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Young Justice: Phantoms
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ruby writes...
This is my first time writing in, so I just wanted to say thanks for having this website up! I can't imagine the amount of time it takes to answer everything. It's truly appreciated. I picked up YJ not long after the third season wrapped up, and I'm delighted I got into it when I did.
I especially have to thank you (and the rest of the YJ crew, of course) for Artemis. I was in a bit of a rough patch when I watched it first, and I saw a lot of myself in her. Watching her overcome her fears, especially in the first season, was a reassuring inspiration. There's been more than a few times when I found myself thinking of her as I braved through things. She means a lot to me, and I'm thrilled to see her still working things out now, even though she's been through so much. (I was beyond excited when we found out she's leading the Team now! I can't wait to see that!)
Anyway, I've had these lying around for a bit, so here we go.
1) You recently mentioned some of the organizations you’ve reached out to for help with YJ’s characters of color, cultures you’re unfamiliar with, and the LGBTQ+ community. It’s wonderful to hear that you’re working with them! Which other groups have you worked with (both today and during the first and second seasons) and how does that relationship work?
2) What does a day in the life look like in the YJ acting booth? (I have to imagine it’s pretty fun with that particular group of actors and directors!) Any idea when you’ll be able to record in person again?
3) From what I understand about acting (both voice and “regularâ€), it’s incredibly important for actors to be able to play off of each other. How does that work with recording during the pandemic? Do actors record lines individually and then play off those recordings, or are Zoom meetings used to imitate the booth as much as possible?
4) One last question about voice acting: how much influence do your actors have over the characters' personalities? Are their ideas about the characters integrated into the writing?
5) I’ve always loved the glimpses we’ve seen of YJ’s interpretation of Atlantis. Many of the versions I’ve seen are basically just a very large underwater city with little oceanic inspiration. YJ’s version seems to have been created with a lot of thought toward how the structure of the seafloor and plant life interact with it, as well as the intense influence of magic. The colors also often feel particularly vibrant and ocean-like. Given that you’re not one of the artists, I’d guess you may not know much about how it was designed, but is there any insight you could give to choices made regarding Atlantis’s design and culture?
I've just seen the first episode of Phantoms, and it's looking spectacular so far. Good luck with finishing up post-production, and thank you again for your hard work!
Greg responds...
1. I'm going to hold off answering which other organizations we've worked with for now, as I think revealing the organizations would by default reveal content. I'd be happy to answer this after the season's over. But I've already stated that we've been working with GLAAD and OUT and MPAC (Hollywood Division). Plus, we've run every single outline and script by Dr. Janina Scarlet (superhero-therapy.com and @shadowQuill on Twitter). She's helped us with psychological and therapeutic details, while also generally acting as a sensitivity reader for our work. And there's also Warner Bros' own DEI department, who've been very helpful. There are more organizations, but the rest will have to wait for now. As for process, it can differ slightly. But generally, we discuss the stuff we were thinking about doing with them and get their feedback. Then we show them our outlines. Then our scripts. Sometimes even animatics or animation. At each step, we listen, take their notes and make sure everyone feels good about what we're doing before we take the next step in the process. We don't do anything that doesn't work for our story and characters. But we admit to ignorance on many fronts and many levels, and we like educating ourselves and allowing that education to be reflected in the work.
2. Well, it is fun! (Or, you know, most of the time. Nothing's perfect.) But pre-pandemic, we'd bring a majority of any episode's cast in together. (Although our casts are SO big, that sometimes we might split that cast into two shifts, trying to get folks who have scenes together to record together.) Jamie usually has them do a first run through without much direction. Then he might dive in and nuance an exchange or a line. Or even a certain phrase. We like to have options, but we want to make sure we get at least one version that hits the nail on the head. And we also make sure that we have at least two versions of every line. Post-pandemic, everyone was recording alone. Which is still great but not quite as much fun. There's a lot of playing back what one actor did for the other actor. (Whomever went first, kinda gets to set the tone for any scene, in these cases.) As for when we'll get back to recording in person, I don't know. Not on Season Four. That's all fully recorded.
3. See above.
4. After an episode or two, we definitely begin to incorporate their performances into their characters. With regulars or our long time recurring actors, we often sit down and talk to the actors about their characters, and I'm not at all adverse to listening to their takes on their own characters and importing those ideas into future episodes.
5. We wanted to fully bring their culture and milleu to life. To see Posiedonis - which is all you've seen of Atlantis so far - as its inhabitants see it.
Thank you for watching!
Nick writes...
Hi, Greg! I just wanted to take a second to thank you for taking the time to go through the queue this summer (including my many taxing age questions). It’s awesome that you’re still taking the time to answer us fans’ questions DECADES after starting this site. Seeing you go through all the answers these past couple of months has been super exciting as we've looked ahead to Season 4. Seeing the premiere today was incredibly exciting and I'm having a blast talking with the community again as we prepare for all the exciting stuff to come with PHANTOMS. Rest assured, we are campaigning for Season 5.
I have... several questions that I've built up over these past few months as you've been answering the queue, and thankfully, this time most of them aren't age questions.
1. In the interest of age/debuts questions: I know you don’t always love to reference the real years for YJ and prefer to operate on the ‘Team Year’ system. Still, for the sake of saving you some math, would it be okay if I started phrasing my questions as ‘What year was x born?’ instead of ‘How old is x?’ Just want to know if that’s faster since it could make things easier on your end.
For this question (https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=24832), you weren’t sure whether or not you had confirmed that Bruce Wayne was Tim Drake’s legal guardian in the past. In this 2012 answer from quite a while ago (https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=17071), you said: “Batman is [Barbara’s] mentor, but not her legal guardian (unlike Dick & TIM).â€
2. Is Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Tim Drake as you implied in the above answer, or have plans changed since then?
If yes, would you now be willing to answer:
3. Was Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Jason Todd?
4. Is Bruce Wayne the legal guardian of Orphan/Cassandra Cain?
And just for my own understanding of the legal terminology:
5. Has Bruce Wayne legally ADOPTED any children, or was Dick, for example, simply a ward like in the classic comics?
I'm incredibly excited to see what you, Brandon, and the team has been cooking up these past couple years and I'm very excited for the future. Hope you're having a great one!
Greg responds...
1. Probably.
2. Nothing is truly canon until it appears in the show (or the comics, etc.). Plans haven't changed. But the way the Barbara question was asked, I may have been lured into answering the way I did. So... no spoilers.
3. No spoilers.
4. No spoilers.
5. There's a difference between being a ward and being adopted. But whether or not Dick was adopted is also a spoiler.
I feel like this is probably a disappointing set of responses. But I am extremely grateful for your enthusiasm!!
Miraphosa writes...
Heya! I literally just watched the s4 trailer, I'm so excited. YJ has done so much for me over the last few years, and I'm glad I get to grow up with it. Artemis was the first character I recognized as a kid that was like me racially (white/asian mixed) and I'm forever grateful for that. It's... honestly impossible to describe how much this show's meant to me. My favorite media of any kind, by far.
Anyways, as someone queer, I'm just kinda curious - Tim got announced as bi after the show was already in production, and I'm curious as to whether or not you think Tim is bi in earth-16 or not? If that wasn't you and Brandon's original vision, is it a welcome addition? Same question goes for Jon Kent as well. Also, are there any other characters you could confirm as queer that wouldn't be showcased as such in the show? So.. something not a spoiler, because it wouldn't get shown anyways? Ahaha? :'D
Thank you for all your hard work! I hope S5 gets confirmed soon (and that we see it before 2024, LOL!)
Greg responds...
I'm going to say that all that qualifies as spoilers, generally. But we're not going to take an LGBTQ+ character and suddenly make he, she or they heteronormative. (We have plenty heteronormatives already.) So, for example, Batwoman is lesbian on Earth-16. So... maybe... that inadvertently answers your question...? Kinda/sorta?
Obviously, we can't change courses instantaneously. As you noted, something that occurs in the comics when we're already in production just isn't going to make it into the show. At least not during that production's season. But down the road... no spoilers.
Max Scream writes...
Can you describe the recording process of Young Justice: Phantoms? Was it ENTIRELY done separately? Was it done via video-conferencing? Did each actor get the entire script or just their lines?
Greg responds...
The first half - or nearly half - of the season was done the way we always have, with group recordings predominantly, while picking up the occasional actor at a different time, based on availability.
About halfway through the season, we temporarily stopped recording because of the pandemic.
So in order to keep our board artists supplied with vocal tracks and working (from home), we began recording scratch tracks, using myself, Brandon, voice director Jamie Thomason, Talent coordinator Laura Lopez, editor Cris Mertens, and my wife and kids.
Then we began recording actors individually from home. Some of these actors have fantastic home studio set-ups. Others, well... not so much. We weren't video-conferencing with them, but we were audio-conferencing.
Then we switched from BangZoom Studios for our records to Atlas Oceanic Picture & Sound, which had a booth with a door that opened right into their parking lot. That way an actor could drive up and stay in their car until called for. Then they could walk right into the studio without any contact with any other human being. The engineer was in the control room, and the rest of us - including Jamie - were all listening in from our homes. Then when that actor was done, the booth would be sanitized before the next actor entered. Some of our performers still worked from home, but about half came to Atlas. It was always the choice of the actor.
And every actor always gets the entire script.
Anonymous writes...
Did Phil Bourassa work on Young Justice: Phantoms?
Greg responds...
No, though of course many of his designs are still being used in the series, and what new designs that were created for S4 by Model Supervisor Dou Hong and Character Designers Jerome K. Moore and Austin Reinkins were designed based on the template and design style Phil set for the series. Also, Dou worked with Phil on Season Three, and Jerome worked with him on Seasons One and Two.
How I Spent My Weekend...
So... I had a LOT going on this past weekend.
On Saturday, DC FanDome premiered trailers for both CATWOMAN: HUNTED and YOUNG JUSTICE: PHANTOMS, and revealed that the first two episodes of the latter were dropping THAT DAY!
I spent considerable time online - and I don't usually do the online thing over the weekend; in fact, I don't even check my email most weekends - trying to #SpreadTheWord.
But to sum up, here's the news...
CATWOMAN: HUNTED, an anime movie based on my original script, is being released in early 2022. You can see the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYPqTLS_g9c. It stars Elizabeth Gilles as Catwoman and Stephanie Beatriz as Batwoman. Voice directed by our old friend Jamie Thomason, it also features Jonathan Banks, Lauren Cohan, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Ron Yuan and my peeps, Steve Blum, Keith David, Zehra Fazal, Jonathan Frakes, Kelly Hu, Andrew Kishino, Eric Lopez and Jacqueline Obradors. Folks have asked me if it's in continuity with Young Justice. My answer: it's YJ-adjacent, much like that old Green Arrow/DC Showcase short I wrote years ago. A version of these events happened on Earth-16. If you're a completist, you're going to want to watch. (Also, I really think it turned out great!)
Meanwhile, the fourth season of YOUNG JUSTICE, i.e. YOUNG JUSTICE PHANTOMS, dropped its first two episodes this past Saturday on HBOMax. Episode 403 will drop this coming Thursday, 10/21. With another episode (through 413) dropping every Thursday through December 30th. The back half of the season (i.e. 414-426) will drop weekly in Spring, 2022. I'm truly excited for the fans to see the season - and evil creator that I am - also glad that the show isn't all dropping at once. I firmly believe television - especially a show like YJ - is a better experience if you have time to savor and sort and absorb and predict for a week in between episodes.
As for the fourth season's production, we have 21 episodes in the can and ready to air. The last five have all been animated and are currently in post-production. And since there was no IATSE strike today, we're still hard at work. (And to be clear, I'm a member of IATSE as part of the Animation Guild, and I was 100% supportive of the union.) We should be done with all 26 episodes by the end of November.
IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: YOUNG JUSTICE has NOT yet been picked up for a fifth season. So if fans want more of Earth-16, the answer is simple: #KeepBingingYJ (all four seasons) over and over. And over and over. And help us #SpreadTheWord. We want to #SaveEarth16.
So use the following hashtags ad nauseam - just as I'm doing in this post:
#CatwomanHunted
#YoungJustice
#YoungJusticePhantoms
#KeepBingingYJ
#SaveEarth16
#SpreadTheWord
And watch the show on HBO Max!!! Please...
For international fans, I wish I could give you info on when any or all of the above will be available in your countries. But unfortunately, TPTB do not keep us folks in the trenches well-informed. Asking me over and over won't magically reveal that information to me so that I can reveal it to you.
Finally, by the time all my work was done on Saturday, I was completely exhausted and took a nap. In the nap, I dreamed I wrote a hit song. Seriously. Now, normally, my dreams slip away entirely upon waking. And even when I do remember the gist of a dream, the details are lost within seconds. But I actually woke up with a clear memory of the song - both the lyrics AND the tune. Here are the lyrics:
I'm taking my pants off,
Cuz it's that kind of party!
I'm walking a straight line,
And it's luminous!
That's the whole song. You can see why it was such a big hit in Dreamland. I'm expecting the Dream-Royalties to roll in any minute.
STAY WHELMED, everyone!
EMPTY QUEUE
Well, it took me YEARS, but I finally have cleared the ASK GREG queue. I'm going to take a bit of a break now, but we'll open the question asking function for DC FANDOME on October 16th. I honestly don't know what YJ will be doing for Fandome, but I assume we'll have some presence of some kind, and by then I should have had enough of a rest to jump back in.
Thanks for your patience.
Ashanti Mills writes...
Hi Greg! Young Justice: Invasion is one of my favorite seasons of television. Really looking forward to season 4. I have questions about which characters you have access to and are personally interested in using for the show
1. What's the legal status of created specifically for the Static Shock tv show (e.g. Shebang, Ebon, Madelyn Spaulding, Ebon, etc.)? More to the point, are you allowed to use them in Young Justice? I'm assuming they exist under different circumstances than characters created for Milestone characters who were adapted later.
2. If you were able to use them, are you at all interested in those characters? Or would you prefer to keep the show focused on characters who are a bigger part in DC's history?
Thanks for your time, and for the great TV!
Greg responds...
1. At this point, no character we've wanted to use is off limits. That could change. But so far as S4 goes, we had no issues.
2. It's not really about who's a bigger part of DC history. It's about telling the story we want to tell.
Andrew writes...
Hey Greg, got two questions for you
1. How did you meet Brandon Vietti?
2. I ask because I'm a big of the DCAU, how did Rich Fogel get involved with the series?
Greg responds...
1. Brandon and I met a couple times when I was at Sony and when I was freelancing for WB. But, honestly, we really didn't meet for real until Sam Register teamed us up to develop a new series for WB Animation. (That series was a Green Lantern series that was never made, followed by a Space Ghost series that was never made, before we finally were assigned to Young Justice.)
2. Rich and I go way back to my Disney days. He and Mark Seidenberg were partnered up, editing Gummi Bears. We've kept in touch, on and off, over the years. And more recently, we were both staff writers on Shimmer & Shine. I truly loved the Shimmer & Shine writing staff (Stephanie Simpson, Dustin Ferrer, Kevin Hopps, Cisco Paredes, Andrew Blanchette and Rich), so when YJ started up again I tried to get everyone to write an episode for Season Three and/or Four. Stephanie and Dustin haven't had the time, but the rest have all pitched in for an episode or two. (Of course, Kevin was already a YJ writer.)
Andrew writes...
Hello Greg, In YJ, what is the thought process behind each season's time jump, how do you and the creative team decide the length of each jump and how do you believe they add to the characters and the overall narrative?
Greg responds...
Again, this has been covered in the ASK GREG ARCHIVES multiple times. But generally, we think it allows us to show the growth and maturation of our young characters.
The length of the time jump is generally determined by both what we want to hide (and later reveal) about our characters and when in the timeline does the story fall that we want/need to tell.
Sebastian writes...
English is not my mother tongue, so I wanted to ask you 2 questions
1. in Earth 16 Superboy is the best friend of the third robin Tim Drake and Kid Flash / Bart Allen as is the case of the new Earth and Young Justice Rebirth?
2. the fourth season in which month of 2020 will it leave?
Greg responds...
1. I think for Earth-16, what you see on screen is what you get. Conner is friendly enough with Tim and Bart, but they were in a younger class, and he's closer to/with the folks he came up with.
2. I think you asked this already, so I'm not sure why you're asking it again. I know English is not your first language, but I'm not sure what you mean by "leave". I can't tell if you're asking me an in-universe question about when the show is set, the answer to which would be NO SPOILERS - or a question about when the series will drop in 2020, the answer to which is obviously that it didn't and was never, ever going to be ready in time for 2020. Granted, you wrote this in 2019, so if you would want me to update the question for 2021, the answer is that the show will drop when HBO MAX decides it wants it to drop. And they haven't announced that yet.
FusionSamurai writes...
So, firstly. Thanks for responding to all our comments, it probably gets a little bit annoying sometimes, but its really cool that you interact with your fans, and I hope you keep doing it! ^_^
So for my questions-
1. You've said you dislike how time travel works in DC. It does seem really confusing. I've flipped through all mentions in previous comments and have come up with a question regarding Bart.
So, you've said "Earth-16 had a history that Impulse thwarted. You can view his original history as Earth-16a, I suppose. Or you could just mark it up as GONE."
So, if such is the case, would Impulse be at risk of fading away? Does only the future itself fade, and Bart avoids it by not being there? Time travel is really complicated to write, so I just wanted clarity on that.
2. The team started with the original 6, being Superboy, Ms.Martian, Kid Flash, Robin, Artemis, Aqualad. Now there are somewhere around 19 members that are on the team or are associated with the team. Do you ever feel like it is hard to balance so many characters?
3.Does giving an individual character like Bart or Cassie development get harder as more characters are added?
Thanks for your time/responses, it means a ton to me. \(^_^)/
Greg responds...
0. I'm still doing it. It just took me a while to get back to it.
1. I kinda have addressed this in the past, but for now I'm going to say NO SPOILERS.
2. I do. Many fans seem to think it's even more difficult for us than we think it is.
3. Of course. But I'm basically okay with that. When the story dictates that one character or another is the lead, that's great - we'll move them into the spotlight. But until then, our leads remain Dick, Kaldur, Conner, M'gann and Artemis, with whichever two to four additional characters that the season dictates gets the spotlight.
Jonathan writes...
When is the soonest we can expect new information about Young Justice Season 4 (such as release date!)?
Greg responds...
I posted some new information on our progress today and here on ASK GREG. As for when info on the release date will be revealed, I don't know. Not up to me.
Sam writes...
1. For YJ S3, was the voice recording typically done with the voice actors in the same room, or individually?
2. Has the voice recording process (whether in groups or individually) changed from season to season?
Greg responds...
1. Mostly in group sessions.
2. Not until the pandemic briefly interrupted our recording process on Season Four, at which point we shifted massively to recording everyone individually, sometimes from their various homes, with all of us listening in over Zoom.
Hulkie10 writes...
Good morning / afternoon / evening Greg Weisman, this is the first time I have done this and first I would like to tell you that I have been following this series for a long time and that I greatly admire your work with Brandon Vietti, the production team and the scriptwriters, seriously Thank you very much for this series. Well here are my questions:
1) I think this was already announced but I am not sure: Will the 4th season of Young Justice leave more or less at the end of 2020?
2) What is your favorite couple of the 3 seasons of Young Justice?
Greg responds...
1. "leave"? I'm not sure what you mean.
2. I don't have one favorite.
But thanks for your kind words!
Aprotny writes...
I saw a message on the archives in regards to cloning and sexuality. As an identical twin, I know me and my sister do not have the same sexuality despite having the same DNA. I know there's also nature vs. nurture. Would you consider cloning to be similar to the shared DNA of twins in the YJ universe? If so, would it be possible for one of the Roys (like Jim or original Roy) to have an attraction to a guy or, say, a genomorph without a gender, in contrast to Will's clear attraction to women. I am not asking if that is the case, but rather if it is possible.
On another note, I am an avid Young Justice fan who loves your show and is looking forward to Season Four. I hope Starfire or Raven or Supergirl or other characters that are popular but have yet to show will show up!
One last question, do you ever look at the YJ fanfiction archives? Either out of curiosity or for inspiration? Just curious if you or Brandon ever peek at those!
Thanks and love your show!
Greg responds...
1. I honestly don't know enough about the science to be sure. But I suppose I could do more research. So the short answer is: "It's possible?"
2. We don't take requests. We can't take suggestions.
3. Never. It's legally dangerous for me to read fanfiction covering anything I work on professionally. The same is true for Brandon.
Anonymous writes...
Young Justice Outsiders was incredible, but I'm a little unsure on something. Are Tim and Cassie broken up? I was very excited to see where this relationship would go, but it seems like their relationship has ended. Is season 3 the end of Robin and Wonder Girl?
Greg responds...
It sure looks that way... but until you know, feel free to dream. Because my only answer is NO SPOILERS.
Anonymous writes...
Mr. Weisman,
I made a mistake in a previous posting; here is the correct one below:
Thank you very much for a wonderful Season 3 of Young Justice; you've even managed to tease us with a Legion of Superheroes ring from whom I presume to be Saturn Girl. Depending on the length of the next time-skip for Season 4, I had initially wanted to tell you which DC Comics characters that I wish to see, but then I decided to hold off on that because I suspect you might probably say that there would be no absolute certainty in regards to who might appear and because you had mentioned that Season 4 will focus on a smaller group of characters. However, with the possible introduction of Earth-16's version of the Legion of Superheroes, I personally hope this move will somehow lead to their own spin-off series; because I'd personally like to see your own unique twist(s) on that superhero team of the future.
Greg responds...
That's very kind. Thank you. I'm not saying that wouldn't be fun. But we don't have a pick-up for Season Five as of yet, nor has there been any talk of spin-offs. Right now, we're just focused on finishing off Season Four.
Nick writes...
Just wow. Wow, wow, wow. Today was THE day. I am so blown away by what you and Brandon were able to do with the season finale, and the season as a whole. Coming back to such a beloved show comes with a lot of pressure, and I just want you guys to know that I am incredibly grateful for what you have achieved with Young Justice: Outsiders. Getting a chance to return to the world of Young Justice after so many years was a dream come true for the audience.
An eternal thank you to you, Brandon, as well as the entire cast and crew for breathing new life into the show. And you are gonna do it again! I am sure with as long as the queue is, there is a chance Season 4 will already be here by the time you read this. If that is the case, rest assured, I am praying for Season 5!
You guys have created the best ever adaptation of DC Comics, as far as I am concerned. I am so glad that I have gotten to see more of Earth-16, which is something I never thought would happen. Good luck with Season 4 or 5 or whatever project you are working on when you read this. You are a true visionary, Greg, and I am so happy that you’ve gotten to tell more stories set in this world.
P.S. Sorry about all the age questions.
Greg responds...
Well, I did manage to get to this before Season Four came out, at least.
Thank you so much for the support and kind words. Believe me, Brandon and I and the entire YJ Cast and Crew (across two seasons now) were thrilled we've had the chance to come back to this property.
And nothing to apologize for. Age questions happen. ;)
Anonymous writes...
Dear Greg
Hello! I'm keeping my name anonymous because I don't like exposing it on a public forum like this. I hope you understand.
Anyway, onto the question!
Greg, I know you personally don't have any ill intent, but why won't you listen to your LGBT+ or Muslim fans when they tell you how you handled Halo? You seem like such a decent guy outside of that, but for some reason this particular area is a blind spot of yours.
I may not be Muslim, but surely the massive outcry from Muslim fans when you had Halo publicly denounce her Muslimhood while still having her wear a religiously significant garb specific to Muslims must have meant SOMETHING to you?
I'm an out and proud member of the LGBT+ community (at least online), so seeing you dismiss all the people you hurt and refuse to actually, GENUINELY apologize for it (no, I don't count "sorry you're so offended" as an apology, that's just condescending), and to see you continue on the path that you now KNOW hurts us as if the characters you control are somehow out of your hands...that hurts, Greg. That hurts more than you can POSSIBLY imagine. I was so excited for Young Justice season 3. I was so excited hearing that you'd have an explicitly nonbinary character in the show. And then you did what you did. You really hurt your fans in the LGBT+ community, Greg.
Greg responds...
I'm categorically not claiming that the destinies of these characters are completely out of my hands. But...
1. We can't make changes to already made episodes in response to recently aired episodes. It's just not possible for me to, for example, change episodes 319-326 as a result of what fans say about 318. So even if I agreed with the response, it's too late to make that kind of change, which many people seemed - at the time - to be demanding. And I readily admit that in hindsight I got defensive about that. We HAVE listened, however, and it did affect how we handled things in Season Four.
2. Whether you like it or not, I simply do NOT have complete control over these characters. I do not own these characters. It is ABSOLUTELY TRUE that even in 2021, TPTB have not given Brandon and myself a completely free hand with every single LGBTQ+ character on these issues. Things are a lot better than they were in 2010. A lot better. But we still do not have 100% autonomy. We just flat-out don't. Certain things we had planned for Season Three were rejected by TPTB at a relatively late date, and I do believe those choices hurt the overall balance of the series on these issues.
3. I don't know where you heard that we'd explicitly have a nonbinary character on the show in advance of Halo's reveal. Not from me. I can't - or won't - be held responsible for rumors. Now, of course, Halo stated she's nonbinary in one of our episodes, but we viewed that statement as the first step in her journey, and we'd appreciate some patience. You are, of course, not obligated to be patient with us. Maybe we've already lost your trust. And that's understandable. And I am sorry for that. But trust would sure be appreciated if you can manage to suspend your opinion for a while longer.
4. We've been working with MPAC (the Muslim Public Affairs Council), GLAAD and OUT on these plotlines. They are aware of our long term plans for Halo and have been extremely supportive. This suggests to me that the response you speak of isn't monolithic. So I'll admit it has been hard for me to apologize for things, which I believe, in the long term, will be appreciated by the Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities. Now, I may be wrong about that, but I'm trying to be honest here. I believe in what we're doing, and our advisors do, as well. In the end, we may indeed get it wrong, but we are trying really hard to get it right. And contrary to what seems to be everyone's assumption, we are not and have never been operating in a vacuum, assuming that we knew best and that we didn't need to listen to the LGBTQ+ community. We are listening, we have been listening, and we will continue to listen. What we've found is that opinions clearly vary within that community. It's admittedly hard to please everyone, but believe it or not, we are actually trying.
5. It sincerely makes me feel awful that I've "hurt my fans in the LGBT+ community". I AM truly sorry about that. But I know for a fact that I didn't hurt ALL my fans in that community. Because I've talked to a bunch of them. Not on Twitter or on ASK GREG but in real life. Some of them weren't thrilled with what we've aired up to this point. Some of them were just fine with what we did. And most (in both categories) have - once told where we were going - been actually pretty happy with it all. Now, you don't have the advantage of that inside information and most of our fans don't either. But please don't think I don't care, that we don't care. The YJ crew and I care very, very much. And I definitely apologize for being condescending and defensive in the past. That's not me at my best. I can only ask for forgiveness.
6. I've always tried to be an ally. I have very good reasons to try to be an ally, (a) because it's the right thing to do, and (b) because many, many, many people I love and hold close to my heart are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
So I AM sorry for past mistakes. But if you give us a little more rope, I don't think we'll hang ourselves. I believe our good intentions will not only amount to good intentions. I think they'll prove out. And if I'm wrong about that, I will truly endeavor to apologize again.
Nick writes...
Hi, Greg! Outstanding episode today. Can't wait till next week! Hope Season 4 is going well.
1. How old is Evelyn Fox?
Greg responds...
By the END of TEAM YEAR FOUR...
1. Evelyn Fox is 31.
2. Young Justice: Phantoms is going very well, thanks for asking. We have 15 episodes in the can. Seven more in post. The last four are all being animated by Studio Mir. Pre-production is completely done.
Algae writes...
Hey Greg,
Not really a question, just wanted to congratulate you and Brandon on getting SEASON 4 of YOUNG JUSTICE green-lighted. The show keeps going from strength to strength!
Gratitude
Greg responds...
Thanks, Algae. Gratitude backatcha.
Risu writes...
Loving Outsiders so far. The Harper bros were a delight I didn't even know I needed.
* Is there any way to show the DC executives the support for this show while living outside (heh) of the US?
* Would watching Titans on Netflix help you, maybe?
* Any idea if DC plans to open their site worldwide, or release YJ s3 on Netflix too? I'd like to help, I want more.
Greg responds...
1. I honestly don't know.
2. Not particularly. But if you like Titans, go for it.
3. Well, DC Universe is moot now. Can you get HBO Max internationally?
Kyle writes...
Hello Greg,
While I adored both the first and second seasons of Young Justice, and I have gone on to enjoy many parts of the third, I have to say that as of right now, I am very disappointed with what I've seen so far of Outsiders. Please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect to you, Brandon, the writers, the crew, or the actual show, but I feel this needs to be said.
I have watched all thirteen available episodes (by the time you get to this ask, I'm more than sure the second half of the season will have already aired in its entirety and you'll be well on your way into making the fourth season *fingers crossed!*) and the show has yet to come through in the ways I -- and many, many others -- had hoped it would prior to the season's airing. By the time you read this, I hope my complaints will have already been resolved and you can tell me I should have been patient and waited for the whole thing to air, in which I would agree. Fair enough.
But as of right now my complaints are still very valid and I would very much appreciate you addressing them, if possible. (Honestly, chances are you have already addressed these issues by the time you read this, if not in the actual show then on your Twitter page or in an interview. If so, I am sorry for wasting your time with a subject you've already gone on to spend a great deal of time on, but if not, here we go.
The pure lack of LGBT+ representation is, frankly, appalling.
I mean no disrespect, but it is 2019 for crying out loud. Men can marry men and women can marry women; boys can dance with boys and girls can dance with girls at their high school proms; those of us that are non-binary can express such freely and openly, when with the right crowd.
You have gone on record saying that LGBT+ people exist on Earth-16; you've gone on record saying that there have even been LGBT+ members of the Team and yet, still, after thirteen full episodes AND a twenty-page comic story where you COULD HAVE represented LGBT+ people, you've failed to showcase even ONE character and/or relationship of the sort. All of the while finding the time in these very crowded episodes and comic for not one, not two, but THREE new straight couples.
There's Garfield Logan and Queen Perdita. Then there's Helga Jace and Jefferson Pierce. And then finally Prince Brion Markov and Violet Harper.
And that's not even counting the suggestion of a relationship between Will and Artemis. Or the hinting that Bear and Dreamer have become exclusive, which would pretty much go against everything the New Gods (Bear himself, specifically, if memory serves) had preached to Conner about them finding satisfaction when they all come together as one back in the first season, which I thought was a pretty interesting way to sneak in the idea of them all being in one big polyamorous relationship. Which would have been SO COOL and SO PROGRESSIVE for a show back then to do.
The one -- ONE -- actual confirmed LGBT+ character you've ever had on the show in its entirety, not just Season Three, was then killed BECAUSE of said-sexuality. The sexuality-in-question, might I add, that we don't even get to know for certain, as when you were asked if she was a lesbian or just bisexual, you simply commented "Yes," as if there wasn't a distinguishable difference between the two in the long run, which just simply isn't the case.
And that's not even really a confirmation since it's plainly just Word-of-God in the grand scheme of things, rather than canon content that was stated out-loud or depicted, either on-screen or on-panel, in the comic. (I know that you weren't allowed to acknowledge it out-loud or in writing back then, so I'm not arguing on that. But you deciding to make her the ONLY LGBT+ character we ever got to see and then having her said-only character killed later in the same comic issue? Not only is it near-downright insulting, but it also fails to come across as anything other than a cheap and thoughtless try at representation.
(And with you and Brandon both going on about how you wanted to include an accurate representation of the world with a diverse cast, the pure lack of LGBT+ representation justs adds insult to injury.)
You've had significant time with Kaldur, who you hinted may not be entirely straight. And, yes, during most of that time with him you couldn't have genuinely acknowledged it either way in-show or out, but with Season Three, there is simply no such excuse. You've got the Brain and Monsieur Mallah, who, I'll admit, wouldn't exactly be my first choices for representation under any circumstances, but they still qualify. You've got Wonder Woman, who, albeit, wasn't confirmed bisexual until after YJ had finished its first two seasons.
But since the start of S3, the show has introduced us to Batwoman, a very prominent lesbian character on-par with Batman and the rest of the Bat-family; the show has given us a cameo of Renee Montoya; and, most recently, the show has given us the gay, married couple of Casey Klebba and Dale Gunn. Both of whom were in the same scene together with speaking lines and still -- STILL -- not even an ounce of content.
You've even introduced Harper Row, who I can't help but guess was only added to the character roster simply for the Harper-confusion joke. I'm hoping she will lead to actual, on-screen LGBT+ content in the next half of the season since that was one of her and her brother's most defining stories from the comics, but I'm no longer getting my hopes up.
And while I know you made no promises of actually having LGBT+ content in the third season, which I won't fault you for nor should anyone else, you KNEW you had a very large, very apparent LGBT+ fanbase. If you knew people were hopeful, don't string them along. If you honestly didn't have any LGBT+ content in store for us, just say so -- lest you be accused of queerbaiting down the line, and while it wouldn't be the case in technical terms in your case, it can still turn many, many fans against you.
Young Justice has and, up until I'm proven wrong, will always be a heteronormative show. The first season's finale got that message across loud and clear, with the second season's finale hammered it in, after you plopped in the surprise, secret romances of not one, but TWO more straight couples in the already-vast sea of straight couples. First, there was Virgil's surprise that Tye and Asami had gotten together, even though we got absolutely zero screentime showing anything of the sort, and was only included because, to you and Brandon, it "Felt right."
Then there's Tim and Cassie, who spent all five seconds of screentime together prior, with them only exchanging a conversation once. (Who then promptly leave each other's sides and enter a fight we're apparently meant to care about less than ten on-screen minutes later, in S3.)
And, now, Young Justice: Outsiders is pulling the same tricks but in a far worse fashion. The twelfth episode alone -- an episode all about Garfield going through nothing but hell, living through every trauma he's ever faced and then some, including the death of his LGBT+ mother, mind you -- ends with him kissing his girlfriend SECONDS AFTER recovering from nearly ending up catatonic. Because of hormones, or something.
Never mind the fact that he'd just rewatched many of his friends' deaths all over again, relived BOTH of his mothers' deaths, AND just realized that his boss -- someone who helped found a META-HUMAN YOUTH CENTER -- was using the Goode Goggles to abduct potential meta-teens and was continuously doing so, all over the country.
But, hey, let me make out with my girlfriend real quick first, right next to my sister and her fiance of the opposite sex, who then promptly make out as well, and just NOT rush to tell the proper authorities, the Justice League, the Team, or the Outsiders about ANY of this until after we're done showing just how straight we are to the audience.
I know this may come off as rude, critical, and/or entitled, but it is truly not what I wish for you to take away from this. Again, I mean no disrespect and do love -- LOVE -- many aspects of the third season, but some of the more recently established relationships and the actions that result from those relationships are the weakest links of an otherwise fantastic show.
I know I may be way off the mark/way too impatient and you actually ARE setting up stories with LGBT+ characters and relationships for the second half of S3, big or small.
If that's the case, I am truly sorry for wasting your time.
But I feel this needed to be said, and while I believe you already know this, I'll say it anyway for the other readers on this site: hinting that a character is LGBT+ off-screen (i.e. in a Tweet or an interview or something) does not adequately represent LGBT+ people at all. Either say it out loud and on-screen/on-panel or just, you know, show it on-screen/on-panel -- otherwise, what do you actually accomplish besides later being able to cry wolf and say that you had LGBT+ characters on-screen and therefore cannot be accused of NOT having them?
Once again, I'm sorry if this came across as critical and/or insulting to you, Brandon, your team of amazing writers/animators/voices, etc., but I promise you all that was not my intent in the slightest, and I hope when you get the time to respond to this (assuming it makes it to you, which I hope it does) it will be to say that I just jumped the shark, so to speak, a little too soon and that LGBT+ characters are all over the second half of S3, confirmed on-screen. It would be amazing, if so.
If not, though, then I would greatly, greatly appreciate an honest answer of why you and Brandon still haven't shown LGBT+ characters/relationships on-screen or on-panel, despite having no restrictions preventing you.
Sincerely,
Kyle
Greg responds...
Hey Kyle,
You were very polite. I have no problem with what you wrote. As you noted, I'm hoping that by now you've seen that we have - where we were allowed - objectively shown LGBTQ+ characters since the time you posted this. Hopefully, you were pleased with what we depicted. And, in any case, there's more to come in Season Four.
Still, I would like to respond to some of your points, as some of the people reading this may not know all we've dealt with on this subject.
1. I just want to point out that in the first two seasons, the video game and the companion comics that we've done up to this point, we were not allowed to objectively depict any LGBTQ+ characters or relationships. So we did the next best thing, which was to write and depict them with consistency for the day when we could.
2. Even in Season Three, TPTB wouldn't let us objectively reveal that one specific character, whom we had (in our minds) set up as gay, was gay - though they did let us depict others LGBTQ+ characters objectively. So we took the S1&2 approach to this one character.
3. As you hopefully have seen by now, we did have plans for LGBTQ+ characters in Season Three, and it's a justifiable complaint, I think, to ask why none of that was depicted in the first thirteen. But we wanted to introduce this stuff organically, and it just worked out for it to be back thirteen stuff. Not trying to defend that, per se. But that's how our stories broke down.
4. Killing off Garfield's mother is consistent with him being an orphan in the comics. I guess we could have kept her heterosexual as she was in the comics, since we knew she was going to die. But we didn't want to do that. It seemed to fit her character, and we didn't want to have one less LGBTQ+ character only because she was going to die.
5. I won't apologize for depicting heterosexual/heteronormative relationships simply because we've had restrictions on LGBTQ+ depictions. Chris Jones and I did equalize the scenes between Queen Bee & Marie Logan and Queen Bee & Ali in an issue of the comic. When TPTB wouldn't allow us to show Bee & Marie kiss, Chris and I wouldn't let Bee & Ali kiss either, as they were exact parallel scenes. But generally, we want to be able to be as honest as possible with relationships. So we're not going to create artificial restrictions when we don't have to.
6. Specifically, Garfield had a cathartic experience in "Nightmare Monkeys," and was grateful that his worried girlfriend had stuck by his side. The idea of them kissing at that moment wasn't us shoving heteronormative behavior in the face of LGBTQ+ viewers, it was us depicting what we believed was the honest and real response to all that had happened to both characters.
7. Bear and Dreamer being a couple is right out of the comics. In fact, in the comics they got married and had a kid. Now, of course, we could have changed that, but it seemed to fit what we were doing, so we didn't.
I'm not going to pretend that we've done justice (no pun intended) to these concerns, even including what we did in Season Three. But we believe the back thirteen episodes took a positive step forward, and we believe Season Four will take us multiple steps forward after that.
Lea1997 writes...
Can you please give a full description of Superman and Superboy's relationship with the Kent family in Young Justice.
Greg responds...
I could. But I won't. I'd rather show than tell.
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