Now we know the show is happening, and we’ve seen the trailers, and we know Peter David is writing a few episodes. Hell, we even know that the new Aqualad is synergy with the show. But the producers did an interview over at ComicBookMovie, and here’s the sum of it.
Robin and Kid Flash are Dick Grayson and Wally West, according to Greg Weisman. “We went through and made the decision fairly early on that this was going to be a young DC universe, that Superman will have only shown up ten years ago, put on the cape ten years ago, Batman would have only put on the cape nine years ago, that the heroes haven’t been around that long, and once you’ve made that decision, then the idea of starting with Dick Grayson and Wally West, the original side kicks, they’re still young…”
Superboy is obviously Conner Kent, but Brandon Vietti had this to say about just where Connor is at in his career. “I don’t want to give away too much right now, but saying no to that is enough for now – he’s newly cloned, he’s 16 weeks old – he looks like he’s 16, but he’s 16 weeks, and this is a new interpretation of the character, but we feel it really stays true to the origins of the character and is a very honest portrayal of him, but I think he’s going to be different from what people expect.” Though they won’t confirm whether or not he’s half Luthor.
A big change from the comics, however, is Ms. Martian. While in the comics she’s a White Martian who wears the disguise of a Green Martian because, well, she’s not evil, that’s not quite the case here according to Vietti. “She’s the Martian Manhunter’s daughter.” Good for J’onn, a universe where his kid doesn’t die with the rest of his world.
Aqualad is Jackson Hyde, the one that’s been appearing in Brightest Day and will be making a full debut shortly. The one that’s the son of Black Manta and no attempt at all has been made to hide this. It’s also confirmed that he will actually be the leader of the team in the cartoon, as opposed to Robin who I felt was the obvious choice. To top it off, they also were nice enough to confirm that Garth, the original Aqualad, later known as Tempest, and currently known as dead, will also be appearing in the show.
An odd note from the writers was that the cartoon actually takes place inside of DC’s 52 universe multiverse, in particular on Earth 16. I actually prefer that to what Countdown: Arena set Earth 16 as the home of the super sons, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. I can live with that universe never being mentioned again, as with most things from Countdown.
On the note of the teams archer, the producers were quick to reiterate that she is not Arrowette. “It was a mistake online — someone assumed she was Arrowette, but I announced that she’s not Arrowette, she’s not Speedy, she’s not Wonder Girl, she’s not an Amazon, but she is an existing DC Universe character. We did not make her up.” Well, yeah, Artemis is real, she was Wonder Woman for a little while. She didn’t wear a green version of Mia’s Speedy costume though.
We also got some voice casting for the JLA themselves. Nolan North will be providing the voices of both Superman and Superboy, Bruce Greenwood will be Batman (he also voiced the Bat in the recent Red Hood animated release), Green Arrow will be voiced by Alan Tudyk of Firefly and Dollhouse fame, and hey, Captain Marvel is Rob Lowe!
Is anybody else as excited for this as I am? I had more or less given up on superhero cartoons after JLU ended, but this has me waiting impatiently.
