Interview: Dan Jurgens Discusses FUTURES END and Booster Gold

Writer Dan Jurgens has been quite busy over at DC Comics. Aside from AQUAMAN & THE OTHERS, he worked on numerous books in September for the FUTURES END tie-ins. Also, he's been one of the creators working on the weekly FUTURES END series. We talked to Jurgens about a few things relating to the recent Superman reveal and where the story is headed.

COMIC VINE: A few weeks back, it was revealed that the Superman, 5 years in the future, was actually Billy Batson taking up the mantle. Creatively, what led to the other writers and yourself to come up with this big twist?

DAN JURGENS: We were discussing all sorts of different ideas when we were first pulling the series together.

Early in the process, I did drew up a masked Superman and sent it to Brian, Keith and Jeff and said, "What do you think? It isn't Superman-- it's Billy Batson!" Then we started talking about why that might have happened and where Superman might have gone and it all started coming together.

CV: Is this something the world is going to know or only a select group of people and how would the world react to the idea that Superman isn't actually Superman?

DJ: In the FUTURES END SUPERMAN one-shot, as well as the weekly series, we've made it pretty clear that the world had no idea it was Shazam under the mask.

Lois Lane got that scoop, went with the story and now a number of people feel mislead or lied to.

CV: Now that the secret is out, what can we expect from Billy in the future?

DJ: Billy is conflicted. Even though the world now knows he isn't Superman, he feels rather duty bound to wear the Superman costume as a tribute.

At the same time, like many 20-year-olds, he's someone in search of his own identity.

CV: In the FUTURES END one-shot, Black Adam is sent to the Phantom Zone. Will he be popping back up anytime soon?

DJ: You actually have! Black Adam was sent to the Phantom Zone about five years prior to the FUTURES END weekly. Frankenstein and company actually find him in the Phantom Zone in FE #6. And, yes, there's more of him to come.

CV: You got to play a lot with the world of AQUAMAN this past month with Futures End Aquaman and Aquaman & the Others. As a writer, did it feel a bit weird to jump forward with these characters and stories that have been slowly building since the second arc of the new 52 Aquaman?

DJ: In a way, no. I've kind of had to split my brain in two, with one half of it existing in a world five years down the road anyway. In light of that, I've found myself thinking of all sorts of scenarios for any number of characters. It's gotten to be a somewhat strange and bizarre, yet fun, way to work!

CV: In your two-part story, Mera and Aquaman are no longer an item. Is their break-up going to becoming down the road in AQUAMAN & THE OTHERS or is it still a bit too soon?

DJ: Stay tuned! Just as we all have relationships that are constantly in flux, Arthur and Mera are no different.

CV: You also had a FUTURES END: BOOSTER GOLD issue come out. How did it feel to get your hands on that character again?

DJ: I always enjoy writing Booster, if for no other reason than he's a character that really is different from the rest of the DCU. Given the amount of dark stuff that's out there, it's fun to have someone around that will often lighten the mood a bit.

CV: The issue thrusts fans through many worlds of the Multiverse. For you, which one of these worlds that you wrote into the issue were you most excited to see and why?

DJ: Oh, gosh. I think it'd have to be a tie between Kamandi and the Legion. Everyone wants to do Kamandi and it was great to get it on the page and also have Ron Frenz do some great stuff with it.

At the same time, it was fun to harken back to a great LSH era. Frankly, it was hard to get it all in. We left some really great stuff on the cutting room floor.

CV: Fans, like myself, want to know. Is Booster Gold getting an on-going or limited series any time soon?

DJ: Yeah, I'd want to know that too!

Paging Dr. Di​Dio... paging Dr. Di​Dio...

Thanks to Dan Jurgens for answering our questions and make sure to see what happens next with Billy Batson in THE NEW 52: FUTURES END, on sale, weekly, from DC comics.

So yeah the Old DCU is most likely coming back. But, I don't think they'll completely get rid of the N52. The latest issue of Future's End, FE: Booster Gold, and Superman Doomed really hint at that.

How would that work out? Pandora created the new 52 to combat a threat the old dcnu wasn't ready for. So far we have not seen this threat.

I'm only speculating, this version of Braniac has appeared in all those comics. Plus in the next cover for Future's End, it shows Braniac with a red mist coming out of his hand showing Pre-52 characters inside of it.

I really hope so. I was a huge Wildstorm fan before the merging, and it seems like some of my favorite characters from that 'verse have gotten shafted pretty badly.

No, they're probably not going to bring the Pre-Flashpoint DCU back in its entirety (nor should they, really), but they are probably going to bring back some things or just retcon the current DCU to make it look more like the last (which would be smarter than bringing back the whole Pre-Flashpoint DCU). For example, they might bring back more of the old New Teen Titans history, such as Cyborg being a member before he joins up with the League as well as some of those other adventures. They also might bring back some of the previous Superman history, such as the Death of Superman saga. Again, all of these will probably be brought back with slight details altered, like Lois still not knowing Clark is Superman, and so on...

What seems most likely, though, is that they'll get rid of that five-year time frame thing, extending it to maybe eight or ten years.

What would make a lot of sense is if they just released a new "History of the DC Universe" like they originally did after the first Crisis alongside whatever event is coming our way.

@zeeguy91: I don't know. The way they're coming off is that pre52 is actually a whole other earth. Which is weird because I thought it was just an altered timeline. My theory is that they're gonna say something like flash ran to another earth or something weird like that. You could be right though.

@justice_teen: i thought Pandora had the Flash alter reality as part of a mad bid to influence the Justice League into helping her put the seven sins back in the box.

I wonder if pre-Flashpoint versions of Flash and Booster Gold are still out there. Another theory I had was that 'faux-bo' was pre-Flashpoint Lobo.

I certainly hope the real DCU with is rich history and potential for future will return ASAP. However, I don't see that happening in the near future. But I'm sure it will in some way, shape, or form eventually.

I swear to God, if he breaks up Arthur and Mera...

I doubt that they would do something that would make the last three years of continuity just not count. Its probably more likely that they'll merge the two, giving some heroes and teams their previous history back, but also keeping some of the more successful retcons from the New 52: Azzarello's Wonder Woman, Lemire's Green Arrow, etc.

In comic fiction, there's not that much difference between alternate timelines and alternate universes. It's all about the paths not taken. Infinite choices separated by the Bleed or Hypertime/Speed Force. So it's possible for the Pre-Flashpoint timeline to become a parallel Earth. Just like Red Son (Elseworlds) is now 1 of the 52 Earths of the DC multiverse.

So the old DCU can return but it won't replace the New52. It may get a title like Earth2 if enough people show interest during Blood Moon.

Interesting.

Did FE #22 come out this week?

I am scared for the future... if that was the point of this event DC you did a good job.

Maybe if things did revert back it would work the way House of M did in marvel? Where even though things changed back to normal all the main character kept their memories, people who had their powers restored(like Ms. Marvel) got to keep them afterwards, and the people who were brought back to life will get to stay alive(like hawkeye).

Then we could have all of the development we've seen in the New 52 retroactively effect the classic character and at the same time have Barbra Gordon stay unparalyzed, and Tula remain alive, and have Red Hood as a good guy, etc.

It would be kind of interesting to see how Wally would react if he stayed black and then had to deal with "oh my god I'm a black guy now, waaah??" lol.

Yeah it did.

That would certainly be interesting. Then, you can have Warblade remembering being a crazy serial killer and Fairchild working with Superboy, etc...

THIS. XD

Jurgens realizes that while couples have their spats, its humanly possible and actually pretty common for them to STAY TOGETHER and still love each other...

That would be pretty cool actually. I would REALLY want to see how Jay Garrick reacts to having been openly gay.

You mean Alan Scott, right?

@beholdthevison: Oh oops. Yeah.