead of his traditional color green, because of a relation to "The Red", the extradimensional power source of Animal Man's abilities.  The team was formed after the Teen Titans and the Legionnaires stuck in the present day were abducted by the supervillain Harvest.  Garfield eventually left the Ravagers and joined the Teen Titans, becoming green once again after some unexplained event.  He currently belongs to a new group of Teen Titans, whose members include Robin (Damian Wayne), Raven, Starfire, and Kid Flash (the younger Wally West).

This will be the first time the character will appear in live-action, although he has appeared in various animated projects, including Teen Titans,Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo and DC Super Hero Girls (voiced by Greg Cipes), Justice League vs Teen Titans and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (voiced by Brandon Soo Hoo), and Young Justice (voiced by Logan Grove)

Titans is expected to debut on DC Comics' digital service sometime in 2018.