As much as I love elements of Spider-Man's past, I don't really want to go back in and retell the Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin story in animation just so I can do my take on it. I don't want to redo the first 'Spider Slayer' story.
I loved Superman growing up. I saw a couple of those movies in the theater, and I watched 'Superman II' 8000 times.
I would not think twice about being part of any incarnation of the 'X-Men' films.
I'm a lifer for the 'X-Men' movies.
I never read any of the comics, but I grew up on the animated series when I was a little kid - I guess it came out in 1992. So I've always been an 'X-Men' fan.
'The Dark Knight,' for me, has the same problem that every other 'Batman' movie has. It's not about Batman. I think Heath Ledger is just phenomenal and the character of the Joker is beautifully written. He has a particular philosophy that he carries throughout the movie. He has one of the best bad guy schemes.
'Batman' is pretty much real world-centric.
It took them a while to catch on that Batman would be the greatest.
X-Men is massive, like nothing I've ever experienced. But great in its own way.
That's why people love Spider-Man: he's the most grounded, relatable of superheroes.
'Avengers' was a great comic-book movie. 'The Dark Knight Rises' is a great epic.
Superheroes are best imagined in comic books. The union between the written word, the image, and then what your imagination has to do to connect those allows for so much.
One of DC's strengths is our archive of storylines ranging from 'Watchmen' to 'Arkham Asylum' to 'Sandman.'
I met a bunch of comic-book writers at the Metropolis convention and there was such an interesting discussion about the story of 'Supergirl' and trying to get it right. It can be a challenge, because you don't want it to be the same as the Superman story.
I had never come across the 'X-Men' comics till I was asked to play Magneto, so I just jumped into that job.
There's a different energy to Spider-Man than there is to Batman.
I have grown up reading Marvel Comics and Marvel movies with their intricately woven storylines. It is fascinating to see how Marvel has created characters and stories that resonate so well with audiences across the globe, making movies at a scale that one had never before imagined.
When I started writing 'Batman,' I lobbied heavily to get rid of Robin - or at least not use him in the stories I wrote. Fighting crime with a teenager dressed in primary colors while you're sporting a gray-and-black outfit always struck me as child endangerment, if not abuse.
The Green Arrow stuff that I've responded to from the past is the Mike Grell stuff. I've liked a lot of other stuff, but I think for me, the direction and the mood and the tone that I really want is something much darker and more aggressive and really fast-paced action.
I like the 'Keystone Kops' storyline. It didn't actually go quite the way I wanted to, but it was another great way to show how different life was in these two different corners of the DCU, being on the ground in these different areas.
Deadpool was intended, as Cable was, to be tied into Wolverine's history.
I think our Batman had to be fun, light-hearted, funny, tongue-in-cheek... and I think that made kind of an homage to those earlier comic books, where Batman always had a quip or something.
It would be a really great to do a Marvel film - not even playing a superhero: just being part of that universe would be amazing.
'Forever Evil' is my love letter to DC super villains. It's my chance to take all of the villains I've worked with and all the ones I've never worked with and put them into one gigantic, epic story that will bring together the bads of the DC Universe.
I will say that Vertigo is an area of great interest to me. It is even less well tapped than other parts of DC, and could potentially offer amazing stories for our future television video game, digital and consumer products businesses.
