Article by Eric Lee
Noted screenwriter John Ridley talked about his challenges when writing Batman for the DC Future State event.
In an interview with CBR, Ridley discusses that one of the biggest obstacle for him writing Batman is focusing on solely his story. Due to an embarrassment of riches in characters and concepts, it was difficult for Ridley to zero in on solely Batman, while allowing other writers to use the other characters.
“So this was taking meetings with other writers, with the group editor, sitting down and having a tighter set of guardrails and staying within these guardrails within the sandbox. It’s like when you were a kid, and your parents take you to the park and they say, ‘You can go on the slide, and you can go on the seesaw. But don’t leave this area. Don’t go away, have all the fun you can, but I’m going to sit right here watching.’
So that was a much bigger part with The Next Batman, of saying it needs to include these characters. This character is going to be the new Commissioner, the new mayor, their attitude about what’s going on is this and it needs to be reflected in your book. So it was great fun, it was a great challenge. I hope that there is, without giving anything away, perhaps there’ll be some more. But there was more working with a much larger team and having defined boundaries, and then having as much fun as humanly possible within those boundaries.”
DC Future Slate Predictions
What can John Ridley do for the Batman titles during Future State? Gotham’s future is mostly unknown. We do not even know who is behind the Batman mask. The previews so far imply Bruce Wayne has died.
We know that a group called the Magistrates took over Gotham. The mysterious group control Gotham in a draconian state. Masked vigilantes are illegal in this new Gotham.
Sounds pretty exciting, right?
DC will release Future State: The Next Batman in January and February of 2021.