Duane Capizzi on Superman: Brainiac Attacks
Interview Conducted by Jim Harvey
Duane Capizzi is best known as the writer, producer and story editor for the Kids WB! hit The Batman. Fresh off of The Batman‘s third season and direct-to-video feature ("The Batman vs. Dracula"),
Capizzi jumps headfirst into the world of Superman with the Man of
Steel’s first direct-to-video feature, "Brainiac Attacks."
Duane took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down with us and give us some insight on the process of Brainiac Attacks, as well as drop some very interesting hints about the upcoming season of The Batman.
June 15th, 2006
First off, take us through the plot for "Superman: Brainiac Attacks" and why
Superman fans should give it a spin on June 20th?
Why do you always ask me to spoil the movie for you?? 🙂 I’ll say this much: the plot involves a classic alliance between the two big Superman rogues, Lex Luthor and Brainiac, while catching Superman at a crucial juncture: he comes to feel he’s living a lie with Lois Lane, and must decide whether or not to reveal his true identity to her. While Superman juggles these heroic and personal aspects of his life, the two intersect when Lois becomes critically injured. Superman goes to the ends of the
Earth and then some to save her: it’s as if we took the end of the first
Donner film and made it the dramatic center of our entire story, played for high emotional stakes. It’s an intimate story, yet at the same time very epic.
How were you approached to write this project? And what’s it like being asked to write a movie for such a huge icon like Superman?.
I wasn’t sure I was the right guy for the job, since I’d been living in
Gotham City for so long and had never written for the Son of Krypton before. I wasn’t looking to reinvent the wheel, just to tell the best
Superman story I could.
Did you have to adapt to write for Superman, who’s such a different character than Batman? Why or why not?
Mostly, I just did as much "homework" as I could in the time allotted: revisited the Donner films, reviewed as much of the animated series and
Fleischer cartoons as I could, re-read some of the classic stories — mostly to get the voices and tone in my head. Then I was off and running.
Coming off a successful season of The Batman, how did that affect your approach to writing this new movie? Did it rush you, and were you forced to compromise due to time constraints? How? Why?
Let’s just say a tighter-than-usual deadline forced me into a period of very intense focus. But nothing was compromised, it was the script I wanted to write. Curt Geda, the film’s director, was more than pleased with the results, and I was glad to discover I could write for Superman after all.
What inspirations did you draw from when writing
"Brainiac Attacks"?
Did you make sure to stay dedicated to the continuity of the series this movie is based off? Were you intimidated to be writing a movie for the
Bruce Timm cartoon, with a notoriously imposing fanbase?
I was more intimidated writing and producing The Batman, knowing that it was a conscious departure from the previous series. That wasn’t so much an issue here: aside from the characterization of Lex Luthor, who is written and acted in the Gene Hackman mold (to coincide with the portrayal of Luthor in the upcoming ‘Superman Returns’), the movie doesn’t attempt anything too avant-garde — though it does explore some until-now unknown phenomena of the Phantom Zone (arguably my favorite sequence among awesome sequences: it’s this movie’s "blood bank" sequence, IMO). Otherwise, the movie is fairly true to the characterizations of the Bruce Timm series though it is not intended to be in continuity, but a purely stand-alone feature.
Rumor has it that plans for a Superman series along the lines of The
Batman were in the works, with you at the helm. Any truth to those rumors, and if so, any word on what the show would have been like?
If there are plans, I’m not aware of them.
Overall, how was your experience writing this movie, how did it differ from writing "The Batman Versus Dracula", and would you like to take a shot at Superman again in the future?
Aside from one being a horror film and the other an epic romance-tinged sci-fi adventure? I suppose in some ways "TBVD" came more naturally because I’d been living with the characters for a couple of seasons, whereas I had to learn Superman as I was writing him. But I surprised myself along the way by knowing more than I thought I knew. As for the future: I’m ready for more, bring it on.
And to wrap up, can you drop any tiny hints on what to expect on
The
Batman in season four?
Season Four may be the most fan-oriented season yet. It’s no secret that we’re introducing Robin to the series; we’re also going to meet
Nightwing in an episode, in a very interesting way. Penguin will attempt to form his own version of an "injustice gang," and among other villains we’ll be meeting Killer Moth, the Matt Hagen version of Clayface, Black
Mask, and Harley Quinn (in an episode penned by none other than Harley’s creator, Paul Dini). We’ll also discover more about Riddler’s past, and
Batman will finally team up with a superhero from outside the ‘Detective
Comics’ universe. Yes, it’s a JLA member — but I won’t say who because
I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.
The World’s Finest would like to thank Duane Capizzi for his participation in this Q & A.