As DC Comics has transmogrified over the last 20 years , Geoff Johns has been at the very center of — or , at least , extremely close to — the engines of variety . His title is different nowadays , but he ’s still going to be work out on deepening interpretations of the company ’s iconic characters .
The former president and chief creative military officer of DC Entertainmentisn’t an executive anymore . Geoff Johns is getting back in the trench as a writer and manufacturer of comics and TV , and he revealed details about all the projects he ’s working on in the consultation that follow . In particular , he spill about writing an emotional enigma built around the Joker , the appealingness of the Shazam mythos , and what he wants to do with the Stargirl TV show .
io9 : You ’re transition from chief creative police officer role of DC Entertainment to more of a writer - manufacturer role . Was there anything about your time as a CCO that made you require to get back into writing ?
Geoff Johns : Yeah , I mean , a deal of it . I loved working with the creative citizenry , you know ? I lie with working with the creative team at Warner Bros. , I loved working with the other writers and producer I fuck off to put to work with , and manager . I just hump say story . And when there ’s talking of a Star Wars TV show , it ’s strong for me to not need to do that . To not want to compose that . Or when there ’s comic Good Book project , like — I get along up with an approximation for a Killing Zone or for Three Jokers , and I require to write it . I want to puzzle out on the Titans show as a writer and producer rather than a …
io9 : A guy rope who ’s give notes .
Johns : Yeah , I do n’t want to give note anymore . I desire to get notes . You be intimate what I think of ? I want to get notes . Because … I need to do more on less , really .
io9 : Everything you ’ve done in comics before has been a mix of scientific discipline and magic . Having touched the character and his mythos before , how do you want to expand on the idea of what magic means in the new Shazam ! series you ’re working on ?
Johns : Yeah , well , part of it is the diversity I like to aggress . Doomsday Clock is very different from Three Jokers , and that ’s very different than Shazam , tonally . Same affair with Stargirl and Titans and Wonder Woman and they just shot Shazam ! , the moving picture . But with Shazam ! , specifically , I always eff Roald Dahl , The Phantom Tollbooth , and The Lion , the Witch & The Wardrobe .
I have sex those books where a group of kids , or a kid , discover macrocosm that are beyond our world and play mad characters , like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz . I want to inject all that into a superhero book , because it feels new and unique to me . So , I come up with the idea that there ’s seven kingdom of thaumaturgy that are all connected by the Rock of Eternity , and [ Billy Batson and his friends ] will explore those realm . uncover the ideas and mythology and character , just crack undefended a magical corner of the DC universe that ’s never been see that ’s more fun , more bright and coloured — with some danger to it .
I ’m trying to do something in the tonus and the manner of , “ If the Fawcett comics had continue to evolve over the decades , here ’s where they ’d evolve to . ” There ’s a real charm to the old Captain Marvel book . Specifically , there ’s a cover I love where Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel are fly with Santa Claus . I want to do stuff and nonsense where , if we did a cover like that , which we ’re going to , it fit decently in with the rest period of the book . That ’s what this book and world is . It makes Shazam ! dissimilar from every other book on the stands , every other character on the stands , every book I ’m mould on .
I ’m unrestrained about it ; when I get to go to Shazam ’s cosmos , it ’s steel young . And it ’s still tapping at all the emotional storytelling of get hold and building a family that you ’re not born with . It ’s about adherence , not blood , which is really important , because it ’s the truest world power that Shazam has . He can share his king with anyone he hold kin . And then I ’m locomote to research what bump when the family he ’s last bosom might be crack apart by outside force . There ’s going to be all these different layer to the level . The storytelling will probably be denser than normal , because I want to feel like those expectant books where you ’re going in different mankind with kids , where there ’s an unknown , magical feeling to it .
io9 : Will Black Adam be in Shazam ! ?
Johns : finally , yes . There ’s stuff that bump . Black Adam ’s a pretty major player in Doomsday Clock , and eventually he and Shazam will cross paths . finally .
io9 : So , in your mind , Doomsday Clock shares connective tissue between the two projects ?
Johns : There ’s some connective tissue paper , but I ’d say it ’s not , like , literal .
io9 : It ’s not a continuity , like , “ … and then a portal opened into this world . ”
Johns : Yeah , it ’s not really that , of necessity . I mean , they ’ll connect , but Doomsday Clock take aim place a footling bit in the future .
io9 : The seven realm you ’re going to have Billy and everybody explore , are they all realms that are blend in to be Modern ? Are they realms that we ’ve see before in the DC universe ?
Johns : All make new . Except one , our Earth .
io9 : Well , there ’s magic on our Earth . comely enough . Moving on to Three Jokers , you said on the dialog box that there ’s not going to be alternate realism tricks or time travel or anything like that — so , is this an idea of how the Joker ’s personality and methodological analysis has evolve over time ?
Johns : It ’s in the story , so I do n’t require to spoil it . There ’s a understanding for it … All I ’m saying is the story is called Three Jokers . Batman believe there ’s three operating at the same time . It ’s a closed book . An emotional whodunit , I guess I would call it …
io9 : In terms of the architecture of the series , you have Jason Todd , Barbara Gordon , and , of course , Bruce Wayne . The poppycock that the Joker has done to those grapheme , or those last two fibre , has happened and this is a world where Barbara got paralyzed …
Johns : Yeah , it ’s essentially in continuity , even though it ’s Black Label . If you look at the difference between how they reacted to [ those showdown ] , very different , veracious ? Barbara get stronger , Jason got more vehement .
And Bruce …
Johns : And Bruce , did he change or not change ?
io9 : If you mouth about what happened to Jason , he for certain change . He became harder . And that moderate me to another question : You ’re tackling Batman , a character you ’ve rarely pen before , at least in a solo mise en scene . What make what you ’re going to do unlike than say , what you did on Batman : Earth One ?
Johns : I ’d say Batman : Earth One is kind of a reinvention of a younger Batman and his whole world is unlike . Volume three is really underway ; Gary ’s drawn a hundred Thomas Nelson Page already of book three . He ’s contract like , 45 leave to do , and he ’ll be done . And that continues to build off this kind of unexampled , more grounded version , where Alfred ’s more blue - collar . It ’s a much more rolled - back and scale - back earth .
Whereas Three Jokers is embracing everything that ’s kind of in the mainstream , just like Alan [ Moore ] did when he did Killing Joke . That took place right in the continuity . We ’re doing the same matter . We ’re differentiate the chronicle with where the Batman folk is decent now at this minute .
io9 : That said , have you caught up on the current position quo ? I intend , you ’re a someone who does n’t necessarily have to do that . But James Tynion , for example , did interesting stuff in the kinsfolk dynamic in Detective with Tim Drake . Scott Snyder obviously leave his mark and Tom King ’s doing compelling work in Gotham . Are you going to cite any of this as far as where Batman is now ?
Johns : I do n’t know if , necessarily , it ’ll be a mystifier piece . I think where the piece fit will be up to the referee where that suit .
io9 : exchange cogwheel to Stargirl , she ’s obviously a character that ’s always been very penny-pinching to your heart . I really liked how you used her in your JSA footrace .
Johns : Thanks . Then you ’ll like the show . It ’s basically Star and S.T.R.I.P.E. meets the Justice Society . But it ’s immature .
io9 : So , as far as a backcloth , when you say Justice Society , are these the World War II character ?
Johns : Well , I do n’t want to spoil it too much … but say , the JSA , to me , is about legacy .
io9 : Okay , comely . So , Courtney , when we meet her , is disclose her stepdad ’s secret life story . It ’s the same theoretical account as Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. ?
Johns : Yep .
io9 : What are you changing this metre around ?
Johns : Well , the comics are the pop out office , but it ’s really a re - imagining of her origin and connection with the Justice Society . And a re - imagining of the re - introduction of the Justice Society . It ’s like , if you ’re going to peck up the bequest of a superhero today , what would you do ?
io9 : There was a guy who used to ply around in a Stetson and a accelerator masquerade party and put multitude to sleep . Would that would work now ?
Johns : Yeah . What would you do now ? And why would you have to do it ? But tonally , it ’s a very Spider - Man : Homecoming or Cobra Kai — it ’s live on to be a really fun show . A caboodle of humor .
io9 : I ’ve always been a huge Justice Society sports fan . I lovedAll - Star Squadron back in the ‘ 80 … how do you experience like the potential audience will receive DC case that tie back to some stuff and nonsense that might palpate honest-to-goodness - fashioned , or outdated ? Like , Liberty Belle is a severe sell , human race .
Johns : Yeah , but I ’ve kind of made my vocation off selling characters with name like Booster Gold and Aquaman , so I ’m not really worried about it . That ’s the least of my worries . I ’m worried more about budget and output then I am about , “ Will we be capable to make a version of Hourman that people could relate to ? ” dead . I have no question . No problem about that .
io9 : You cite Hourman … can you get into specific character you want to touch ?
Johns : I do n’t want to get into specific . It ’s a bit ahead of time to get into specific characters .
io9 : Fair . Do you have a roster ?
Johns : Yeah , it ’s already been plan out . Whole first season .
io9 : Talk to me what ’s different about planning a show like this for a cyclosis Robert William Service , compared to Smallville or The Flash .
Johns : No commercial breaks , which is a circle of fun . The timing does n’t have to be like a program show . There ’s no specific time the installment has to be ; we have flexibility . That ’s awing , because we can just cut back the unspoiled version of the instalment .
There ’s certain geomorphological stuff we do n’t have to worry about . In the case of things like Titans and Doom Patrol , there ’s ratings we do n’t have to worry about . Stargirl will be a different form of show , which I get it on . We should have something for everybody . The storytelling will be unlike , probably a little slower and more character - driven . I do n’t require to do supervillain - of - the - week , that ’s not what Stargirl is about . It ’s a thirteen - hour movie about the Renascence of the Justice Society .
io9 : You ca n’t babble about Stargirl and her powers without talking about Ted Knight , Jack Knight , and the Starman legacy ? Can we await to see any of that in the show ?
Johns : you may .
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