At the recent Wizard World Chicago, Comics2Film sat down with the various men responsible for bringing the Dark Knight to his latest animated adventures in 'Batman: Gotham Knight'.
Fisrt up, the acclaimed writer Brian Azzarello wrote the segment of the film called "Working Through Pain", which involves a wounded Dark Knight struggling for survival.
Q: How were you chosen to write for Gotham Knight?
A: Greg Noveck contacted me, a week before I was going to Europe. He asked me if I would be interested in doing this. I said sure, and he said 'well I'm going to need it in two weeks.' So I had a nice hotel in Barcelona but I can't tell you much about the city itself.
Q: Why "Working Through the Pain"?
A: Because I was interested in telling something about the process of learning how to be batman. I didn't have much interest in writing about Batman himself but Bruce Wayne was something I wanted to do. It was hard, because fans want these movies to be super heroes jumping around. And this is Bruce Wayne learning to be the badass we know as Batman.
Q: How would you describe Bruce Wayne psychologically?
A: Really fucked up, it's that simple. Bruce Wayne is somebody who hasn't progressed beyond one event in his life. He's done everything he can to stay at a certain point in his life. He took over his father's business, lives in his father's house, he's constantly haunted by his past.
Q: Was it tough writing such a short segment?
A: It was ok, considering I only had two weeks it was awesome. I hit my 2 week deadline on the day.
Q: Is there a reason there's no official villain in your segment?
A: Yeah, they told me I couldn't write a villain in, it's that simple!
Alan Burnett is a staple of Bat-amimation, having written numerous episodes of 'Batman: The Animated Series' and 'Batman Beyond', as well as several of the direct-to-video features. Burnett's segment is called 'Deadshot'
Q: When were you brought on board?
A: I was brought on as it was happening. There was a segment that they had all laied out, and I was brought on after everything else was written.
Q: How different was the process from working on the various series.
A: Not that much different but, being direct to DVD I was able to use a villain that television would never let me use, Deadshot. They don't like guns on children's television, the audience for this DVD is a bit older.
Q: What do you think of the six segment style?
A: I really like it I'd like to see them do another one
Q: Were you given a beginning point and an ending point or allowed to go hog wild?
A: Well, I there is a certain progression to it. I wasn't given firm guidelines but had to follow the progression. Like in the beginning the cops are afraid of Batman but by the end they're secretly working for him.
Josh Olsen is well known to readers of this site as the screenwriter of 'A History of Violence'. Olsen took his turn on the segment called "Have I got a story for you".
Q: What led up to you're involvement in the movie, and you're segment "Have I got a story for you"?
A: I'm a huge Batman fan, and I had just bought a house. The most exciting thing about my house is that I have a closet that can hold my comic book collection, and there's room to keep it up for 10 years. That's how valid I am. So, I've always been a fan. 'History of a Violence' was based on a graphic novel, but that's not really like this. This film isn't necessarily based on a comic book. I had done some stuff through Noveck in the past, I was approached if I was interested in doing it. I can still hear my agent screaming at me, I had just been nominated for an Oscar. It raised my profile, and I had just turned down a huge studio project right before I took Gotham Knight. I love the idea, it was more then just a Batman cartoon.”
Q: What did you think of the animation style?
A: 'I was surprised by the detail, it seemed like no background was used twice. Even the most mundane scene would have very precise detail. It's truly amazing.”
'Batman: Gotham Knight' arrives in stores today!
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