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WhenThe split second : Rebirthput writer Joshua Williamson in thrill of Barry Allen ’s destiny , fans knew the speedster was in good mitt . But after year of expanding the mythology of the Speed Force , and re - imaginingBatman ’s two best stories with Flash , Williamson ’s role has grown much , much liberal .
WithBatman / Supermanassembling a corrupted ground forces servingDC ’s most terrific scoundrel in eld , Williamson , along with James Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV , is plotting the future tense of the full DC Universe . Screen Rant had the chance to speak with Williamson during NYCC to witness out what ’s in depot for The Flash ( both present day and far future ) , how friends are becoming enemies to Batman and Superman , and more . The full audience can be found below .
First things first : they put Old Man Barry in Batman Beyond !
I know . I know . It was super weird . They did n’t secern me until I regard the blanket . And I was like , ' Well , that makes sentiency . ' It ’s okay because of the poppycock that ’s coming up in our plan . Because the idea is that even though the timeline reset itself after Year One , Barry still farm up into Old Barry , so he would still be around . I think of it ’s cool . I palpate like multitude liked him and like his facial expression . So we ’re not done with him .
Was that the first time you ’ve had that feel of , ' I ’m now one of the guys who ’s create stuff that ’s blend to be used for years ' ?
Yeah , I ’m nervous about it . With Barry you ca n’t be , but … Bendis called me one day and was like , ' You ’ve arrest to be zen about these things . ' You wreak in these elephantine dealership thing … the only one that I ’m a petty sensitive about is Godspeed . He ’s the only one I ’m a short like , ' Let me know if someone ’s fit to use him . ' They ’ve tried a couple times , and I ’m just like , ' Please do n’t . ' I think they were go to do something with a prison break , so they were like , ' Can we apply Iron Heights ? ' I was like , ' No , I ’m literally travel to be using it and I need all the people in Iron Heights . ' I attempt to join forces . But I think the put-on is that if you have an genuine account , then you could win out . Not if you ’re just like , ' No I do n’t want you to . ' Godspeed ii the only one I ’m sensitive about . I do n’t desire anyone else try , not just yet . Not until I got him to a sure stead , and then it will be , ' Go for it . '
The last prison term we talk , I asked how you could rick Billy Batson immorality .
[ Laughs ]
Now I know in that moment , and as Jim Gordon was expose , and Supergirl was revealed , going through all of that . You were just thinking , ' hold back until offspring # 2 when Superman turn malevolent . ' That moment when The Batman Who Laughs gets his erstwhile crony back , where is his head at in this percentage point of the storey ? Because this is basically the Superman he never got to make .
Well I signify take heed , if you’re – think about it from The Batman Who Laughs ' perspective . On his humankind he was a appendage of the Justice League , he had his whole Batman kinfolk , and he killed all of them off . Because his thing is , ' I kill whatever I think could trounce me . ' But there ’s a part of him that thinks maybe he might have been too rushed in that determination . Because he did n’t get to habituate those people . Now he ’s here so he ’s like , ' Who can I employ ? ' It really came from the thought process of just … if you ’re The Batman Who Laughs , if you require to create an USA that ’s operate to go up against not just the hero of the DCU , but also the villains – who do you get ? The response ’s obvious : Superman . That ’s the first one you go after . So why would n’t he ? Why would n’t that be the first person he would go after ?
He goes and he get Shazam and some of the others first , but it ’s all strategic . Every character was picked for strategic reason . So with Blue Beetle , with Jaime , he pick him because he make out people would undervalue him . He knew that people do n’t agnise how powerful Blue Beetle is , and how great a hero he is . So he conceive , ' If I can get him , they ’re going to underestimate him . They ’re just give way to see him as some kid . ' So that ’s part of it , and also there ’s the technology aspect because of the Scarab . endure to get Donna Troy , because Donna Troy is a Titan , and he knows that would hurt the heroes , to cognise that he pulled in one of the Titans . And because Donna ’s tempestuous , you know ? She ’s frantic about everything that ’s been go on with the Titans . So he ’s able-bodied to go with her because he knows what that would mean to everybody . And then Shazam , you go back to Underworld Unleashed that Mark Waid and Howard Porter did , you saw that Neron was trying to bribe Superman because he was the most pure . But it was n’t . It was Shazam . I wanted to go back to that idea , that if you may corrupted Shazam , who is one of the most powerful and one of the most everlasting , you may corrupt anybody . So it was really a show of force . Which is also why he ’s the first we revealed .
Supergirl I ca n’t get into too much because it ’s too spoilery for stuff that actually happens in the book . Gordon was kind of progress - in , because of stuff that was run on in The Batman Who Laughs . We knew he was going to infect somebody who would hurt Batman . Someone who Batman is closemouthed to . And then Hawkman because of his connections with the Dark Multiverse . We already established all that stuff with him way back during [ Dark Nights : Metal ] and the approximation that he had been colligate with Barbatos , connected with The Batman Who Laughs . That was the big motive there . Hawkman is one of the greatest warriors in the DCU , so if you ask a warrior , a tank , you call for somebody you could utilize as a weapon , this is who you get . So I feel like it was strategic . We saw it like Batman Who Laughs . Who would I go after if I require the great unwashed who could help me win ? And we wanted to be surprising , that ’s part of it . There ’s a weird mix of obvious and not obvious .
There ’s just the littlest speck that Billy gives that … it is n’t just as childlike as turning evil .
It ’s not , yeah . There ’s unquestionably a series of one - shots to keep going some of that material . It ’s not just like you ’re turn malevolent or twisted . You ’re return in to your worst impulse , and this side of yourself that ’s selfish and intend . It ’s like what Scott was talking about … how you may do what ’s correct or what ’s wrong , but sometimes there ’s a grey area where you may make a decision . To be uncaring , selfish , and not deal about people , and only caring about yourself . That ’s what ’s happening to them . Look at Donna , she is so furious about what ’s go on with the Titans . She blames the grownup superheroes , She ’s an adult , you know , but she fault Batman and Superman . So when she goes up against them that ’s what she ’s mad about .
It ’s funny because we ’ve only seen Shazam so far , because he ’s a 13 or 14 year - sure-enough kid , right ? So you ’re seeing this edge - lord version of a teenager who all of a sudden is just like , ' I ’m going to start imprecate ! ' That ’s why I wrote him the manner I did . Like , let ’s write him as a Thomas Kid who ’s suddenly like , ' I ’m go bad to be a bad kid now ! ' You know , what is his version of that ? ' I ’m going to cuss ! ' So I drop a line him in that United States Department of State of nous . The other ones you ’re going to see they ’re not quite like that . They ’re not going to come out and be like , ' Hee hee hee ha ha ha . ' It is n’t like that . You ’re going to see them and be like , ' Oh they look different , but it ’s still them . ' They ’re just say what they feel is the true statement .
It already feels like a particular Batman and Superman story , even just for the little moments like … the idea of get wind Batman scrambling through someone else ’s Batcave looking for a resolution . And of course when Superman goes malefic , you have Batman chime in with ' They say I ’m wild . ' How has it been writing those ?
Oh , it ’s the most fun part .
Because you are still dealing with serious storyline , but other times it ’s hard to find those moments of levity .
I wanted it to be fun . So much of what we do now is so morose , and so we unquestionably live in the land of duskiness at times . But it ca n’t always be that , so I wanted it to be about these two hero , you know ? Have it be fun . There ’s a peck I could speak about with this , but you know , ' The submarine is only as good as their villain ' ? So I ’m go away to ask you this . get ’s say I give you a flashlight , okay ? If you go outside into full day and work that torch on … you fuck it ’s on because you turn it on . But you do n’t need it . You ca n’t see it , right ? Where would you turn over that flashlight on ? You turn it on in the dark . I wanted to show that the sound way to show how bright our sub are , and how much they beam , how much they are symbols of goodness and Leslie Townes Hope . The only means to really see how bright they are is to put them in the dark . So that ’s part of what the story is . The stuff that James and Scott and I have been building is , we ’re showing the darkness to show you how bright they are . That ’s part of the account with Batman / Superman , is we ’re able-bodied to show how vivid they are , but also how fun they are . There ’s still a lilliputian bit of crony - cop clowning , they poke eachother , they ’re sort of antagonists in their relationship , but we know they bank eachother , and we know that they ’re friends . So that ’s really what I wanted . That ’s why I feel like it has that merriment feeling , even though there ’s dark stuff happening all the metre .
I guess readers are prepared to see that difference between the dark and the light … even if they may not pull ahead , as seems to be how this is kick the bucket to wager out .
Well … I think of the story we ’re order is long . Like we were talking about in the beginning . Scott and James and I have been work up this story since 2016 , and it ’s changed , and it ’s evolve , and it ’s have bigger in some places . And now with what ’s happening in Justice League , all the poppycock come with Batman / Superman is there are wins . But you guy have to translate , I think once we get there you ’ll see that we ’re going to miss some conflict , we ’re going to win some battles , and then we ’ll get to the big state of war finally .
Speaking of modest fight , as a lifelong Captain Cold fan – who has always insisted Leonard is Barry ’s rival , not his opposition – the current comics take care to offer the first time Leonard Snart has get equal footing with Barry , now that he has his powers from Lex . Was this a personal Manifesto for you ? It seems like every writer who writes Captain Cold sets out to remind fans what ’s peachy about him .
I wanted to show why he ’s awful . But it ’s really uncanny , sometimes you ’ve got to make somebody who they ’re not , so they can find out out who they are . So Captain Cold is a Rogue , he ’s not an ' end of the man ' style supervillain . He ’s about this computer code , and his family . I need to show that part , but to really show that I require to show that … he needs to earn it , too . We know that , but he want to see it . So I need to get him to the berth where he can read it . Yeah , I ’ve been build up this chronicle with Cold gradually since the beginning , leading all the way through this plot line properly now . That moment with Barry – not to get too spoilery , but there ’s a bit where Barry and Leonard are alone for a moment , and they talk about it . They have a moment where they ’re kind of push into a berth together , and they speak about it . I require to have one last affair to say about Leonard , and that tantrum is going to have it .
I recollect everybody who work on The Flash , you want to work on sure characters , and you want to say something about them . Like with Trickster , I had a thing with him and Trickster . Or The Turtle . I want to show The Turtle could be shivery , and do one great Turtle story . Because , no offense to anybody else who ’s done a Turtle tarradiddle , there are actually some really coolheaded ace , but they ’re really short and lilliputian . Geoff [ Johns ] did a really smashing issue of Flash with Howard Porter where The Turtle is in it for like half the issue . And it ’s majuscule , and he ’s shivery , and he ’s twisted , and then he never puzzle to pluck it up again . I want to pick that up like , ' await you reckon this taste , let ’s build out on that . ' And it was majuscule because I got to have Howard Porter force it .
That ’s the key , I think , to write The Flash . You have to get your head into the baddie a little routine , and really attempt to suppose of Barry and the villain at the same sentence . That the scoundrel ca n’t just be an obstacle he ’s running around , or something to hurdle over . They have to rebound off eachother . In the first arc I had Godspeed do that , it was intentional to have Godspeed be somebody that Barry could bounce off of . Or with Eobard , my favorite arcs are the single where the villain – I reckon I had the most apprehension of them . So Eobard , Gorilla Grodd , Hunter , and then the Rogues … those are always the ones I look back at , the ones where I had the strong villains , that I ’m most happy with throughout .
I know fans are going to have their calendar distinguish for December , because all of these escort are lining up beautifully to bring one twelvemonth to an remainder and another one start . Can you tease how Batman / Superman is move to lead into that ?
Yeah , in December the three books are Justice League # 38 , Batman / Superman # 5 , and then Year of The Villain : Hell Arisen . Those are the three book . Everything is important , like Scott was say , everything is building to something . But for that special day those are the three books that are going to link them . That day you ’ll see how it ’s all contribute up to something fully grown , and then everything will stat amount together in December . I palpate like you could credibly record … I remember the order to say them in is Batman / Superman , and then Justice League , then Year of The Villain . Because Batman / Superman takes place at the same time but before Doom War .
I ’ll give you the chance to heap some kudos on your chum James call for over Batman . What do the great unwashed have to look forward to ?
Oh it ’s awe-inspiring . I ’ve read the first exit , it ’s great . He has so many awesome plans come . James has wanted to write that book eternally . That ’s definitely a aspiration thing for him . He bonk Batman , and … he want that Christian Bible really bad . So again I ’m really glad for him . The material he was talking about doing , and the story he ’s recounting , it ’s very good , and there ’s a lot of really fun clobber coming in that book . I do n’t desire to spoil anything for him , but he has a bunch of really fun stuff come in that Bible . It ’s really coolheaded . There ’s things that like – because I know the whole thing , I know the whole news report . Not just the first bit but the whole thing . And yeah , it ’s awesome . I was jealous . There was stuff in there that I was like , ' Aw man , I care I had thought of that ! ' There ’s things in there … ' I ’m so jealous you get to tell this fib . ' So yeah , he ’s doing really nerveless clobber .
Finally , I have to point out to you that Old Man Barry … a set of people answer to his foundation by noting how sexy he is . Do you care to respond ?
You should talk to Howard [ Porter ] . Actually I ’ll say this : I make a point in the script to utter about Barry and I tell Howard sometimes : ' You got ta make Barry sexy , man . ' So yeah , we put it in there for Old Man Barry specifically , from the very , very showtime . We first introduced him earlier than Year One , in Flash # 26 . So that was something Howard and I blab about . But yeah , there are specific contribution – there was in reality a scene in Year One where Barry opens the room access and he ’s just got out of the shower bath , and Iris is there . I wrote this whole thing to Howard , I wrote like a page basically of just being like , ' Howard , this is really crucial to me : you need to make the sexiest drawing of Barry Allen you ’ve ever done in your life . This needs to be the one , from this mo forth , that people use . ' Because he had his shirt undefended , and I was like , ' You ’ve got to make this like the one , homo . This has to be the second people are like , ' Holy diddley , Barry has a runner ’s soundbox , and he look amazing . ' He had it where he was wear sweatpants , but he was distinctly not bust underclothes so it ’s like hip … he knew what he was doing .
So yeah , the time that it ’s in there I taste to be like , ' Howard … this is significant to me ' [ Laughs ] . Howard is awesome . Howard is the good dude . He ’s one of those artists I ’ve worked with that I would work with forever , mankind .
The Flash # 81andBatman / Superman # 3are available now at your local comic Good Book shop .
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