Tom Spurgeon talks to Scott Snyder, and the result is just as heady and interesting as you could hope for, as Snyder talks about his plans for Batman (Slight spoilers, I feel? At least as far as it goes for the emotional arc of “Death In The Family”) and Superman, amongst other topics:

Superman as a kid you love because of the powers and he’s the strongest and he’s the best. When I write him as an adult, you have to figure out what you’ve always loved about him to write the character. Me personally, not everybody, but I have to figure it out. I have to figure out what matters to me about them right now. It’s an extension of this core thing. Each Batman story I have done is about this heroism versus pathology core that makes me interested in him. With the Court Of Owls, are you so obsessed with the notion that you know the city that you can’t see the forest for the trees? What’s going to happen when the city lets you know you don’t know it at all?

With Superman for me it’s really this notion of restraint. He’s a superhero that in some ways can’t do what he’s capable of doing without becoming the villain. Meaning Superman could reshape the world however he wanted. He could take down countries. He could sculpt the political landscape however he wanted. But he looks to us to do that and serves a different mission. It’s tremendously painful for him as well. As proud and as inspired as he is, I think the heroism comes from that restraint and how much he admires the human race. That’s kind of at the core of the story we’re doing with Superman. So for me I try to figure out what’s at the core of the hero that’s interesting to me. That doesn’t mean that they’re interesting to other people. That might not be the core of Batman for Frank Miller or Alan Moore. But you have to figure out where your interests are. Or I feel they’re empty stories. That’s not to say anyone needs to follow my example as far as how to proceed. That’s just how I proceed. If I don’t figure those things out and build a story out of that core material I don’t feel it resonating for me, and I can’t do it.

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