It’s a heartbreaking end to the original Titan, but as Ritchson explains, leaving the show wasn’t his decision.
“Titans has always been a tricky thing to make, to be honest,” Ritchson says. “The world is massive. You are going from Gotham to the backgrounds and worlds that the older Titans are coming from. You’ve got the new. You’ve got the old. You’ve got all the big villain storylines there. You’ve got teen angst and more dramatic relationships and the problems that come along with those. It’s a massive world. This is not a normal show for anybody to produce.”
“Creatively, when you are trying to service eight regular series-leads, with legitimate storylines, it’s hard to find your focal point,” he continues. “It feels like you can never give each story enough time. There have been really difficult decisions to make about how to focus this show with a stronger, core group. There have been very legitimate needs of conveying the show from one platform to another, going from DC Universe to HBO. They have certain needs that need to be met. Things are simply going to evolve and change.”
Some actors might wish their heroic alter-egos would go out in a blaze of glory, thwarting the bad guy and saving the day. On the other hand, Ritchson, who calls his exit “pretty blazy,” looked at Hank’s method of demise in another light.
“The worst way to die would be some sudden and unexpected car crash, whether metaphorical or not, some collision that unexpectedly steals him away from the world,” Ritchson offers. “What was so great about it was the pain of everybody, knowing what’s imminent and having the moment to say goodbye, in his own way, to everybody. Also, still holding onto that tiny, tiny thread of hope that maybe they will figure this out before the clock stops ticking. The tension is ratcheted the entire time. We are all waiting to see, ‘Are they really going to do this to him?’ It really pays off. They get their money’s worth with the way that it plays out. It was a great episode.”
Death doesn’t always equal the end. Donna perished and is being resurrected. Deathstroke murdered Aqualad, but the Atlantean popped up in flashbacks. So, if the Titans’ writers could figure out the logistics, would Ritchson be open to returning in some capacity? Maybe some flashback to Hank’s yesteryears? You bet.