Geoff Johns Talks "Legion" In Wizard Magazine A new issue of Wizard magazine hit comic book shops today, and in it is an interview with Geoff Johns talking about the January 15 episode of Smallville - "Legion!"
Here are some highlights. Be warned of SPOILERS! And you can find the new Wizard at comic book shops everywhere starting January 2.
- For starters, Geoff Johns compares Smallville to a Marvel Comics concept: "Smallville was the Ultimate Universe before the Ultimate Universe existed," Johns says."
- There will be many things for a Legion comics fan to enjoy. "If you're a real, real Legion nut, you'll probably see far more than anybody else will," he says. "There's a lot of stuff in there. They mention Polar Boy's planet Tharr. There's probably more fanboy stuff in this episode than a whole season of Smallville."
- "I thought, 'I wonder why they haven't done the Legion? There's so much you could do with it," Johns says of the story's genesis. "The Legionnaires acting as fanboys coming back in time and looking at Clark and going, 'Well this isn't exactly the dude we read about.' The idea is Clark hearing about some things he was going to do [in the future] and his influence and inspiration and to come face to face with that."
- Flight rings were an important bit of the characters and the mythology for the episode. "They need to look gold and they have to have 'L' on them because that's just what they've been like for decades," he says. "The Legion are alien immigrants to Earth, and they have all come together because of Clark; it's made their future possible. Clark should know that his alien side isn't just about powers. It also comes with a greater responsibility and it provides a greater inspiration and it builds a bridge for Earth to the rest of the universe, and that's really what the Legion embodies."
- Johns compares Smallville's Legion to his recent work in Action Comics and Legion of 3 Worlds. "Cosmic Boy is an extremely meticulous and dedicated leader. Lightning Lad's a bit more of a lightning-in-a-bottle, casual guy having fun. Saturn Girl's more thoughtful, very aware of everything going on and is a step ahead of everybody. If anyone's read my Action Comics 'Brainiac' arc, Pa Kent has a trunk full of mementos from Clark's youth. We see that trunk in the episode. There's even a line that Garth says to Rokk that's from Action Comics."
- Johns visited the Smallville set as the episode was being shot. "I was really, really pumped to be on set, but also reserved," he says. "Of course it's going to be a little intimidating no matter what, but everybody up there was freaking amazing, and Glen Winter, the director, was awesome. I loved working with him. I remember the first thing Glen said to me: 'Hey, the script's running a little short so we'd like another page-and-a-half scene.' I immediately came up wirth a couple of ideas and refined them in my own head, and then after we set up and did the first take, I pitched it to Glen and he really responded to it. We put it in the script and shot it. It was actually one of my favorite scenes in the show."
- "The first scene with the first scene of Act I, which was Clark, Rokk, Garth, and Imra inside the farm house," Johns recalls. "It was surreal because I had watched Smallville for so long. It was like, 'Hey, check out the Legion's uniforms. How do they look? Check out Persuader. What do you think?' It was really rewarding because everybody was working so hard and kicking so much a--. I remember the first time a Legionnaire said something I was like, 'This is bizarre. I never thought I'd see a live-action Legion. This is awesome."
You can get the new Wizard (issue #208) at comic book stores now for the full article, featuring some photos from the episode and even more material from Geoff Johns! And don't forget to watch "Legion" January 15 on The CW!
PLEASE
DO NOT TAKE GRAPHICS, NEWS, SPOILERS, ETC.
FROM KRYPTONSITE WITHOUT FIRST ASKING
PERMISSION AND PLACING A LINK TO KRYPTONSITE.COM.
OR, JUST SEND PEOPLE OVER TO THIS SITE! THANKS!
- "The first scene with the first scene of Act I, which was Clark, Rokk, Garth, and Imra inside the farm house," Johns recalls. "It was surreal because I had watched Smallville for so long. It was like, 'Hey, check out the Legion's uniforms. How do they look? Check out Persuader. What do you think?' It was really rewarding because everybody was working so hard and kicking so much a--. I remember the first time a Legionnaire said something I was like, 'This is bizarre. I never thought I'd see a live-action Legion. This is awesome."