Many DC fanatics look to lots of different forms of entertainment, from comic books to movies, animated series, video games, and countless other mediums that have adapted the popular storylines and characters over the years. The brand is so popular that there are even fan series with immense followings.
One such example is the Red Hood Fan Series, which just kicked off its third season with a Red Hood vs. Batman fight. We chatted exclusively with Ian Lang (Ninja Kidz TV), who is not only the creator of the series and the actor who plays the lead, Jason Todd, but also a martial artist who does all of his own stunts.
We were interested in his unique perspective given his experience with super-heroic and vigilante-based stunts and fight scenes, and we asked a few questions about the inspiration he pulls from big productions such as those in the MCU or DCEU. Ian explained to us in detail his thoughts on the fight scenes in movies like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Daredevil, and which parts of the productions he looks to for inspiration.
One of the most interesting bits we learned was, as a martial artist and stunt person, why the scenes in Winter Soldier are more believable than the ones in Netflix's Daredevil.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.
3m 9s Literary Joe: Do you guys record the audio separate from when you're recording your fight scenes?
3m 14s Ian Lang: Yeah. I like camera audio for certain things; if you're running, gunning, and doing dialogue scenes, it's good to plug into a decent mic and shoot on the camera. But, for the stuff that you have the time for, we do ADR. Everything that you saw in that episode was all ADR. It's clean, or it sounds more professional. I like that ADR dialogue so that you can mess with it. In editing, ultimate control is king. Especially in the place that we were, we filmed that fight scene in January of this year. It was freezing, and there were 20 miles an hour winds. We were in somebody's garage. It was a big garage, industrial. But, you could hear the wind whipping on the door. To use that audio, people would be like, what is happening? Are they fighting in a blizzard or something? It wasn't supposed to look like that. It's one of those things that audio and music are always done afterwards because it sounds so much better.
9m 33s Literary Joe: You have a martial arts background. Can you tell me about when you started and what your background is? Do you do your own stunts?
9m 46s Ian Lang: I started martial arts when I was four years old. My main style was TaeKwonDo, and I have a third-degree black belt in TaeKwonDo. I've been doing different martial arts. I don't want to say mixed martial arts, cause then people think MMA. That's not the case. I have been doing a lot of different styles of martial arts for my whole life. It's something that I enjoy. I was also heavy into gymnastics for a long time, and stunt work was born out of those things.
I always wanted to learn stuff for movies. When I did, it was something that was put on the back burner for commercial acting and film acting. Then, when we started doing this Red Hood thing, and the Ninja Kids stuff, it was suddenly like, I can use my martial arts. It's finally paying off. The training is paying off. Now, I want to do my own stunts cause it's fun to do the fight scenes. It's fun to get beat up by Batman and get dragged off into the abyss.
25m 43s Nick Brooks: What are some of your inspirations from a combat standpoint or other comic book-inspired films you used for your fight sequences?
25m 43s Ian Lang: Winter soldier, 100%. That is my favorite Marvel movie. If I can shoot fight scenes like Captain America: Winter Soldier, then I will die happy. When I go to shoot a fight scene, like a grittier fight scene, I am always inspired by the Daredevil hallway fight or stairway fight, Captain America versus Winter Soldier, and pretty much anything from Into the Badlands. Those are my main fight inspirations every time I watch those fights, every time I go into a fight scene. That's a mix with that and our action DP Todd Robins shooting style.
27m 15s Literary Joe: What's it like as a Martial Artist watching scenes like that? Do you pick up on it?
27m 33s Ian Lang: Daredevil's probably the most notorious for me to pick up on fight scenes. You have an amazing scene like the hallway or stairs fights, and then he will do a spin kick that's impossible, and it's like, really? I try to let it be what it is if that makes sense. It's fun, and it's silly to let yourself go. If you want to do some crazy stuff, throw it in. Especially on YouTube, if it's not crazy flashy and ridiculous, people won't share it. That's one of the comments that I see about the new Death Battle. If you guys haven't seen the new Death Battle Winter Soldier versus Red Hood, the video is incredible. It was directed by my good friend, Danny Shepard, at Ismowhawk and one of the things that everybody's talking about is the ending. When you do that, people share it. People tell their friends.
We're trying to do more crazy things this season. We are trying to go a little harder on the PG-13 rating this season, as you'll see in the next episode coming out this October. We're going a little darker, a little deeper on this, a little bit more serious. Cause you got Bane coming, Talon is coming; these are real threats. This isn't the Court of Owls messing around. This is like, you're going to die if you don't keep your wits about you. Bane is out for blood at this time. He's an intellectual and a physical threat. He is essentially a buff Riddler that can physically kill you. We're trying to play that up. Hopefully, it works. If you want to check it out: Red Hood Fan Series on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Please jump on the YouTube site. If you want us to keep making these episodes, we need those views. We got to hit that like button. Jump on the Red Hood Fan Series! The first episode is out; the second episode is coming in a couple of short weeks. We would be honored to have more people join the Robin army.
*This interview has been edited for clarity. Audio is co-hosted by Comic Brooks.*
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 Red Hood Fan Series recently launched the first episode, with a new episode scheduled to release this month. Catch up on previous episodes here.