Guardians of the Galaxy, Torchwood
and more
At the time
of the Interview, Guardians of the Galaxy was only previewing the trailers, the
film itself hadn’t aired in the UK
Hi Dan, the film trailer looks
awesome, and after extensive research I discovered that this story like so many
before it derived from a comic book.
When I looked even further there were many stories involving the
Guardians of the Galaxy. I do have a
couple of questions regarding the characters.
First has to be, the fact that unlike other characters in say, The X
Men, or the lone figures such as Batman, here we have a band of ‘criminals’?
To someone who hasn’t read the back
story of the Guardians can you tell us a little bit more about them, especially
to those of us who still haven’t seen the film?
Dan: The Guardians of the Galaxy were an
original ‘cosmic’ Marvel superhero team created in the late sixties, who popped
up from time to time in the Marvel Universe as guest stars. When I was working
on Marvel’s cosmic titles, around 2008, I was drawing on the vast range of
half-forgotten Marvel cosmic heroes as potential characters, and set up a team
book made of some of my faves (Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora etc), who had basically
been solo characters. They were all rogues and misfits, but I had them band
together into a sort of ‘outlaw hero’ term. The team needed a name, so I
borrowed the GOTG title from the almost dormant original team (totally
different characters, set in the future). The new GOTG book became a hit, and
to my surprise, Marvel Studios decided to use it - the team I put together and
some of the tone and storyline - as a
movie to expand their cinematic universe into the cosmic. I was amazed and
delighted. The director, James Gun, acknowledged that my run on the book was
the inspiration for the film, and I got set visits, screen credit etc. Slightly
mind-blowing. And now those forgotten misfit characters are household names.
Oddly, I have since taken the original 1969 team line-up, and rebooted that as
Guardians 3000, bringing to the old (future) team back into the Marvel
Universe. I don’t think you need to know much to enjoy the great movie: it’s
superheroes in space, and it explains its core concepts as it goes along. And
it’s immense fun.
They’re a very mixed bunch of
characters, from human, animal and a walking tree! Why are they different from
your usual team of heroes, and are they heroes?
Dan:
Definitely heroes, just not ‘famous’ ones like the Avengers. They do
what they do because it needs to be done, and no one really recognises them for
their efforts and sacrifices. And they’re an odd bunch, but they’re aliens.
Even the human-looking Star-Lord is not entirely an earth human.
How did you feel when you learnt the
news that there would be a film of the comic book you created?
Dan: Shocked, puzzled, and then
delighted.
As we do when we’re creating a
character and we imagine their voice and who might play them, did you have an
idea of who the characters would be in your head, and who had you considered to
be the character played by Chris Pratt?
Dan: I guess I had voices for them when
I was writing for them but - unusually for me - I did not ‘cast’ the characters
to lock them down. I usually do that to give me some idea of how they act and
what their presence is, imagining them as famous actors in a movie. But with
GOTG, not so much…. ironically Chris is amazing as Star-Lord.
Did you also do the illustrations
for the comic books, or have a say in how the characters would look?
Dan: I just write the scripts, but I do
make a lot of suggestions about physical appearance, costume, etc. I work
closely with the artists, devising and refining character designs when we
create new things.
The character that is played by
Karen Gillan in the film is as far as I’ve read, a villain, is her character
true to the original idea?
Dan: Yes. Nebula was an older,
pre-existing character that has gone through several visual make-overs during
her comic lifetime, and the movie look is pretty close to the definitive Nebula
in the comics. Karen looked amazing. Nebula is a villain, but (like Gamora) she
has a complex backstory - she isn’t a born villain, just a dangerous individual
who is the product of her upbringing and history.
How does it feel to have your
creation immortalised on the big screen?
Dan: Gratifying but very weird. It’s odd
to see them in the flesh (and odder still to actually meet them!)
Torchwood novel: The Border Princes
was my first introduction to your writing and I loved the book. It was one of my first ever Torchwood novels
and I couldn’t put it down. It did throw
me at first that there was a stranger in the team. Where did the idea for The Border Princes
come from?
Dan: Thank you. I was approached to write one of the first
three Torchwood novels before there was a series to watch. It was being made,
so there were just scripts to read, no footage to look at to gauge what it
would actually be like. I visited the set, and got a full ‘briefing’ and during
the visit I had the idea for the plot. Not sure where it came from, but the
device of the ‘other’ character gave me some creative freedom, as we were
working in the (semi) dark. I only saw the first episode after I’d finished the
book, and was pleased and relieved to have got the right feel.
Writing what you do in both comic
book and novel, have any of your story ideas, chapters etc, spooked you while
you’ve been writing? That sense that someone is sitting behind you watching you
from the dark corners of the room?
Dan: Surprisingly often. Sometimes they
come to life and tell you what they’re doing. I don’t mean they manifest, I
mean you find yourself writing stuff that you weren’t planning or expecting,
and you realise the character has sort of drawn the story in their direction.
As this is another Marvel comic book
story does this mean that there will be many more sequels to come?
Dan: GOTG? I believe the next film is
already planned.
We recently reviewed your Who novel
The Silent Stars Go By http://projecttorchwood.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/the-mothership-who-book-review-silent.html
Were the Ice Warriors your favourite
monsters from Classic Who?
Dan: I had several faves. I started
watching Who when it was Jon Pertwee, so I love Silurians, Ogrons, Draconians
etc. Ice Warriors were classic foes to me, but interesting because they weren’t
actually ‘evil villains’. Also, they had a status in the canon that was
surprising given their comparatively few TV appearances. They hadn’t been used in a while, and I
requested them for the book. It took a while for approval because - unbeknownst
to me - the TV was bringing them back. As it turned out, the return of the Ice
Warriors was held over to the next season, so I got my go-ahead to use them.
Outside of the world of Who and the
Guardians, have you written any other novels, and are they all
horror/fantasy/sci-fi?
Dan: Yes, over fifty, and they’re mostly
SF or fantasy. A couple of Dr Who novels, Primeval, Tomb Raider, a lot of Warhammer
and Horus Heresy, a GOTG novel, an Avengers novel - out now - and several
original novels.
You wrote Torchwood: Everyone says
Hello for BBC Audio, will you be involved in
Torchwood’s revival on Big Finish audios?
Dan: I haven’t been approached, but I’d
be happy to. Writing for audio is a real pleasure, and a very stimulating
challenge.
Are you involved in any new projects
that we can look out for in the coming months?
Dan: I’m writing a Secret Wars series
for Marvel, Masters of the Universe and the Flash for DC, another Tomb Raider
book, plenty for 2000AD (Sinister Dexter, Kingdom, lawless and Grey Area), and
I work a lot in games (Alien: Isolation and Shadow of Mordor, for example).
Thank you
Dan for a wonderful interview.
Author
photo by James K. Barnett
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