During an exclusive interview with CBR, Ben 10 showrunner Will Patrick spoke about Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie, the tricky balance between tension and comedy, what really makes Spider-Man and Ben 10 so similar and his favorite part of the franchise.

Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie takes Ben Tennyson to his limits to try and save the Earth when a mysterious force approaches the planet. While Ben finds himself lost in space and desperate to get home, his old foe Vilgax discovers a way to return to Earth -- leading Ben, along with his friends and family, to face off once more with the destructive galactic warlord.

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Ben 10 in space

Ben 10 first premiered in 2005, making 2020 the fifteenth anniversary of the franchise. The longest-running series in Cartoon Network history, the sci-fi/superhero series grew into one of the biggest properties associated with the network. "When Ben 10 first premiered, it was like 2005, I want to say," Patrick recalled. "I was in college, so I was a little too old for it I think, for the demographic for when it first aired. I didn't necessarily grow up with it as a lot of people did."

"[Ben 10 Supervising Producer] John Fang actually brought me on, because he was a big fan of these DC Nation Shorts I did with Animal Man and Superman. He was like, 'Animal Man! Awesome!' So he brought me on as a storyboard artist for this. And I'm a researcher, so I ended up watching every episode of Ben 10 back-to-back to prepare myself. I became a fan, I like the show! It's really fun and has a lot of awesome characters and a lot of fun concepts to it. Stepping into that was like, it's a lot to live up to it. It's got such a legacy. So many fans have such big opinions of what the show should be and what the characters should be like. It was a big shoe to fill when I assumed the showrunner mantle."

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Patrick's DC Nation animated shorts (including Tales From Metropolis and Animal Man) were passion projects for the animation, who at the time was working on Cartoon Network's MAD. But regardless of whether they're DC, Marvel, or separate like Ben 10, Patrick was quick to admit he always enjoyed the genre. "I've always been a big superhero guy. I read comics growing up. My favorite superhero is Spider-Man. I know, a deep cut. But a friend of me asked me before we saw Spider-Man: Far From Home, 'why is Spider-Man your favorite, what about him is so appealing,' and I had to really dig deep because saying he can stick to walls and shoot webs out of his hands isn't very satisfying."

"I think what it is is that Spider-Man is always in over his head. He's got these insurmountable problems from his social life and the villains... I think Ben 10 taps into that really well. Ben is always in conflict with being a hero and saving people, this very selfless act, and then also being a ten-year-old. Ten-year-olds are selfish, and he wants to be lazy and play videogames and he gets bored really easily. There's this inner conflict with Ben that I think is really natural and relatable."

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There's an inherent sense of fun to the universe of Ben 10, especially in its current form, which began in 2017 as a more light-hearted reboot of the franchise. Having completed its fourth season earlier this year, Ben 10 has leaned into the sense of adventure and humor inherent to the franchise. But there are times -- notably such as in Ben 10 vs. the Universe -- that Ben discovers just how high the stakes are for him and his loved ones. "It's definitely a tricky balance," Patrick admitted. "Even finding artists that can do both action and comedy can be really difficult."

"It's a big ask, what we do on this show... Moderating that tone can be really difficult. You want to set stakes and you want to challenge the character, but you've got to make it fun too. And those are the biggest stakes for him, being separated from his comfort zone -- which is Grandpa Max and Gwen. There are no bigger stakes than that, so we were trying to make the stakes as important as possible in the movie, and really highlight that family connection for Ben, because the show is definitely about the Tennysons in general."

Looking back at his experience with the franchise, Patrick said that his favorite aspect of the franchise is "the versatility of Ben 10.  Because you can do jokes, you can do horror, action obviously takes a lot of the forefront. Drama, character stuff, you can really flex all those creative muscles with Ben 10. It's hard to find people who can do all those things, but the crew stepped up and injected as much as they could into the film."

Check out the trailer for the film below.

Ben 10 Versus the Universe: The Movie will air on Cartoon Network on Oct. 10 at 10:00 AM/EST.

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