Teen Titans Rumor: Steven R. McQueen As Nightwing?
By Steve Lam
Steven R. McQueen, who currently plays Jeremy Gilbert on The CW’s hit series The Vampire Diaries, is said to be leaving the show in early 2015. There has been no real solid reason for his leaving, and his character is also not getting killed off. Because of these hints, the Internet has been buzzing with rumors that he’s the new Dick Grayson / Nightwing in the highly anticipated TNT series Teen Titans. On McQueen leaving the show, The Vampire Diaries executive producer Julie Pec tells The Hollywood Reporter:
"Every year we look at which characters we feel like are ready to move on, whether to better things in life or to the Great Beyond. This year, we realized that Jeremy has truly grown into a man, and as the victim of so much pain at the hands of the supernatural universe, we felt like it was time for him to go out on his own and start a fresh new life — with a twist."
After that, Pec adds fuel to the Nightwing rumor fire by making these final comments:
"He’ll always be welcome to join us for important events — unless [McQueen] finally gets his wish to play a superhero and he’s unavailable."
These speculations aren’t out of the blue, as McQueen has not been shy in pushing for a role as Dick Grayson / Nightwing.
Steven R. McQueen is the grandson of cinema legend Steve McQueen. He made his debut on CBS’s science-fiction series Threshold. After that, he had guest stints on Without a Trace, CSI: Miami, and Numb3rs. He also had a recurring role as Kyle Hunter on the final season of The WB’s hit series Everwood. McQueen’s first foray into a feature-length role was in the Disney Channel Original Movie Minutemen as Derek Beauguard. In February of 2009, McQueen was cast in the role of Jeremy Gilbert on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries.
DC-based television properties have been getting a lot of attention lately during the Television Critics Association Annual Winter Press Tour. And one of the biggest things being asked to showrunners is “will it be a shared universe?” The Greg Berlanti-produced CBS Supergirl series is already heavily rumored to crossover with The CW’s Arrow and The Flash. Since TNT is a subsidiary of Warner Brothers, who owns DC, there’s a good chance that Teen Titans will also crossover into the aforementioned three properties. A fanboy can only hope!
I haven’t watched The Vampire Diaries, but personally, I think, look-wise, McQueen would make a great Dick Grayson / Nightwing. He really does look like he jumped right out of a comic book. What do you think?
TNT’s Teen Titans has not set a premiere date. The project is still in development and the pilot will enter the production stage in 2015.