The DC Extended Universe includes multiple live-action stories set in different iterations of the multiverse. Many of the most popular projects exist within either the CW-verse or what's generally referred to as the "DCEU,", with the likes of Justice League, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! as well as Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Black Lightning fitting neatly within one of those two worlds.
When we recently spoke with martial artist, actor, stuntman, and the Red Hood Fan Series creator, he explained that DC Comics loves the show, with support shown by creatives such as Greg Cappulo, Scott Snyder, and numerous others. He also pointed out that DC and Warner Brothers enjoy the free advertisement and want them to have their creative freedom under one condition - the audience can't get the show confused as being part of either of the "legitimate" live-action universes.
To listen to our chat with Ian Lang, click the podcast player below. We also included our previous chat with Ian and the other stars of the series along with the transcript.
2m 10s Literary Joe: What kind of response have you guys been getting from your seasons?
2m 18s Ian Lang: The people that have watched it are excited. It's funny because we had front-loaded many things and tried to get people excited to have this be our big number season. And because of the delays, we've had to spread out the episodes and things we were going to do. We have gotten many positive responses, which is awesome, but I think people adjust to the shorter episodes. But I assure everyone, even though they're shorter, we'll have more of them. People were excited about the episodes, but because they were longer, the season itself was shorter. It was only five episodes. So, this time, we're opting for eight to ten episodes. They're a little bit shorter, which is better in streaming culture.
4m 22s Literary Joe: How many episodes have you filmed so far?
4m 30s Ian Lang: It's funny because, like I said, with the restrictions of COVID, and we had the riots in Salt Lake, all that stuff. We ended up having to shoot random parts at different times. We have pieces of every episode filmed and are solid. Nadav has finished, we have all of his scenes done. But Ashton, we've shot two little things, and we have a bunch more to shoot. It's all been like, who's here? Who's not? Who's available? Which production worked like that anyway, but especially this year, it's been crazy.
16m 30s Literary Joe: Is Ninja Kidz TV on hiatus while season three of Red Hood goes, or is that something that's still going on at the same time?
16m 38s Ian Lang: No. We're doing that perpetually. Red Hood occasionally goes on hiatus because we're doing something big on Ninja Kidz. We have a huge Batman Ninja Kid's crossover coming out on Ninja Kids a pretty soon. It's going to be exciting. We did a big Batman video earlier this year, and it got 35 million views. We're hoping to do a new one, and it's going to be bigger, and you may or may not see some Red Hood in it.
17m 28s Literary Joe: Have you had any response or reaction from anybody at DC or Warner Brothers since you guys have been picking up so much steam?
17m 37s Ian Lang: They like it. Through this series, I've become social media buddies with Scott Lobdell, Dexter Soy, Scott Snider, and Greg Capullo. We got a chance to talk to Jim Lee last time at Wonder Con. Its been pretty universally positive. We don't sell merchandise or cash in on a name that's not ours. It's free advertising for DC. And think our stuff is cool. I think where people get in trouble is when the audience can confuse it. We're in the midst of this Snyder-verse and this dark thing. Our show is clearly a YouTube show that clearly does not fit into the Snyder-verse.
18m 58s Ian Lang: It does not fit into the CW. People are not going to get confused. They're not going to shut that down because if anything, we sell more comics. To them, its a win. We get to keep having fun with characters we care about, and they get to sell more books, t-shirts, and whatever DC licensed ex action figures and all that stuff. Which if you haven't seen them yet, the new McFarland action figures are awesome. I'm pre-ordering them all over the place.
*This interview has been edited for clarity. Comic Brooks co-hosts audio.*
Is this the end of the Red Hood?! Season 3 for Red Hood Fan Series! following the events of seasons 1 and 2, Jason Todd (Ian Lang) finds himself questioning his superhero roots and yearning to put The Batman and Robin days behind him. Being pulled back into the fray by his younger brother Damian Wayne (Son of Bruce Wayne - Ashton Myler) and current Robin, they must solve the mystery of The Court of Owls, and find their former partner and brother Richard Grayson (Nightwing) who is rumored to have become the new Talon. Little do they know, that a much more nefarious evil looms over Gotham City, the unstoppable force of Bane. Can they defeat one of the strongest villains of The Batman? Or will they need the Justice League on their side!?
Season 3 of the Red Hood Fan Series recently launched the first episode, with a new episode scheduled to release this month. Catch up on previous episodes here.