In an interview with MTV Splash Page, the writer best known for his work on projects such as Batman: The Animated Series, ustice League and the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game has revealed that he's part of the creative team behind the upcoming animated TV series which hits Disney XD in Fall 2011.
On The Creative Team Behind The Series:
" We're really all just going to go off each other's energy. Brian's work is a great part of the inspiration for the series, and the Man Of Action writers are going to handle the bulk of the episode scripting. Everything is going to be produced under the watchful eye of Jeph Loeb. We had an early meeting last week with myself, Jeph, and a few of the directors and designers, and I think everybody's on the same page with what we want the show to look like and the feel of the show."
On How Faithful It Will Be To The Comic Book Series:
"It's 50/50. There are elements that are going to come directly from the comics, and there are elements that are just going to take it into an entirely new and different direction — and yet, they're going to harken back to that particular iteration of Spider-Man."
On What We Can Expect To See In Terms Of Characterization And Storylines:
"We're going to be pairing him up with new and different Marvel characters. There's going to be a lot of guest-star action, and there's going to be a redefinition of Peter Parker within the Spider-Man world. We're going to change a few things — nothing too dramatically, but you look at the Spider-Man concept from the early '60s and you take a look at where teens are now, and you realize you can't really go back and redo what was done so well in the comics. You have to ask, "What if this was all happening today? How do you redefine 'With great power comes great responsibility?' How do you redefine the villains of that world and the supporting characters?""
"You also don't want to repeat the same old tropes. As much as I love elements of Spider-Man's past, I don't really want to go back in and retell the Gwen Stacy and Green Goblin story in animation just so I can do my take on it. I don't want to redo the first Spider Slayer story. I don't want to redo some of those classic Lee/Romita and Lee/Ditka stories just for the sake of seeing them rendered in animation. For now, I just want to approach Spider-Man with fresh eyes, taking a few things we know about him and just doing a new spin on the concept. I think old-time fans will find what we've done with the character to be pretty good and thoughtful, because we're not out to junk-up Spider-Man. That's not our intent."
On "Redefining" Peter Parker/Spider-Man:
"It's sort of like what Brian did with the whole 'Ultimate Spider-Man' idea. He just looked at it from a new perspective. There were things that made the fans sort of sit up and say, 'Hey, I never thought of that before, but it really does work with Spider-Man's universe.' That's the same thing we're doing here. We're also taking a much different approach visually with the way we show how Spider-Man moves and works and acts within this new world. It's going to be a complete change as far as the visualization of what it's like to be Spider-Man."
On How Many Episodes Will Be In The First Season:
"There's 26 episodes in front of us, and we're breaking it into two increments."
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