Scott Snyder continues to reveal bits and pieces of what is to come, not only in his series Batman, but also in interviews. IGN has posted an interview with Snyder about a wide variety of things in Batman's future.
IGN: Going off what you were saying about his relationships – we saw a little bit in issue #1 – what can we expect in the way of a supporting cast? Is it Bruce and Alfred, or will Dick and Damian be involved in your story?
Scott Snyder: Well, they'll all be there. I want it to be a story that's deeply about Bruce Wayne and Gotham and Batman. So, it won't be a big team-up book in that regard. But that said, the enemy in the book really has this predatory symbol of the owl that's built into the history of Gotham in a lot of ways. In that way, one of things that they're going to be attacking Batman and the Bat-family with is all the resources of history, and these violent resources will be really fun to see them pitted against in big ways. But also, they are going to be attacking Batman by showing him things about the past, the way that certain characters were shaped.
Even characters that he considers friends and allies were actually influenced by the events that were brought about by the Court of Owls and things like that. That, to me, is even the greater attack in some ways. Showing that characters you consider your allies and friends might have secrets about them in their past or their families that undercut your sense of confidence in those relationships. There will be really big revelations about Dick Grayson, the Grayson family, the Wayne family, the Drakes, a lot of stuff like that. How the history of Gotham and the history of this organization and the Wayne family is brought to bear on the present. So they'll be in play in big ways, but they might not be teaming up and stuff every issue. But you'll see them a lot and they'll be greatly affected by the story.
IGN: We've talked a lot about Dick Grayson, but how are Bruce's relationships with his other Robins, and will we see that in the book at all?
Scott Snyder: Yeah, you will! You'll definitely see Damian; you saw him in the first issue and you'll see him again a couple of issues later. And Tim's doing his thing over in Teen Titans and Jason as well in Red Hood and the Outlaws. So they're off doing their stuff but I think the idea of what they mean to him individually and collectively as a family he's taken in one at a time will be something that's alluded to a lot, or brought up in a big way as a point of vulnerability for Bruce.
Because they are; he cares about them. Whether or not he's always the best protector/parent/partner is always up for grabs, but he cares about them deeply. I mean, Jason's death is still his greatest failure. So that sense of them being a walking set of Achilles heels all the time is there and something that we're going to bring into play in Batman.
IGN: You've talked at length about Bruce's role in Gotham, but how do you see his role within the greater DCU?
Scott Snyder: That's interesting. Well, my favorite Bruce in the DCU story is… I love that Mark Waid story, the Tower of Babel, in JLA. Where, Bruce is basically everyone's big ally and then what they realize is that he's been keeping secret files on them in case he ever had to bring all of the Justice League down. So he's also completely paranoid! [laughs] So for me, he has a really interesting place in that he's an incredible asset to the Justice League and a great friend and loyal partner to anybody he teams up with.
I personally think that he's the greatest superhero in the world. I mean it. I know Superman would give him a run for his money and Wonder Woman too, but I really feel like he's the best superhero in the DCU. Part of that comes from just being totally pathological and a loner. He doesn't need anyone. He'll always come out on top at the end of the day. Batman will find a way.
For the entire interview, including talk about Greg Capullo's art, head over to IGN. Batman #2 hits stores later this month.
Posted by Dustin Fritschel
