WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Titans Season 3, Episode 5, “Lazarus,” available now on HBO Max.
The latest episode of Titans, “Lazarus,” focuses on Jason Todd’s transformation into Red Hood, showing just what led to the former Boy Wonder breaking bad. However, in the process, Titans introduces a key character in the Batman mythos: Dr. Leslie Thompkins.
Thompkins appears early in “Lazarus,” as Bruce sends Jason to her for a psychological evaluation, telling him he can’t be Robin again until she’s cleared him. Due to the trauma he suffered in Titans Season 2, Jason is unable to perform at peak ability, and he’s wracked with fear. Throughout the episode, Thompkins — who in this case is a psychologist — supports Jason, helping him heal and chart a potential path forward without his Robin persona. At one point, Thompkins discloses Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow had been one of her colleagues, and that he attacked her with his fear gas. She was saved by Batman’s intervention.
However, Thompkins’ good work is undone when Bruce decides to take Robin away from Jason anyway, citing his concerns about the boy’s safety. Jason blames Thompkins, believing she told Bruce that he was no longer capable of being Robin, and sets out on the path that makes him the Red Hood. Thompkins’ story about Scarecrow is also what accidentally spurs him to seek out the supervillain’s aid in conquering his fear.
Created by Dennis O’Neil and Dick Giordano, Leslie Thompkins first appeared in 1976’s Detective Comics #457. In the comics, Thompkins was a friend of Bruce’s father, Thomas Wayne, and uses her medical skills for philanthropic purposes. She made her live-action debut in Fox’s Gotham TV series, where she served as a love interest for Jim Gordon. While she was played by Morena Baccarin in that series, Krista Bridges plays Thompkins on Titans.
The Titans version of Thompkins is pretty different from the original comics character. That Leslie is significantly older than the one in Titans, and she’s not generally depicted as a psychologist, though she is something of a social worker. However, the New 52 version of Thompkins does have more overlap. When Thompkins was reintroduced in 2012 as part of that reboot, she was much younger and aided Jason in his recovery following his deadly encounter with Joker.
At this time, it’s not totally clear if Thompkins will appear in any subsequent episodes of Titans. However, if she does, she could prove a major player in Jason’s possible redemption. After all, Leslie was seemingly close to a breakthrough with him before Bruce’s rejection sent him over the edge. And while Jason currently believes Leslie’s intervention is what caused that rejection, he may just come back to the light in a future episode.
The first five episodes of Titans Season 3 are available now on HBO Max. Episode 6 releases Sept. 2.
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