Comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis was on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk about his long career of writing comics, being the co-creator of Miles Morales and working on Superman for DC Comics after 19 years at Marvel. It’s like “if Superman, late in his career, moved to the Avengers,” as Meyers put it.
Naturally, he was asked about Into the Spider-Verse, since the Sony animated film really opened an entirely new audience to who Spider-Man could be and how there could be anyone under the mask. “Great filmmakers grabbed it,” he said, talking about the transition from the comic to the screen, “and did it better than us.” Miles’ popularity and the love for Spider-Verse, for Bendis, is like “a hug that never stops.” Considering the fact that Bendis has been someone at the forefront of creating diverse characters for comics for a long time, I’m sure it’s nice for him to have people actually enjoy Miles, en masse, instead of complaining about SJWs and “forced diversity” at him all day.
Meyers brings up that, yes, Bendis has written characters that everyone knows, like Superman and Batman, but he also keeps creating and writing other characters like the heroine of his newest DC Comic, Naomi, who is a Black female character adopted by a white family, who feels this deep connection to Superman that slowly unravels into a deeper mystery about herself. In the past, Bendis also created Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, a Black female character who is continuing the Iron Man legacy. Naomi is special because she’s a unique character, not actually connected to anyone from the DC roster or a “legacy,” but just a fresh face who fits into this already expansive universe.
Finally, Bendis gets to talk about the pressure of getting to write Superman as “a little Jewish kid from Cleveland” following in the footsteps of other Jewish comic book authors who’ve helped shape the legacy of one of the greatest comic book characters of all time. Part of the process is spending hours a day thinking, “What would the greatest person think? What would the greatest person do? Because if it isn’t the greatest, it isn’t Superman.”
Can I please get that on a t-shirt, mug, and to be placed on a billboard outside of Warner Bros. from now until the end of time? Thanks, that’d be amazing. Bendis is also bringing back the Legion of Superheroes and seems to really be tapped into the idea of highlighting the golden age of superhero idealism, which I’m honestly game for.
I haven’t picked up anything from Bendis other than Naomi, but just hearing this interview makes me excited to read his Superman because anyone who takes writing Clark Kent as a prompt to elevate themselves and be a better, greater person, gets why Superman matters.
(via The A.V. Club, image: Sasha Haagensen/Getty Images for Pizza Hut)
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