New interview by Scott, here's some thoughts on KGbeast
I love Anatoli. I was searching for a character that could be hunting Batman and Two-Face on the road, and my first impulse was Killer Croc. But I have had this story in my mind for a long time, and when I knew that Killer Croc was going to be in “Suicide Squad,” he became kind of ubiquitous. I was like, who am I not thinking of? If this series is really about bringing back some of my favorite villains from the past, who am I not thing of? And then I remembered “Batman: Ten Nights of the Beast” and I was like, where is KGBeast? Suddenly, it just hit me; if I could think of a way to make him new, he would be just perfect for the arc. Because ultimately, what Two-Face is saying is that at the end of the day, we’re just a collection of our desires and impulses, and we mask that with what you were saying, which is a smiley, happy face. But beneath it, we are this nebulous thing of needs and desires and selfish impulses.
KGBeast is a character that fought and killed for country, and killed out of need because he was forced to do it. The thing with him is, what if he just realizes that he loves to kill, and that’s it. He’s like the id on the road. He’s like Two-Face’s proof. He is Exhibit A of what Two-Face is saying, which is, “I have admitted who I am. I have made an island where I am going to hunt people in a maze for years. And I love that. I am happy as the Beast.” And to give him a nice flair, to have him re-enhanced by the U.S. government after the U.S.S.R. fell just worked because it gave him all new weapons and new strength. I was so excited when I came up with all of that for him, just this idea that he wanted to be this chaotic, terrible, killing force on the road. I knew he was going to be on the best parts of “All Star Batman.” And I am so pleased that people have responded to him so positively. I was surprised, but also very excited.
And yes, we’ll see him again. I have an idea on how to bring him back in the arc after the next arc. Editorial liked him so much that they wanted me to put him in every arc, in every issue, hunting Batman throughout in the background of the story. But I just felt that he would overpower it. It would be too much of a distraction and take away from the other villains. But yes, I am definitely bringing him back in this series and also, I think, the event that I am doing with Greg Capullo.
I have to applaud Snyder here, Beast has undoubtedly stolen the show so far. Snyder has taken a virtually dead character and made him a hit. As a Bane though I'm sad and jealous that Bane is stuck in that crap hole King put him in. While Beast is soaring to new heights and being reinvented Bane is being stripped off decades of development and going back to the early 90's. Since King likes Scott so much he can learn a few lessons here.
On this event with Capullo
Greg calls it our Batman heavy metal rock opera. [Laughs] It’s going to be a big, epic Batman story with flaming armor, an over-the-top capstone to a lot of the stuff that we’ve done with him. It’s all mapped out. I’ve just been out to Burbank with Geoff Johns going over it, and going over what he’s doing. It was great. It was one of the best story meetings that I’ve ever had. We sat there for a couple of days and really tightened up some of the screws. Geoff was incredibly generous and helpful with it.
Above all, what I really want it to be for fans is to not have it feel like the kind of event that we’ve seen before. I love DC events. They’re bonkers and wonderful, but generally, they refer back to continuity, or they are all about where the line is at that moment in time. Geoff’s best ones have been plain-out great stories, but I think “Crisis,” for example, is in conversation with what we need to do with the line, as good as they are. What I want this one to be is different. I want it built out of the stories happening now and creating new material and giving everybody a place to tell stories that fit what they’re doing on their books, and feels really modern and different and above all fun. I don’t want it to be grim. I don’t want it to be superheroes arguing over something. Superheroes won’t be fighting superheroes. I want it to be celebratory, and huge, and crazy. I am going for out of control dinosaurs and lasers. It should be fun.
Sounds fun
More including info about his upcoming arc on ASB here
Source: CBR
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