'Jason' Teaser Trailer Reveals Moody New Look at DC Fan Film
The new teaser trailer for the upcoming fan film Jason from HiTop Films, telling the story of DC Comics’ own Jason Todd, has been released online ahead of its 2023 release.
Jason is an independent crowd-funded fan film created by Alex Hunter, better known as HiTop Alex from the hit YouTube channel HiTop Films. Hunter is known for his film essays specializing in superhero movie content, and boasts over 350,000 subscribers and a channel with over 45 million total views.
The film follows Jason Todd played by Francesco Di Maio, reprising his role from the 2018 web-based fan film Robin: The Bird and The Brain. Jason, a troubled, abused street youth, struggles to survive on his own in the slums of Gotham City on his way to becoming the iconic Boy-Wonder.
The film is intended to be the first chapter in a three-part web series chronicling Jason’s fall and subsequent rise under the tutelage of Bruce Wayne. The teaser promises the film will deliver a brutal and raw look at a DC fan-favorite character known for his unhinged proclivity for violence and unbalanced temperament. From the looks of this trailer, it appears viewers will be given a deep exploration of Jason’s harsh origin, along with plenty of bloody action and thrills along the way.
DC fans will quickly notice the parallels between this teaser and the first look of Robert Pattinson’s The Batman from back in 2020. From the contrasting of the red light and shadow, to a careful pan on our stoic, costumed main character, the inspiration looks to run even deeper as both explore an isolated, tormented and damaged protagonist working out their psychological struggle in their own unique way.
Jason Todd first premiered in Batman #357 in March 1983 as a problematic street youth trying to make ends meet when a chance encounter with the Dark Knight himself leads to him taking on the mantle of the second Robin later that same year. Hunter’s series looks to be taking the character back to his roots
Jason is perhaps most famous for his vicious death at the hands of The Joker in the A Death in the Family story arc, and subsequent resurrection as the vigilante antihero Red Hood in the Batman: Under the Red Hood graphic novel in 2005. Jason Todd was most recently put to the small screen as played by American actor Curran Walters on HBO Max’s Titans.
At the moment, it is still unclear what the future chapters will hold in exploring Jason Todd’s character arc, but if this teaser is any indication then there is plenty of reason to be excited for the future of HiTop Films’s Jason project.
Jason is an upcoming Jason Todd fan film co-directed by Alex Hunter and John Graves, penned by Josh Bullock, and debuts on the web next year.