Before I get into this, I want to make something clear. I'm well aware Red Star is an actual character in the DC universe, but whether or not his backstory in the show is consistent with that in the comics is something I'm not too sure about. I will view the episode in a vacuum as a result.
One thing I have noticed about many of Teen Titans' characters is that many are... derivative, to say the least. Now sure, they are their own characters, but for some you gotta wonder. Aqua Lad? Any connection to Aqua Man? Bumble Bee, kinda reminds me of Wasp. Mala, I was gonna say he was just an edgy clone of Gorilla Grodd, but holy shit, both are their own characters in the comics. They even have their own human torch, who I have a feeling was favored so heavily by 20th Century Fox, they contacted Michael B. Jordan then and there.
Now I'm not saying DC was begging for a lawsuit, but it's fair to question how far inspiration can be stretched. Now you're probably wondering why I'm starting out with this. Simply put, there was an episode that had a Russian Captain America. He's known as Red Star, but previously Starfire until he had to change his name due to the known Starfire already having the title.
They have an entire episode dedicated to him basically, so let's get into it, or more into the character because little else of the episode sticks with me.
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The titans travel to Russia to take on a threat, but we first get introduced to a gentle creature, who we know we'll get to know more of later on.
At some point, the titans get separated and Starfire is rescued by Red Star, where we get some backstory. Tell me if this is familiar.
The weakest link in the army is selected to take part in a super soldier program, and is transformed into the greatest Ameri- I mean Russian soldier. They were reeeeeeeeeal subtle here. Something about incorporating elements of Captain America into a character from a country that has not only been at odds with the US since World War II and has laid seeds for further conflict with their attacks on Ukraine, I dunno does this seem wrong to anyone?
Look, Russia has lost any opportunity for sympathy these days, so perhaps this episode just aged like milk in terms of sympathizing with Russians.
Although, I'll give them some credit, they do something different with Red Star. He confines himself in his base due to his energy being unstable. He has to drain himself every now and again to keep himself from going nuclear. I mean you could say Russia tried to compete with the US, who had turned their loss in the space race against the Russians, and they wound up making a super soldier program that proved to hold consequences.
Red Star is an interesting character in principle, but it's hard not to see where the Captain America comparisons lie. And that's really all I can get out of this episode, everything else I forgot about. They deal with a big threat and Red Star opts to sacrifice himself by using all of his energy, then he flies up into space and becomes... his name.
And that's It
Red Star overshadowed the episode for me, there was nothing about it I recalled other than scenes with him, and that's a bad thing because he overshadows the main roster for me in terms of interest. I would've written him off as a Captain America rip-off here, but I can see where it would work given the tension between the US and Russia. Heck, if they were not opposed to crossovers, perhaps we could've got a good comic book where the Russians create their own Captain America and both super soldiers spar.
I'm not even gonna say that this is a bad episode, because I don't remember enough of it to judge it. Aside from one thing, we get a typical gross food gag, and that seems to be a common takeaway for the show when it comes to anime tropisisms, food, and over the top expressions.
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