Posted in: Comics, san diego comic con | Tagged: 2016, comic con, comiccon, comicon, Comics, entertainment, july, san diego, san diego comic con, sdcc, sdcc '16, sdcc16

"Are You Saying There Are No Flying Perverts?" Priest, Avengers Screenwriters And BB8's Discuss Heroics At San Diego Comic Con

Hugh Sheridan writes,

BBC.com/culture deputy editor Christian Blauvelt moderated at a panel with the title "Are Heroes Born Or Made" at SDCC on Friday. On the panel were Captain America: Civil War and upcoming Avengers: Infinity War screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, comic book author Christopher J. Priest and ILM Senior Visual Art Director Christian Alzmann.

Markus and McFeely discussed Captain America at length during the panel and the challenges and opportunities such a moral character creates for writers. McFeely said that with Steve Rogers his "innate sense of fairness and justice" are his superpower, and that even if he had never gotten super powers he would have still have become a hero "in some way".

McFeely said that there is a tendency in modern stories to think that because the characters are so powerful that instead of external conflicts the main challenge these characters face has to be internal – some "character flaw" and that their stories become all about "arcs of maturation".

He talked about how Thor and Iron Man, in the movies, move from being "sort-of selfish" when introduced to more selfless characters through their stories. And while this may be a great approach for those characters, it doesn't work for Captain America. Instead Captain America "doesn't change" "has no personal arc" as he has such strong personal integrity that the conflict in his stories comes from "trying to make others come around to his thinking". This is the central plot of Civil War he pointed out.

Priest agreed decrying the idea that characters like Superman or Captain America are "boring" or "too perfect" he said it just takes good writing to find good stories for them. You don't need to darken them or "don't need to make them an Agent of Hydra!" he said, referencing the recent controversy over the new Captain America comic book storyline.

He said also that you don't need some silly over the top plot like your hero throwing Thanos "down a volcano". Markus and McFeely, who are currently working on the Avengers: Infinity War films featuring Thanos mimed panic at this point and pretended to furiously take notes.

Alzmann, who works for ILM and designed BB8 for Star Wars – The Force Awakens said that the joke in his industry is that "special effects are not so special anymore" as they are so commonly used and sophisticated that the audience is no longer impressed by them. He said that for him the drama in these stories can come from the contrast between characters.

As it came to a close Christopher Priest agreed, saying that what the Avengers films need is a character "who really shouldn't be there" – someone with super abilities but with none of the requisite integrity of a hero as this would serve as a good contrast to highlight the heroism of the other characters. He referenced his character Triumph from his old Justice League Task Force series, who he tried to use for this purpose. Markus and McFeely seemed genuinely intrigued by the idea.

McFeely referenced an episode of This American Life he had listened to which asked people what power they would prefer "invisibillity" or "flight". Those that picked "flight" tended to be a bit more heroic, he said, as they would use the ability to "help people". Those that chose "invisibility" tended to be more self-centred "perhaps even more pervy" he said.

"Are you saying that there are no flying perverts?" Markus immediately shot back, to the panel's amusement.

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