You really have to feel sorry for the folks on Earth 2. There’s been destruction after destruction. With the weekly EARTH 2: WORLD’S END approaching it’s conclusion, we’re seeing the Earth is in pretty bad shape thanks to Darkseid. The good news is we’re not going to see the end of the entire universe. There will be some survivors. If you’ve been reading the series, you’ve seen the signs of how that survival will take place.
With Convergence coming up and the question of what happens next, we sat down with Daniel H. Wilson to find out what he has planned for EARTH 2: SOCIETY.
COMIC VINE: Is this taking place on Earth 2?
DANIEL H. WILSON: This is taking place on a new Earth 2. It’s another planet.
CV: This is where it’s been leading to, two million people ready to leave.
DHW: Exactly. Society is going to be about rebuilding after a huge traumatic catastrophe.
CV: So it’ll be two million refugees, anyone they could squeeze in the ship?
DHW: Yeah, whoever gets onto whatever they manage to get going.
CV: Who could we expect to see? Will it be a lot of the same characters?
DHW: Yeah. I’m pulling in all my favorite characters from EARTH 2. You can pretty much expect anybody who lives to make it to EARTH 2: SOCIETY. Definitely like Alan Scott, Power Girl and Huntress, Val, Flash, and people like that.
CV: With Power Girl and the upcoming HARLEY QUINN/POWER GIRL miniseries, is that just something we don’t worry about?
DHW: I guess they’re just not connected, yeah. We’ll have the Power Girl we know and love from Earth 2.
CV: And now her costume has been upgraded.
DHW: Yeah! She has the S-shield attached now. We had fun with those shields with Val and Kara. Expect more hijinks in the future.
CV: Now that she’s wearing the “S” and she’s embracing her heritage, is that going to change the way she carries herself? Will she think, “I have to live up to this now”?
DHW: I feel like that’s definitely a component of what’s going on. It’s about literally taking on the mantle of Superman. She has big shoes to fill and I think the scope of the catastrophe that’s happening, there’s no time to be childish. There’s no more room for children. It’s time for everyone to step up and become the heroes they need to be.
CV: Will there still be crossovers between Earth 2 and the main Earth?
DHW: Part of what I’m really excited about is with the weekly, everything’s so chaotic. There’s so may storylines, so many artists and writers. It’s like this big giant crazy machine that never stops. This includes the crossovers because CONSTANTINE came in and we messed around with that a little bit. I think we’re going to try to slow things dow for SOCIETY and take our time and focus on the characters that we have. We want to explore our little corner of the universe.
CV: With two million people, at least, is it still possible we could see the emergence of an Earth 2 version of a character that has existed previously?
DHW: [laughs] How much do you know, man? Yeah, we’ll definitely be seeing some characters emerging, in some surprising way. Some beloved characters may kind of be back in new forms.
CV: With the subtitle “Society,” is that going back to like the Justice Society?
DHW: There’s a definite link there, yeah. It’s also talking about building a society. Since this is really about building something where there’s nothing, I wouldn’t expect to just see a Justice Society fighting crime or anything. What does that even mean, right? There are no cities. It’s two million people in refugee ships. What it’s really about would be formation. Building the beginning of things.
CV: There’s been a lot with Darkseid and we have Darkseid War in JUSTICE LEAGUE. Is that going to be a separate thing? Is his presence still going to be felt?
DHW: I’m happy to say I don’t have him staring at me every night. So no, I don’t think he’s going to be a huge threat for our characters moving forward. I think we’re going to explore new territories now. He’s a great bad guy. He’s the ultimate bad guy. He’s a super fun villain to write because he’s like a mountain. I mean, what do you do, you throw a rock at him. Nothing happens, he doesn’t care. He’s a mastermind too. I had a lot of fun with him, but we’re going to explore some new territory.
CV: From the beginning of the New 52, Earth 2 was always kind of a clean slate and now that you’re finding a new “Earth 2,” are you going to be coming up with new threats and villains? New conflicts for them to deal with?
DHW: The characters that are coming are all the familiar characters. I think there’ll definitely be new threats and villains. We’re arriving on a planet that may have indigenous life. Who knows what’s going on with this planet. That’s something they’re going to have to explore. There’s the basic pioneer threat, like the Oregon Trail. How many of our characters are going to die of dysentery? They’re settling a new planet, right? It’s a wild place. There’s going to be a lot of different threats that are out there. They’ll all be sort of tied into this central problem of building a new society. Thematically, what we’re focusing on is, ideologically, with our characters, are they showing up to this planet because they want to rebuild what they lost and go back to what they had before or are they wanting go move forward. The heroes are going to fall on different sides of things and that’s going to add to the conflict.
CV: It sounds like you have a lot of freedom, you’re world-building, you don’t have to worry about certain things.
DHW: I know, I love it. I’m very lucky to be operating in the DCU and have this much latitude. I love explaining more about where characters came from and their origin stories. That’s so much fun, to have those there. I love exploring the mythology of the world, especially from a scientific perspective. I love to think about how all this stuff is really working?
CV: Once they finally find a place to settle, is someone going to rise up to try to be the leader?
DHW: I think there’s different kinds of ideologies about starting cities. Leaders are definitely going to emerge. One thing that’s pretty interesting about this to me, first of all, it’s a really fascinating thought experiment. As an armchair anthropologist, how do you start a civilization? If you look at human history, civilizations come together slowly over time. There’s a lot of war. They build up into nations and then the nations war. Eventually you get to wherever we’re at. Hopefully there’s something on the horizon. But how do you do that all at once? How do you do that when you have two million people, advanced technology, superhumans, and then just go.
CV: So you have a big long plan, a big road ahead?
DHW: Yeah, they have a lot of work to do. The second thing, it’s not necessarily a scenario where you need someone who can punch a hole in a mountain. I actually do this with my four-year-old daughter when I want her to get dressed. I’ll casually offer to help punch her socks on. I’ll be like, “Can I punch your covers up around you to help you go to sleep?” Punching doesn’t always work, right? She thinks it’s hilarious and I’m really funny. Apparently I don’t want to brag. But punching doesn’t always solve the problem so we’re in a situation where they’re rebuilding a society and maybe some of these characters, who have super physical powers, are going to have to find other ways to help because that’s not always going to be the answer.
There will be punching though. Hey, come on.
The punching and world-building begins in June. Don't miss it. Check out the solicit for the first issue:
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #1
Written by DANIEL WILSON
Art and cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
1:25 Variant cover by PAULO SIQUEIRA
On sale JUNE 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The survivors of Earth-2’s war with Apokolips find themselves on a new world, but can Green Lantern, Power Girl, a new Batman and the other heroes of Earth-2 create a new world that’s better than the last, or will their interference and good intentions doom this world, just like the old one?