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Jacob Kusnerik writes...
Hey Greg,
LOVING the new Young Justice season! Can't wait to see how it all ends! Episode 13 (most recent as of this writing) was full of twists I didn't expect. Yikes! A little frightened by that stinger though, especially if that's who I think it was. Plus, with you-know-who? Dang! Right in the feels! This will undoubtedly get worse before it gets better, if at all totally. And that ending BEFORE the stinger! MAN!
A few questions I have about Mary though. I know she was Sargent Marvel on the Team for a while before being forced to give it up due to becoming drunk on power. As we've seen, Sargent Marvel is essentially Mary's evil side (like Jekyll and Hyde) that acts like a jerk and thinks she's better than everyone else, perhaps even Billy and Freddy (who I think was also a member for a while too.) Did Mary often times not change back from her other form, perhaps trying to stay Sargent Marvel 24/7, or at least as often as possible, which may have caused others to question? Also, did Mary/Sargeant's attitude cause problems on the Team for a while and rub others (like Conner, Artemis or Kaldur) the wrong way? Perhaps even getting into a fight with the Team before being stopped and Mary going cold turkey? Finally, I have to ask, WHAT caused a girl who's a sister to Billy Batson-one of THE nicest guys in DC and who never had much of a problem- to become so obsessed with power and seemingly being better than everyone through Sargent Marvel? In the comics, her attitude change was largely because she was corrupted by Black Adam's powers, but what about here? Was it being an orphan for perhaps longer than Billy was and not getting what he got sooner? Perhaps she was always secretly jealous he'd gotten a guardian (Dudley) and power by the Wizard before her while she had to scrounge around for so long.
Answer whenever you're able and keep up the good work.
Greg responds...
I'm not going to answer all your questions, because many are spoilers. But I'm happy to clarify ground that I believe has already been covered.
I wouldn't call Sergeant Marvel evil.
But things did get problematic, and she was beginning to spend less and less time in her Mary Bromfield form. And even as an eleven year old, she was starting to do things more appropriate to Sergeant's 18-year-old body. The feeling among her friends and family was that it had to stop. This didn't happen over night. She promised to cut back - and meant it - but kept backsliding. Eventually, she was convinced to give up being Sergeant cold turkey.
Mary is the one who was adopted right away, as a baby by the Bromfields. It's Billy who was in the orphanage for years before becoming Captain Marvel (now Shazam) and finally being fostered by Uncle Dudley (who is not his actual uncle).
Anonymous writes...
1 The heroes have a strict no kill rule so I am a bit confused by how thirteen just killed flaw with no issue.
2 Why did child spend so much effort killing teekl 1 since she knows that klarion can just choose a new familiar. Making her efforts ultimately pointless
3 Did teekl 1 genuinly see klarion as her friend
4 Does every chaos lord take the form of a child
5 Do the other chaos lords have a bad relationship with klarion like the child
Greg responds...
1. There's some question as to whether Flaw was truly alive. And then there's the self-defense rationale.
2. I just answered this. (Everyone, please try to avoid repeating questions.) Getting a new familiar isn't easy.
3. Yes.
4. Every one we've seen so far, I believe.
5. I think every Chaos Lord has a fraught relationship with every other Chaos Lord.
Captain Thunder writes...
Episode 13 wow what a way to kick of the Hiatus, Zatanna is a morally gray character instead of being completely white I like it.
1) So was the inciting incident was Zatanna thinking about Dr.Fate having four hosts instead of one?
2) So Is Granny just waiting for dejected super powered people waiting to temp them to their darker sides acting as a devil on the shoulder, I found this odd.
3) There seems to be a theme of addiction and unhealthy dependence to things, We have seen this theme somewhat hinted with Superboy in season 1.
3.1 And would I be right when talking about Red Arrow at the beginning of Season two was he having a substance abuse problem too?
3.2 Beast Boy coping with depression and sleeping pills.
3.3 Finally Mary who is actively atleast as of episode 13 relapsing, was all this intentional or am I reading too much into this.
4) Now if I recall correctly the Shazam Family was supposed to have an arc in season 2 so my question is was your plan for Mary always to have her be a presence like this in season four or did things change because of season 2. If I were to guess for the last thing and I don't know how right I am was the plan to have her be an active member of team and show her dependence on the power as she was initially part of the team in year 6 but this was later relegated to offscreen development between the 5 year timeskip.
5) Last question which has whatsoever absolutely no relation to the above questions, have you read Multiversity Thunderworld and did you like it, If not I really think you should read it and the rest of Multiversity especially Pax Americana, SOS issues. I think they should be right up your alley. Have a great day.
Greg responds...
1. Yes.
2. I didn't find it odd.
3.1. I think so.
3.2. Is there a question here?
3.3. I don't think you're reading too much in.
4. Actually, the Shazam Family was supposed to have an arc in our companion comic. Not Season Two. She was never supposed to be on the Team in S2. She was supposed to be at the wedding shower and in the group of heroes who go after the Reach devices at the end of the season. But in any case, the Comic was cancelled, so we never got back to it, and our timeline moved forward. And we couldn't spare the man-hours to design her for two cameos in S2. But the basics of Mary's predicament in S4 and forward were always part of the overall plan.
5. I have not read any of that.
Anonymous writes...
1 Did klarion genuinely care for teekl 1
2 Since klarion is capable of choosing a New familiar when his old one perishes anyway. Why was klarion so scared fighting child if she could do no permenant damage to him
3 Are there lords of chaos/order on other planets
4 Why can’t child just choose another familiar to return to the mortal plane
5 Does klarion’s familiar have to be a specific cat or was he just being picky when choosing teekl 2
Greg responds...
1. Of course.
2. As I'm sure you've seen by now, finding a new familiar isn't easy. And he was only sometimes scared, anyway.
3. Oh, sure.
4. It's not that easy - and it certainly isn't instantaneous. And now that she's lost, the other Chaos Lords might have something to say about it.
5. Both.
Allen writes...
So...time travel.
It appeared that time travel on Earth-16 operated on the ability to change the past and create a new timeline. We've seen that with Bart, where the timeline changed as a result.
However, with Klarion, we see that his shenanigans throughout the timeline have always been a part of it. The bus was always seen throughout the years and didn't change anything (we know this because we saw the bus all the way in season 1).
This seems to create two types of time travel that cannot co-exist: a) you can change the past and create a whole new timeline and b) you can't change the past and any time travel you do is already part of the timeline.
So my question is, which is it? Can you change the past with time travel or not?
Greg responds...
I don't see these as mutually exclusive at all.
As I've stated before, my preferred style of writing time travel is - as with Gargoyles - to go with the type where TRUE history cannot be changed. But the DC Multiverse just wasn't built that way. So we had to allow for the possibility of new timelines being created. But that's just it. It's a possibility. Not a certainty.
Think of it this way. Anytime you step outside you might accidentally step on a butterfly. But then again, sometimes you might not.
Matt Zimmer writes...
I loved the bit with Klarion as the Catbus. I thought it was funny and creative. And yet I confess to being a little disappointed in learning it was planned out seasons ahead of time. Aside from the fact that perhaps the saga's resident Lord of Chaos should not have his backstory or arc so meticulously planned out ahead of time I was kind of hoping it had been a happy accident.
My question is, when you were writing or planning this show (or any previous show) have you ever come up with a neat script idea on the spot and put it in a current season, and been amazed and pleased to see how well it fits in with everything else? Has there ever been a little bit of Puck or Klarion's unpredictability in writing current scripts or has all of the stuff we've seen since the first season already been decided? I think either way of writing is fine, but I would love to see a script where Greg said "This is awesome and I want to share this as soon as possible." I guess my question is if this has ever happened, and if it has, could you name-drop an example or two?
Greg responds...
It has. Often. We plan a lot, but we always leave ourselves open to ideas that hit us along the way.
The example that immediately comes to mind is (SPOILERS) the revelation that Owen is Puck. We knew there was an interesting backstory to Owen, but didn't know what it was. Then when we were working on "The Mirror" - i.e. the episode that introduced Puck - Lydia Marano, Brynne Chandler Reaves and I separately realized that Owen and Puck were one and the same.
Mali writes...
Hi! My names Mali and I’m a HUGE
fan of young justice! The issue is I’m Canadian and can’t get HBO max. I want with all my heart to watch season 4 and I just want to know how I can steam/watch it. I would love to even buy it on dvd
Greg responds...
I don't know the answer to that. But I'm hoping you can find a way.
Paul writes...
When Troia is helping Diana and Cassie in "Og Htrof Dna Rueqnoc!", she's wearing her Ambassador outfit. Then, in the credits scene, Tempest is wearing his Ambassador outfit. I believe you've previously said that Garth and Tula wore their Atlantean clothes as their outfits when they were on the Team, and this is backed up by Garth wearing his regular outfit when he's standing with Dick, Jeff and Clark (who are all in costume here). So my question is: since Troia wore her normal outfit when she responded to the crisis with Diana and Cassie, then does this mean that she also wore clothing that was reflective of her heritage when she was on the Team? Garth and Tula wore Atlantan garb and I guess Troia wore her Themiscyran garb?
Greg responds...
I'm going to defer answering that until we have a flashback with Troia from that era.
Anonymous writes...
Greg, are you aware that you can have a Muslim character without making their entire identity about being Muslim? You realize we’re regular people, right? Most of us aren’t religious zealots. We don’t think about being Muslim 24/7. It’s just part of our identity. You don’t really need to mention it, just like you have never mentioned the religion of any of the main white characters. Or is it more that you feel the need to remind the audience that you’re so inclusive for including Muslims? Whatever it is, you need to stop. This is clearly a blind spot of yours. And don’t reply that some org you’re working with says you’re fine - they don’t speak for all of us and you can’t hide behind that to dismiss criticism.
Greg responds...
I'm not hiding behind anyone. But I also feel just fine saying that an organization like MPAC likes what we're doing and encouraged same. As did the Muslim writer who wrote the episode and the Muslim actor who performed the role. My point is - and always has been - simply this: JUST BECAUSE YOU PERSONALLY THINK SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK, DOESN'T MEAN THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AGREES WITH YOU. PERIOD. You don't get to decide for all Muslims what does or doesn't play. I had plenty of Muslim fans thrilled over our depiction of Khalid. Doesn't mean you have to be, but stop trying to tell me that you personally represent an entire religion, when I have a list of people who are also of that faith disagreeing with you.
And, yes, of course, Muslims are regular people. Just like Khalid, for example, who didn't talk about his Muslim identity at all in five out of the six episodes he appeared in this season. So he did talk about it in one episode. One episode that happened to specifically be about a crisis in faith. That doesn't make him a zealot, as you so kindly labeled him. His faith is part of his identity, just as Zatara's Catholic faith is part of his - putting the lie to the notion that we've never addressed the faith of any "white" characters. (Or do you think Zatara is a zealot, as well? Or does he not count because he's not YOUNG?)
In any case, Khalid's faith matters to him. And we're just fine depicting that. For some characters, their faith (whatever it may be) is a big part of their lives. For others, it isn't. That's the way the world works. Why wouldn't our show reflect the world?
Take the excellent ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary, for example, where the character played by Sheryl Lee Ralph (our Amanda Waller) is constantly expressing her faith and her belief in God, even though none of the other characters do. (At least not that I've seen so far.) This is life.
The funny thing is, I had other Muslim viewers tell me I couldn't hide behind MPAC to justify Khalid being a practicing sorcerer. To which my answer was much the same.
And on the other hand, I had some fan write me asking why I had gone into depth on the faith of a Muslim and a Christian and hadn't done the same for a Jew. If I did a Jew next season, I'd have someone else ask me why I hadn't done X religion or Y.
So, yes, for these reasons, I am dismissing your criticism. Not because I'm "hiding" or "blind" but because it is LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE for me to please everyone. So whom should I listen to? One "Anonymous" fan? Or an organization of human beings who are standing up to see that their people are treated well in Hollywood media. What makes you an expert over them? Why would I do what you want? So that I can "hide" behind you instead?
Basically, Brandon and I go with our gut while following the advise of people who work hard to see representation flourish in this industry, which in and of itself we see as important and necessary and as better storytelling. This isn't new territory for me either. I've been doing this kind of thing since Gargoyles.
There's no blind spot. I'm doing this on purpose. And I like it.
Mohamed writes...
Hey, Greg.
Why did you stop casting child actors for the roles of child characters in Young Justice?
Greg responds...
We haven't stopped. Amistad, for example, was played by a child actor. We're just admittedly inconsistent about it, for a variety of factors. Usually, the reason is budgetary. If a child character only has a couple lines, and we think we have someone from the existing cast - in that specific episode - who can cover those lines, we may elect to save some money, so that we can spend it later on another actor. And then once we've cast someone, we rarely recast, unless (a) we have to because the original actor is unavailable or (b) the character has aged so much that the original actor is no longer appropriate.
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