‘Titans’ Heroes Hawk And Dove Have Codependent, Unhealthy Relationship, Minka Kelly Warns

DC Universe’s “Titans” will introduce a major romance in episode 2 — Hawk and Dove. In Friday’s installment, viewers will get a look at the lovebirds and their life in Washington, D.C., but portrayers Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly warned International Business Times the superheroes don’t have the healthiest romance.

“[The] Dove and Hawk relationship is my favorite,” Kelly told IBT at New York Comic Con. “I just love it because [executive producers] Geoff Johns and Akiva [Goldsman] have done such an amazing job of creating this very real, grounded, grown-up world, more so than any superhero show that you’ve ever seen, while also keeping the superhero aspect of it, which also lends itself to Hawk and Dove in that this is a very codependent relationship.”

They dress up and fight crime, so on the outside, they aren’t that relatable. However, the “Friday Night Lights” alum says it’s the romance that makes them easy to identify with.

“These are very flawed and damaged people, and I love that just because I relate to that. I’ve had my share of codependent, unhealthy, toxic relationships. I think we’ve all had them. Maybe some of you are more lucky,” she laughed. “But I’m just drawn to the brokenness and the history of these characters.”

Hawk and Dove are troubled, but that doesn’t mean they’re not in love. Ritchson emphasized that Hank and Dawn are deeply committed.

“It’s pretty simple from my point of view. He’s found his soul mate,” the actor told IBT in a separate interview at NYCC. “He’s absolutely just head over heels and has an undying love for her. I think a lot of that is born from his codependency. I think she shares in that too in a different way. They need each other.”

When viewers meet Hawk and Dove in Friday’s episode, they’ll be discussing hanging up their masks for good. It’s just one last job that Hawk feels they need to finish before they can go back to being Hank and Dawn full time.

“I think she’d love to hang up her suit and go live in the suburbs and have a bunch of babies,” Kelly divulged. “But Hank is the love of her life and she knows that he’s not going anywhere soon. And so, she’ll probably lie to herself and think that he means it when he says it’s the last job, but she’s not going anywhere because she knows he needs her. And that’s the essence of a codependent relationship.”

Ritchson added that Hank is actually the one who is more insecure and really yearning for Dove.

“I think it’s special because we sort of objectify women a lot, and to see a man on screen who pines for his woman is special, I think,” he said. “So I think it’s fun that I get to bring that to life in some sense. They have a relationship where they just need each other and they feed each other, which also raises the stakes in a lot of ways because what happens if they’re taken away from one another? You see that in this first season. It’s tough to watch.”

However, the show will also dive into their past. Kelly told a small group of reporters that “Titans” episode 10 will look into how Dove and Hawk met. She also confirmed that the show will touch on Dove’s complicated backstory with Batman protégé Robin (Brenton Thwaites), but the actress kept quiet about what exactly fans could expect. She did, however, note that Season 1 is really about the team finding themselves.

“We get to see why they are who they are and why they’ve become what they’ve become,” Kelly said of Season 1 as a whole. “This is a story of lost souls trying to find themselves and their identities and their places in the world, and I think that’s such a relatable topic and subject, so I love that.”

“Titans” Season 1, episode 2 premieres Friday on DC Universe.