In a lengthy interview with The Geek Files, Marvel artist and Kick-Ass co-creator John Romita Jr. has talked in detail about Jeff Wadlow's upcoming big screen adaptation of Kick-Ass 2. When the first movie went into production, the comic book was unfinished (hence some of the differences in the last act of Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman's screenplay) but now the second volume is on sale and we're two issues into Hit-Girl. He also goes on to share his thoughts on The Avengers and The Dark Knight - turns out that he's yet to see Christopher Nolan's final film in the franchise - revealing why Marvel's take on their characters is far more to his liking. Be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the page in order to read the interview in full.
On His Involvement With The Big Screen Adaptation Of Kick-Ass 2: As far as my involvement goes, it's pretty much getting as many books done as soon as possible before filming begins. I have the third, fourth and fifth issue of [the Kick-Ass spin-off miniseries] Hit-Girl to get finished this summer, which is doable, and I think that's my addition to the filming process. As far as adding anything while the filming's going on, that's probably up to the director, Jeff Wadlow. There was talk of another animated clip in the film but that was early on and who knows if he's changed his mind or not or what the budget constraints will be. So to this point, for me it's having the second Kick-Ass series done and now getting the Hit-Girl series done before they begin filming. So I need to get three issues done - 60 pages - before filming starts, which I was told would be this September.
On How Much Of The Film Will Consist Of The New Hit-Girl Series: As far as I know, the Hit-Girl comic is actually the beginning of the film. Kick-Ass 2 is the second half of the film. It's an interesting thing that occurred. The filming got pushed back due to contracts and the actors not being ready, so it worked out well that way [in allowing more time to get the comics finished]. So as soon as Mark [Millar] and Jeff Wadlow had discussed what they wanted to do, we got to the point where the Hit-Girl story would be the beginning of the film. Now it's just up to me to get things done as quickly as possible. The director has Mark's synopsis already with pretty good detail - not a script per se - but a detailed synopsis so he knows what's going to happen. There's a screenplay already, so having the series done far enough in advance for the director to use some of it, all of it, none of it, but for him to have a choice, is the ultimate goal and I'm just going to try and get the Hit-Girl series done as soon as possible.
On How He Feels About Joss Whedon's Marvel's The Avengers: I think this Avengers film is as good as it gets. The guys that worked on it were comic people. And that's important, to have that innate feeling about comics, the comedy, the looseness of the dialogue and the strength of the characters, the strength of the images, they're indeed comic book people. We've seen movies that haven't been done successfully because they weren't done by comic book people per se. A lot of young directors, producers and writers have a history of reading comics. You have to. And now especially from here on in since the two are so joined now, film and comics, they are paralleled and are taking from each other. I think comics has always relied on film, artists and writers had to refer to films of their youth. I know I did. I think now it's both ways, filmmakers have read comics. Screenwriters are in the comic industry or some see their screenplays become graphic novels. This is the way it's supposed to be and I think it works well, the Avengers movie works well as a typical joining of the two.
On How He Feels About Christopher Nolan's Take On The Batman Franchise: To be honest with you, I didn't like the Dark Knight. There are a couple of things that ruined the whole movie for me. As a film it was done beautifully, it was visually amazing. I just thought there were some things in there that just... first of all I hate the Joker, I just don't like the character. So, the fact that this character has no power at all, he just has control over all of these minions that can do his dirty work - though we only see a handful of them - I was amazed that he could do everything that he could do. That's just a story point I don't care about. Then of course having a gun in the courtroom in the beginning, that drove me crazy, ruined the whole movie for me. But beside that, I think you have a point. There's a gigantic budget and they're spectacular movies to watch and even the acting was amazing. But there is something missing. Dark Knight was a huge financial success but I just didn't care for it and I don't think people cared for it as much as they cared for the Avengers. So I'm a fan of comic movies just not a fan of the Dark Knight movies though I am sure the new one [The Dark Knight Rises] is spectacular and what Christopher Nolan can do goes without saying. As far as the story being as good as the Avengers, I doubt it. But I'm a little bit biased. [Laughs]
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.