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Verdragon writes...
Since you've written for the character before, what are your thoughts on the MCU version of Spiderman, and what do you think makes a good Spiderman adaptation as a whole?
Greg responds...
Generally speaking, I like the MCU Spider-Man. There's a lot to like. I like his youth and inexperience. I like his good intentions, not always backed up by his relatively inexperienced actions. I may have quibbles here and there, but they're relatively minor.
What "makes a good Spiderman adaptation as a whole?" Well, for starters, you definitely need a hyphen. It's Spider-Man, not Spiderman.
Beyond that, I think I've answered this question in great detail - over two seasons and twenty-six episodes: it's called THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN. That's my version of the best way to adapt the character. I'll let it speak for itself.
Guest Ramble
I'm attaching a ramble J. Michael Straczynski posted back in 1995 on usenet in response to a very negative reaction to even a hint at a same-sex tryst on an episode of "Babylon 5". The point of Greg Weisman posting this is not to get into a discussion of religion or LGBTQ+ issues. Or even to get into a discussion of "tolerance," which was a big buzzword in the 90s, but which, as I've stated before in many ways, I find insufficient. The point of me posting this is to show that just because SOME FANS don't like something doesn't mean EVERY FAN feels the same way. And so, be careful what you wish for, right? Because if people start telling creators what they can and can't put into their shows, you may not like what ELSE they remove.
See, here's where I start to have a problem. For starters, I don't do any thing to be politically correct, or politically incorrect, I do what I do in any story because that's what the story points me toward. Anybody who says "It's not necessary" isn't entitled to that judgement, frankly; you don't know what's necessary to the story. And by framing it in the "is this NECESSARY?" way is designed to make you defend your position when such defense isn't the point; is it NECESSARY to have humor? to have a romance? to have correct science? No, *nothing* is NECESSARY. It's what the writer feels is right for that scene, that story, that character.
"Oh, well, I saw it, but was all that violence NECESSARY?" This is, frankly, a BS observation usually offered by someone with an agenda, who wishes to invalidate the notion of an artistic view and impose some kind of quota, or objective criterion to what is and isn't necessary for a movie or film. As far as I'm concerned, the first person to throw this into a discussion has, frankly, just lost the argument.
Point the second: one of the most consistent comments I get, in email and regular mail, is the spirituality conveyed in the show, that we have shown, and will continue to show, tolerance toward religion, even created sympathetic religious characters. "Thank you for your tolerance," they say...until we show somebody or some action THEY don't like...and at that point suddenly it's a lot of tsk-tsking and chest thumping and disapproval; so okay, how about I just stop all positive religious aspects of the show?
It seems to me, that if I do *all that* with religion, and with thje (the) simple act of showing maybe ONE PERSON in all the long history of TV science fiction across 40 years has a different view of life, that the show is somehow degraded, or downgraded, or dropped in opinion...this simply reinforces the notion, held by many, that a lot of folks in the religious right wish to make sure no other perspective or lifestyle is ever shown on television, at any time, unless in a negative fashion.
The thing of it is, while on the one hand I'm getting praise from religious folks for addressing spirituality in my series (speaking here as an atheist), I've gotten flack from others who think it has no place in a SCIENCE fiction series, and why the hell am I putting something in that goes right against my own beliefs? "Because," I tell them, "this show is not about reflecting my beliefs, or yours, or somebody else's, it's about telling this story, about these people, with as much honesty and integrity as I can summon up. That means conceding the fact that religious people are going to be around 260 years from now." Well, fact is, all kinds of people are going to be around 260 years from now. And what did the anti-religion folks say specifically about including spirituality in my series? "It's not *necessary*," they said.
Translation: they didn't like it. Well, tough. It was right for this story, and this show. And it seems to me rather hypocritical for some folks, who applaud the show for tolerance, for my standing up to those who want to exclude religion from TV, to then turn around and say the show is diminished because it showed that same tolerance...to another group or perspective. I guess tolerance is only okay as long as it's pointed one way.
You say that as a christian, you think any sex except that between a husband and a wife to be wrong. Well, as I recall, the bible also speaks against murder. We've depicted deaths by the hundreds of thousands. (And we're talking here about the *depicting* of the act, simply showing it, not the value judgements made after the fact.) Why does the one (which is so barely hinted at as to be almost invisible) cause the show to be diminished where the other does not?
My job is not to reinforce your personal political, social or religious beliefs. My job is not to reinforce MY personal political, social or religious beliefs. Then it isn't art or storytelling anymore, it's simply propaganda. My job is to tell this story, about these people, AS people, as mixed and varied as they are today. And there is no outside objective criteria as to what is, or isn't *necessary* in a story; that is the sole province of the author. You may or may not like it. You may or may not choose to watch it. Just as people who don't like to see religion and god discussed on TV may dislike it or choose not to watch it.
But you'll excuse me if I see complaints about this one little thing from the religious side, after all I've done to present religious characters and the religious life in a positive fashion, to be hypocritical and frankly somewhat ungrateful. It's as though all this means nothing because of one thing, one outside-imposed litmus test that disregards anything and everything else that has been done.
So straight up...if I should stop tolerating or showing viewpoints that are not my own (spoken as someone who is absolutely straight), then should I now stop showing religion as well? Because that's what this comes down to. Is that what you want? Because religion is included at my discretion as well as anything else on this show. You want me to be less tolerant? Just say the word.
Borris writes...
Hi Greg.
1: Has Lois won a pulitzer in universe?
2: How proud of you about the continued success of Kaldur'ahm? DC's Aquaman: The Becoming shows that he's become a mainstay of the DC universe
Greg responds...
1. Hm. Not sure. I'd want to discuss that with Brandon.
2. I know I should just say, "It's great!" But iIs it fair to say I have mixed feelings? On the one hand, I feel like the Jake that's soon to star in his own show is two iterations removed from Kaldur (via Jackson), and that Brandon, Phil and I don't get the proper credit for creating what was the basis for the character. On the other hand, I'm glad that his reach is expanding on any level. It's a conundrum.
Anonymous writes...
Have you by some chance seen or read "March Comes In Like A Lion"/"3-gatsu no Lion", somehow the storytelling in that is very reminiscent of your style of writing, if you have not I highly recommend you watch it.
Greg responds...
I have not.
Anonymous writes...
Hi Mr. Weisman, really love watching Phantoms and the fruits of your labor! I had a bit of a different question for you.
You said in the past that you were impressed with Avatar: The Last Airbender and you were planning on watching The Legend of Korra after.
1) What did you think about the sequel series? Particularly in relation to its predecessor?
2) I know you try to keep your own work original and you try to avoid taking outside ideas, but were there certain elements (story or character) from either Avatar:TLA or TLOK that you felt were interesting to use in your stories?
3) If you had an opportunity to work within that universe, would you craft a story with gambits that you're so famously known for or would you take a different direction than usual?
Thank you again. Young Justice and Avatar/Korra were large elements of my childhood and what stands out to me are the very strong themes, characters, and over-arching narrative. I feel pretty blessed to be part of a generation that could have not only enjoyed it but grew up with them as well.
Greg responds...
1. I haven't watched it yet. I watched Avatar with my son. Now, he's all grow'd up and living 3,000 miles away, and we don't have the same kind of time to sit together and watch an entire series. Still would like to someday.
2. I actively try not to think that way.
3. That's such a massive hypothetical, I don't even know how to answer it.
Crossoverparinglover writes...
Unrelated to the last one and thought I'd ask.
Are/were there any other series, beside Scooby Doo, that you explored/are curious about crossing into YJ from beyond DC (I assume if you are, say, in talks for Ben 10 x Young Justice you can't say)
Not sure how the legalese of that question works, as sometimes it feels like rights get lost in WB sometimes.
Greg responds...
I can't think of anything, honestly. Doesn't mean some random idea wasn't tossed out at some point, and I've simply forgotten. But nothing's coming to mind.
Unless you count the just-for-fun Gargoyles/Spectacular Spider-Man/Young Justice crossovers I wrote for various radio plays at various conventions, all of which can be viewed on YouTube.
Isaac writes...
Hello! I was wondering if you ever watched Robert Kirkman's Invincible (2021) animated series? It's about superheroes and gave me the same vibes as Spectacular Spider-Man and Young Justice (just WAY gorier). I really enjoyed it, and one aspect of it that I absolutely loved was the longer episodes, running about forty-to-fifty minutes each. I know it's way above your pay-grade, but I was just curious, if you had the choice, would you want to extend your episodes to fifty-some minutes like Invincible? Or would you want to keep them a little over twenty minutes? Assuming of course you'd be able to still produce twenty to twenty-six episodes for each season, which Invincible didn't do at just eight episodes per the first season.
Anyways, Happy Halloween! I'm eagerly awaiting the next episode of YJ Phantoms! Artemis' arc is looking to be fantastic!
Greg responds...
I haven't seen Invincible.
In some ways, I'd love to stop worrying about episode lengths entirely. But I'd still want the same quantity of episodes (or more). And budget is definitely a factor. It's been great on the last couple of seasons of YJ that if we have (within our budget) been freed from the constraints of a maximum length. But I don't feel like we've been hugely restricted by running between 22 and 27 minutes. Don't know that we need "fifty-some".
Josh writes...
1. Do you consider yourself a fan of the horror genre?
2. I read on here that you watched the pilot of Penny Dreadful. What did you think of the show in its entirety, assuming you continued to watch it? Personally I thought it was one of the best shows of the 2010's.
3. Did you enjoy the FX show Legion?
Greg responds...
1. Not particularly.
2. I liked it quite a bit until the last season, where I felt they were working REALLY hard to tie it all up and finish it. I also watched Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and wasn't as thrilled.
3. Most of it.
Todd Jensen writes...
A couple of weeks ago or so, the comic strip "Sally Forth" had a scene where the family was discussing Halloween decorations for their house - and suggested gargoyles, but wanted to make them the ones from the "Disney nineties series". I thought it was a pleasant surprise for the show to get a casual allusion like that (and in the Comics Kingdom discussion section, a few posters had fond memories of the series; one particularly praised the voice actors).
Greg responds...
That's nice. Sally Forth isn't in the Los Angeles Times anymore, so I missed that. Too bad.
Antiyonder writes...
1. Is there still the interest in doing a Young Justice/Scooby Doo film? I figure even with YJ now being for a older audience it wouldn't be out of place considering Scooby's appearance on Supernatural.
2. Was it planned as a canon story (and as such the Mysteries Inc. Gang being part of continuity)? Or does the Newsgirl Legion presence change such is previously a yes?
Greg responds...
1. Brandon and I are still interested. I don't know that anyone else at WB ever was.
2. We never got that far. But we were, at the time, willing to do a Scooby import into the YJ universe, or a YJ import into the Scooby universe.
Todd Jensen writes...
Earlier this year, two of Disney's television animated series included allusions to "Gargoyles". The first was the series finale of "Duck Tales", which had an already-established character, a headless horse named Manny, become a Goliath-counterpart (including a scene where he grows a head and wings while the theme music of "Gargoyles" plays, then cries - voiced by Keith David - "I live again, again!" - it makes sense in context). The second was in the Season Two finale of "Amphibia", where one of the characters is seen looking through a book on legends, which had a picture of Goliath drawn in the style of Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man".
I was wondering if you'd heard of these two nods to the show, and if so, what you thought of them.
Greg responds...
I'd heard about both, though I haven't seen them myself.
It tickles me.
Alex writes...
1. Do you think Xanatos will ever form a club with Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn? I can't imagine he would find Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark fun for long :)
2. Regarding their wealth do you think Xanatos and Luthor are billionaires and Osborn was a multi millionaire in terms of wealth?
Greg responds...
1. I think we touched on this in one or two of the RadioPlays. You can check 'em out on YouTube. There are links in the Gargoyles Wiki.
2. I haven't done the math.
Krazyfan writes...
You like Ghost Rider, right? since they have the ability to amplify and boost anything they ride on, what kinda things would you ever want to see one ride? I kinda like the idea of Johnny or another Rider Riding, and therefore Boosting, either The Hulk, or the Helicarrior...
Greg responds...
Um... how about a motorcycle? Is that too radical?
Jim writes...
Would you ever like to write for Power Rangers?
Greg responds...
Ironically, I'm not categorically opposed. But that's a very big hypothetical. No one's ever asked me.
Zero writes...
What do you think of Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Greg responds...
I generally like him quite a bit.
FallenLegend writes...
Hey Greg just wondering if you noticed how Keith David mirrored Puck's role n gargoyles.
In Star vs the forces of evil, Keith plays Glossarick who is basically a magic mentor. In one episode he took a baby magical princess called Meteora in a magical adventure to teach her magic while her mother wasn't aware.
This reminded me of Puck doing the exact same thing with Puck and Alex Xanatos.
Just wanted you to know Goliath now went full circle and played Pucks' role. Cool, isn't it?
Greg responds...
Very.
Jack Carpenter writes...
Who's your favorite Captain America villain?
Greg responds...
Um... probably Red Skull. Haven't given it much thought though.
SLI writes...
Hello,
Like many people, I watched Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse recently and found it delightful (don't worry though, SpecSpidey will always be my favourite rendition of the character).
Into the Spiderverse was very clearly a Sony production and not a Disney one, which I take to mean that while Sony gave Disney back the rights to making animated Spider-Man shows, that clearly does not apply to animated Spider-Man films, at least not at the moment.
1) Does that mean that the SpecSpidey art/story assets would be usable by Sony in a film?
2) Could this realistically mean that if a future "Into The Spiderverse" sequel or spin were made and more "Spider-verses" were introduced (which seems like an obvious next step for them), that we could see SpecSpidey as one of those spider-verses?
Given that they brought spider-man noir into 3D space and somehow made that work, I don't imagine they'd struggle with SpecSpidey's art style, if it came to that.
After all, they were willing to bring in the 1967 cartoon as one of their alternate universes, though hopefully in the case of SpecSpidey they'd take it a bit more seriously, perhaps by bringing in Josh Keaton and a writer or two from the original show...?
Greg responds...
1. I don't know, but I doubt it's that simple.
2. I don't know, but I tend to think it unlikely.
One can dream...
Marvelman writes...
Have you seen Julie Taymor's a Midsummer Night's Dream? Do do you own the Blu-Ray? What did you think of it?
Greg responds...
I did see it, some time ago. I recall liking aspects of it a lot. I don't own the Blu-Ray. I don't own many Blu-Rays.
Alpha 3 writes...
Hello! You most definately get this alot but i am a huge fan, and this question is of a personal nature, although not too personal i think.
You see there is someone close to me who keeps trying to "shame" me because i like to watch cartoons, such as Young Justice/Ducktales/Star vs the forces of evil
Just to name a few. As well as animated movies, this person believes that animation is solely for little kids, and i shouldnt be watching any of them just because im a young adult.
I have tried to get this person to watch some, you know give it a chance and all that, i tried getting him to watch the Gargoyles dvd i bought! but he is hellbent on not doing so. So my question is, how do i explain to this person that not every animated show and movie isnt just for kids?
I know getting him to do a complete 180 on this subject is just wishful thinking lol but i'm mostly asking just to maybe tell him a more indepth response, especially if it comes from someone who works in the industry.
Greg responds...
I'm not sure how to convince your "someone." But if you're a young adult, I think it's fair to say, "I disagree with you strongly. Animation is a medium. It is not by definition for kids or adults. It all depends on the content. And even if some of the stuff I watch IS for kids, how does that affect you in any way? Please respect that I know what I like and watch what I like."
Or something like that.
FallenLegend writes...
Hey greg It saddens me the fact that you will only read this in lik 3 years. I guess this will be a time capsule of sorts. But I jus wanted to take the time and state my admiration of your writting.
I honestly believe you're a very underrated writter. Yes you've been head of many shows.
But I think, big studios haven't fully apreciated your talents.
For example, how Dc comics ia losing big time by not hiring you as lead of their cinematic universe. People love the MCU, but I think that your tv shows have better writting than anything marvel has ever done on cinema.
If I were a big sstudio executive I would have you as lead writer of my franchise or movie universe and not just as freelancer you hire now and then. They would be earning millions.
I played fate go, the mobile game, and Nasu reminded me a lot of you in writing style (except he likes fanservice a lot more). Shakespeare is even playable in that game!
Probably the biggest think that is holding you back is the fact that you, unlike masu, don't own those franchises (hopefully rain will be your big success).
You changed the way I view stories, and taught me a lot by reading your answers and watching your shows.
I just want to thank you for sharing your talent with all of us. Thank you.
Greg responds...
Only two and a half years...
Anyway, it's not like I'd turn down the gig if by some miracle it was offered to me, but I don't honestly know if anyone (myself included) would consider me qualified to run a movie franchise. I might be good for the committee, maybe. But I've never made a live action movie.
And I personally LOVE the MCU. I'm not saying it's perfect, but every single movie has - at minimum - entertained me. And none of them has made me want to shout at the screen in anger.
But thanks for your kind words.
Anonymous writes...
Hi.
I just watched Young Justice Outsiders episode 4 and was wondering if the scene with Superboy & Brion fixing that bike was inspired by the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig?
Greg responds...
To a degree, yes. Maybe influenced is a better word than inspired?
Spitfire writes...
I bought a DCU membership soley for YJ, but since there's a number of shows available on the platform I decided to start watching Batman Beyond too (i'm 3 episodes in, but so far so good)
(1) Do you have a favorite episode/moment that you liked from Batman Beyond?
(2) Thoughts on Terry McGinnis?
Greg responds...
1. I only ever watched the pilot. And that was when it first came out.
2. I'm just not that familiar with the character.
B writes...
In https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=22687, where Mo asked "I just rewatched spectacular spiderman and I feel there were a few bits inspired by the Rami trilogy, is that true?" and you said "Since I don't know what the Rami trilogy is, I'm gonna say no.", they must have been referring to the original trilogy of Spider-Man films starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi. The Raimi trilogy.
Greg responds...
Oh, I get it. In that case, the answer is definitely yes. Sorry I misunderstood.
Anonymous writes...
"Young Justice: Oustiders" Questions:
1. So the Outsiders on this show is essentially the DC equivalent of Marvel's Secret Avengers...?
2. Barbara is now Oracle; that means "The Killing Joke" happened, right? No point in denying it... Anyway, hope Barbara will be able to recover and walk again...
3. Why is the Roy Harper clone going by the name Will now...? Did you get this idea from Star Trek: The Next Generation; more specifically, William Riker and his duplicate Thomas Riker?
Greg responds...
1. I'm not familiar with Marvel's Secret Avengers.
2. Something happened.
3. Will is Roy's middle name. It's a logical choice for him to give Roy full possession of the "Roy" name. I've seen those Thomas Riker episodes of the Trek franchise, but I don't think we really borrowed it from there. Just the same logic.
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