Geoff Johns recently sat down with CBR staff writer Jeffrey Renaud. He answered questions from fans and discussed various topics ranging from his work on Batman to the Flash. He had some very interesting things say about his work on the much anticipated "JSA" Smalleville episode.
This from the interview.
Interviewer: Can you share any other details about the upcoming two-hour episode of "Smallville" you scripted?
Johns: The whole experience was great. The producers asked me if I had any interest in coming back after working on the Legion of Super-Heroes episode last season, and part of the appeal was, of course, getting to introduce a version of the JSA to the "Smallville" mythos in much the same way. I thought getting to introduce the first live-action version of the Justice Society of America would be a great challenge and something really fun to try and do.
It's great that we've had Superman and Batman all over the place, but I'm a pretty big advocate of the other DC superheroes and villains and everything that we have and the potential to translate them to TV, and film, and video games, etc., I think often Superman and Batman are always the focus for that, and I hope to see that change. That's why I'm doing a little bit of what I can to introduce the other characters to the public at large. I think even on a slow night, "Smallville" hits about three million people, so you'll have three million people that night meet the Justice Society of America for the first time and find out what they're all about, and even if a fraction of those start to become more interested in the characters, that would double, triple or even quadruple the number of people who are interested in the JSA now.
Interviewer: How did figure out the story you wanted to tell in "Absolute Justice," and specifically the members who would be featured on "Smallville?"
Johns: They wanted to do Hawkman. They had a strong interest in Hawkman, so he was already on the table when I pitched JSA and they said, "We love Hawkman. We've been wanting to do Hawkman."
Friction between Hawkman and Green Arrow on "Smallville"And then the other characters I came up with were Doctor Fate and Stargirl. Doctor Fate is actually quite different than he is in the comics. I always liked Doctor Fate, but I pushed the concept of Doctor Fate a little further than it's been done in the comics. If you read Doctor Fate in JSA, I had him hear these whispers in his helmet. It's really disturbing, but that kind of thing doesn't really come across very well in comics because you can only mention it so many times before it's like, "OK. I get it." But on "Smallville," they can do it all the time, so there are these really cool hushes and whispers and you hear Nabu talking to him and it's very disturbing for those around him, which is cool. Doctor Fate is a bit of a tragic character in this, but I don't want to spoil too much more than that.
Stargirl is the new generation of the JSA, and the whole idea is that it's much like the comics. There was once a team, it fell apart and now it's coming back together and training the next generation.
Interviewer: Were you on set during filming?
Johns: No. It became a two-parter, so I started writing the second part while they were filming the first. And I had to go to New York for a post-"Blackest Night" summit. So that was too bad, because I would have liked to go to set. Unfortunately, I wasn't as involved on the production side as I was on the "Legion" episode. I love production.
Interviewer: Were you familiar with Michael Shanks, the actor who plays Hawkman? He should bring in some viewers himself due to his following from playing Dr. Jackson on "Stargate SG-1."
Johns: I'm not really familiar with "Stargate SG-1," but they showed me a bunch of footage of him and everybody on "Smallville" is really enthusiastic about him. Subsequently, I learned he had a huge following from "Stargate."
Interviewer: Do we get to see a faceoff between Shanks' Hawkman and Justin Hartley's Green Arrow?
Johns: In a brief way, but it's clear these two have friction of some kind. Some of it is because of a shared behavior. Justin really is terrific.
I'm not entirely sold on the Doctor Fate hearing voices situation, but this sounds like it will be worth watching.