The superstar creative team of Joshua Williamson and Jamal Campbell came out the gate with a triumphant debut issue to their Superman run, relaunching the flagship DC Comics series this past February. After teaming Superman with Lex Luthor in a surprising new dynamic, the Man of Steel learns that his old villain Parasite has transformed into a rapidly spreading entity, infecting and transforming those around him into ravenous monsters. As Superman leaps into action to save Metropolis from this horrific threat, he encounters a mysterious new figure known as Marilyn Moonlight, whose lunar powers react to the Man of Tomorrow in unexpected ways as Williamson and Campbell's run continues to gain momentum.
In an exclusive interview with CBR as part of the recurring postgame series Spoilers of Steel, dissecting each issue of Superman, Joshua Williamson revealed how he and Campbell developed the new character Marilyn Moonlight and a fiendish cabal of mad scientists resurfacing in Metropolis, explained his intent to bring Superman into different narrative genres across the run, and hinted at what fans can expect when the third issue drops this April.
CBR: Josh, how did the idea for Marilyn Moonlight and introducing this Western-themed character into your Superman run come about?
Joshua Williamson: It all comes around to me and Jamal just talking. I was really fascinated [by] looking at Metropolis through different lenses. Gotham is very much about the night, and Metropolis is very much about the day because of Superman and the symbolism of the sun. The sun is always there. I thought it would be interesting if we were in Metropolis, but we had a character that was only around at night. We started playing with the visuals of the moon, and Jamal and I were talking about that, going back and forth.
I forgot how this came about, but I also wanted to tie it into a Western thing. I had this idea about a story we'll do down the line with Superman riding a horse. Batman has all the toys, and there's this thing that you can put Batman in any story. That's why there are so many Batman Elseworlds, not just that he's a very popular character but that he can be used in all kinds of stories. Superman can do the same. He can have all the toys and be in different kinds of stories, so let's put him in different situations and stories. I started thinking about the idea of putting Superman in a Western as I was talking to Jamal.
At one point, we were calling her Moonlight, and someone at DC liked it, but that just wasn't it. Jamal and I were having these conversations, and we started talking about the whole Western vibe of it. We had a Zoom call where we thought about names and started messaging each other that night, and Jamal was like, "What about Marilyn Moonlight? That sounds like a Western to me." It was like The Legend of Marilyn Moonlight. We already knew that she was going to be the spirit of Metropolis. That was a big piece of it. We knew that she was going to be a little bit of a ghost which is played around with in Issue #2.
Jamal and I had a lot of conversations about the character. Jamal did a bunch of designs, and we picked the ones we liked the best. The funny thing is whenever Jamal does designs of anything, I want to find a way to use all of them because they're all so good. [laughs] The two new villains that hate Lex, originally that was one character. Jamal turned in two designs and went, "Which one of these do you like?" I was like, "Both! It's now two characters." That was all that went into Marilyn Moonlight. It was organic conversations between me and Jamal and stories and aspects that I wanted to add to the mythology for Superman.
Superman #1 was very focused on Clark Kent, and rightfully so. We see the rest of the Superman Family here in Issue #2.
I think you have to acknowledge those pieces. Phillip Kennedy Johnson and I talk, and what he's doing over in Action Comics, I have to acknowledge. It's the same thing with Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent. I have to acknowledge those things because I want it to feel like one big Superman Universe. We really want to build on it. That's why we're doing books like Steelworks. We want to build on the Superman mythology in the DCU, and part of that means you've got to have that connective tissue.
The first issue was also very bright and hopeful, but this issue is set completely at night and leans into horror.
It's so funny because there's such a difference from the first issue. The first three issues all take place in one day. I always looked at it like it's a 40-minute episode of Superman: The Animated Series. When you read all three together, it doesn't seem like it's night for a long time, even though this whole issue is at night. For Superman, I wanted to show him in different genres.
I wanted to do some fun romance tropes, fun tropes with horror and Westerns. It was me seeing what other genres I could throw Superman at because he's always a science character, which is why all the new villains are mad scientists because Lex is obviously a mad scientist. We're used to seeing Lex as the billionaire, but he's also a mad scientist, so let's play with those angles and other aspects of him as we go on. I knew I wanted to put Clark in some different genres, and for Issue #2 in particular, it was horror. That's the story here. In Issues #4 and #5, we're going to play with romance. That was the reasoning behind some of this stuff.
Parasite is front and center here, but he's changed into something part zombie, part airborne contagion. Were COVID parallels on your mind when you were developing the story?
Honestly, I did not think about that until I was pitching this to somebody. We were having a group call with the writers. I think it was this past August. I was explaining what happens in the first three issues, and as I was explaining it, I was like, "This has nothing to do with COVID, I promise!" It was just kind of a coincidence! I love Parasite. He's one of my favorite Superman villains. Even though he's in these first three issues, he continues to be in the book after these first three, and you'll see why as we go.
I wanted to do a big fun Parasite story, and that's part of what these mad scientists are doing by manipulating him and doing something to him so that they can get something else they want as they do experiments and tests. When you're doing science, you try different things to see what's going to work. That's where these two new villains, Doctor Pharm and Mister Graft, [are] at right now. They're in this zone of experimenting. They try something with Parasite, and you see what that means. We'll see other things happen to them as the book goes on.
Mercy Graves steps up in a big way in this issue, going full Ellen Ripley as she defends Supercorp.
Whenever you work on a book, there's always one character that takes on a life of their own. Regardless of your plans for a book, there's always one character that gets bigger plans because you hear their voice in your head. Once you hear their voice in your head, they take control of their story. It's a beautiful thing. I feel like that's been Mercy in some ways because I knew she was going to be in the book, and I talked to editorial about her a few times. Paul Kaminski, the editor, we had a few conversations. Paul really likes Mercy.
I remember her from the cartoon, and it's interesting because she wasn't supposed to have as big of a role as she had until I started writing her. I had a whole plan for this and that. When I was breaking down a list of characters I was going to use, Mercy was definitely on that list. I had some ideas for Mercy that I definitely wanted to do, but as I started writing Issue #1, I could hear her voice, and her role just stepped up. Obviously, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen play big roles, but Mercy just found her way into the story and became the voice of Supercorp, and it just clicked in.
I think she's a great character, and there have obviously been adjustments to her because of Lazarus Planet, which you can see here. She's really fun in getting her to be this cool, aggressive boss. Some people write her as Lex's assistant, and she is not Lex's assistant. I wanted to show that side of her where she is a person who can handle herself and is Lex's partner, not assistant.
After teasing it in the first issue, we see this cabal of mad scientists that had tangled with Lex Luthor before Superman came to Metropolis.
I always love campy stuff and over-the-top, pulpy stories. I was watching a bunch of Roger Moore James Bond movies, and those are very campy. I like that kind of stuff. Part of my motivation was the Max Fleischer cartoons and how they had mad scientists. I think Superman would always fight mad scientists, and they were always up to no good. I wanted to go back to that and tell stories with those characters but also do it with a modern twist to it and modern sensibilities. It's not necessarily going backward, but I wanted to introduce a bunch of new villains for Superman.
In these first three issues, I have Superman, Lois, Jimmy, Lex, Parasite, Livewire, Marilyn Moonlight, and a bunch of these mad scientists. I put a lot in these first three issues to really set the stage for what we're doing for this run. I love writing these over-the-top, campy characters, and that's what these two villains are. They're just evil for the sake of evil. I've had this conversation with editors, and I think there's been a pushback on evil for the sake of evil, but I think that's fun and feels real to me. [laughs] I have these characters who are evil for the sake of being evil, and now they want revenge on Lex and see Superman as being in the way of that, and that's fun to me.
Josh, what can you tease about Superman #3 ahead of its release on April 18?
Issue #3 is going to be really fun. Clark gets a new costume just for the issue. Like I was saying, Batman gets all the toys, and I want more Superman toys. It really is Part 3 of this small arc that sets a lot of stuff up, but we're just getting started. There is a lot of cool, fun stuff coming up in this next issue, and you'll see how everything we set in the first issue starts to come together in the third. It's definitely a horror issue, but I think it's funny. I'm a big fan of black humor. I really love Sam Raimi and that kind of stuff. There is definitely a little bit of black humor in the next issue, and it definitely has horror, but it's still Superman, so it's a lot of fun. I love these first three issues. I think these three issues are some of my favorite work I've ever written for DC.
Superman #2 is available now. The story continues in Superman #3, on sale April 18 from DC Comics.