The Mysterious Benedict Society, based on the best-selling children's books by Trenton Lee Stewart, is a new Disney+ original series centered on a curious team of young investigators. After forming a team under their quirky benefactor, Mr.Benededict, and taking on a mission to stop a threat known only as "The Emergency," four uniquely talented kids -- Sticky, Reynie, Kate and Constance -- must embrace what makes them different to save the world.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, The Mysterious Benedict Society co-creators Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi discussed what went into the making of the imaginative Disney+ series and the importance of depicting empathy as a kind of superpower for audiences of all ages.
CBR: Something that makes Mysterious Benedict Society so unique is its emphasis on empathy. That's a major part of why Mr. Benedict chooses the kids and, some people who aren't as familiar with the books might come in and expect more just super-smart kids. They might not necessarily point to empathy as * the thing * as, with super teams, it's more "what you can do?" versus "what you are." What was your thought process on taking that approach?
Matt Manfredi: One of the things that really spoke to us from the book was that these kids, who are often the outcasts, are the ones who are ignored or teased or seen as weird, the things that make them different are actually the things that become their superpowers. And a lot of that is their empathy and their ability to care for others, put themselves in other people's shoes. They all have their superpowers. Their superpowers are their intellect and their curiosity and their different ways of thinking. The things that maybe you're insecure about or worried about that make you different are the actual things that make you the person just right to save the world.
Phil Hay: I'm glad you brought up that idea of "what you are" versus "what you do or can do," because one of the characters, Sticky -- that's sort of his struggle in a way. He's only been valued in the past for his talent and what his talents can do for people -- make them money. His journey, in particular, is to learn that he has value just as a person, just for being, period, no matter how successful or "talented" he is. And I think that's a really big part of the characters' journeys in the show and in the book.
The other thing that we're hoping people can quietly glean from this is the idea of people who learn differently and who have different types of intelligence that don't exactly fit in a box of test-taking or traditional school or any of that stuff. Because I think the reality is that there are so many different kinds of intelligence and emotional intelligence is just as, or more important than any other kind.
Manfredi: Another thing that was important to us was to show that we want the kids to want to win. They want to accomplish the goal. They want to foil the villain and emerge victoriously, but it's also important to them how they do it. It's not a Machiavellian, endeavor -- They care about others along the way. They're not going to trample over somebody to get what they want or to be victorious. It's always the empathetic model of solving problems.
Hay: Except for Constance.
Manfredi: Yeah, she's the exception [laughs].
I actually wanted to talk about Constance, because she kind of runs counter to almost everything you said! She's kind of like a solid, brick wall that everybody keeps running up against.
Manfredi: Yeah! I think [Constance] functions like a bull in a China shop for the group's way of thinking. She kind of shakes them out of their lanes and so much of it is about how there's more than one way to solve a problem. And sometimes, even the way you approach a puzzle, even the technically correct way of solving it might not be the one that benefits you in a specific circumstance, or it might not be the only way to win. And so I think having someone who's a little bit of an agent of chaos in the mix to get them out of their own patterns is fun. And it's certainly really fun to write. And Marta Kepler (who portrays Constance) was just a joy to work with.
Hay: Constance as a character is really a foil for everybody else. Something Marta, when we first saw her audition, something that kind of clicked for us was that this character is not a brat or a mean person, per se --though she does mean things. She's more of an alien. She kind of has this strange detachment, at least on the surface, from some of the other emotions that the kids are feeling. [Constance] is a good example of how you don't want all of your characters to be universal with the program in terms of the scenes. There needs to be somebody who's not exactly with the program at all.
Manfredi: If you have the kids all [being] just so nice and kind to each other... That won't be interesting for very long. You've got to have the element of dissent there.
It's even more interesting because, especially when I was younger reading the books, and even now when I was watching the show, I always thought that Kate Wetherall was going to be that person, because she's already kind of at odds with Sticky and Reynie. They're thinkers and she's all action, but the way that Kate butts heads with Constance is interesting because she doesn't seem comfortable with somebody not quite taking her place, but making decisions that she might've made -- but in a rougher way.
Hay: Yeah. I think their relationship is interesting because they are really drawn to each other, but not really "liking" each other. And that, there's a sort of curiosity between them in a "what is this strange being in front of me" kind of way. And I think Kate's struggle as a person is that she's so capable and so good at things. Like you said, she's a person of action. When we talked through to unearth what was beneath that, [we figured] out that [Kate's] thing is that she really just wants to be on her own.
Whether she ultimately wants that in the end -- she probably doesn't -- but at the moment that we meet her, she's kind of figured out how to make it on her own and just be, as she describes herself, "a self-contained unit." Constance's constant probing at that and trying to "get in" without acting like she's trying to get in... It's a unique dynamic that's developed between the two of them that I think is really, really interesting.
I think a part of what makes that so interesting is that they're not exactly forced together, but they kind of are because of Mr. Benedict. On the subject of Mr. Benedict -- He's great. It's kind of sweet how proud he is, not just of the kids, but he's proud that he knows the kids -- that he's had the honor of meeting them.
Manfredi: It's that way in the book, but it was important to us to get that across in the series as well. Ultimately, he trusts their instincts. He's part of the team with them. Mr. Benedict's recruited them, but he also values their opinion [in a way] that isn't just used to order them around. Like, when he has the talk with Reynie and asks him to make pretty big decisions about the team and [Mr. Benedict's] going to go with it, no matter what.
Hay: He truly respects them. And something that I find so lovable about Mr. Benedict is that he genuinely respects the kids and doesn't treat them as adults, but treats them as people with dignity who deserve to be heard, you know?
It's kind of surprising how, a show like this, where the kids control what happens to them and their mission, is kind of rare. Usually, it's a Professor X, overlord type of situation, where it's "go here" and "do that."
Hay: Early on, there's a point in the show that's really critical and Mr. Benedict is very clear: "I'm not going to be the answer here." And, by extension, all the other adults too. [He says,]"It's not fair that you four children have to solve the problems of the world, but you're the only ones capable of it. I want to help you, but in the end, I can't save the day. It really is up to you guys to save the day." That's such a big part of his character, recognizing that that's the truth and doing what he can to make sure the team is victorious.
The show has this distinct, retro look that makes it really stand out, especially among live-action kids shows. What was the inspiration behind that?
Hay: In terms of the look, we thought about how some of the shows and movies that Mysterious Benedict Society might be compared to work in a Gothic sort of territory or a Victorian sensibility, visually. For us, we pretty quickly got the inspiration to turn to a more sixties, European modernism look. Jacques Tati movies, especially Playtime, for example, for that sense of human beings moving around space in a kind of comically organized manner. Once we settled on that, we then started building the world from there.
In this version of our world, whether it's slightly in the past or today where things branched off slightly differently, there was a lot of: "They have electric cars and they have really well developed alternative energy sources, but they don't really have the internet and they don't really have cell phones." So that all informed the aesthetic and, then of course the design and production design and costumes all go into that. There was something that clicked between the tone of the book and, in our mind, what it could look like with that kind of "organized modernist" vibe.
You already mentioned some things that you hope people glean from the series, but overall, what are the big ideas that you hope people get from The Mysterious Benedict Society?
Hay: A couple of different. One, I hope that [for viewers] that Mysterious Benedict Society feels like a joyous show, like a celebration, like something that's really funny, and witty and entertaining. In terms of ideas, I think we all talk a lot about a big conundrum that needs to be solved. In the show that something is called "The Emergency," which turns out to be a constant state of anxiety and despair made by the villain. That nameless despair that has descended on the world obviously has some connections to the state we've been living in for a while [laughs].
There are so many thoughts that we've had about this regarding the nature of language and propaganda and manipulation and all that stuff. If we can kind of scratch at those ideas from an angle of empathy and joy where the solution is, the truth, and the bedrock value of being kind to others and protecting others and caring for others. That's how we hold it all together: Caring about one another. And that's what we're hoping people really take away.
The Mysterious Benedict Society is available now on Disney+, with new episodes airing every Friday.