WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:04.559 How you doing out there? It's me Tigger. I am 2 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.599 Duc Wing Duck. It's me Bunkers keep bobcat. All right, y'all? 3 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:09.199 Did it great? 4 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:13.599 Your favorite firefly you desire? Hold old knock guy. My 5 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:19.199 name is Jim Cummings and welcome to tuned In. Hey, everybody, 6 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.600 welcome back. Are you kidding me? This is a world 7 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.839 famous episode of Tuned In with Jim Cummings because we 8 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.519 have none other than David Hayter. Ladies and gentlemen, let's 9 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:33.960 hear it. Well, I'm on down. 10 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:35.079 Thank you for having me. 11 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:35.359 Jim. 12 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:36.320 It's nice to see you again. 13 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.479 It's very nice to see you again. 14 00:00:38.679 --> 00:00:38.799 Here. 15 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.439 I'm gonna just keep clicking. I'm gonna play catch with 16 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:45.240 this microphone here obviously. But we know each other from conventions, 17 00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:50.000 from comic cons and the occasional panel there. But the 18 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:54.560 world knows you and in a very entirely different, completely 19 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:59.759 different realm. No funny voices involved, necessarily, but a lot 20 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:03.079 of on a writing involved. Yes, And would you say 21 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:05.719 that is what is your first passion? 22 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:06.840 Oh? 23 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:11.879 What's my first passion? My first passion was acting. That's 24 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:15.439 that's what got me into this whole thing. I started 25 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:18.840 writing when I was about twelve years old. Started acting 26 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.120 when I was nine. Wow, I started writing when I 27 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:26.239 was twelve. But I never I never had any concept 28 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:31.040 of how you get writing work. Acting made sense to me, 29 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:34.519 just you go and do you read your things whatever. 30 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:36.760 But to me, you know, the scripts can come down 31 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:38.480 from the gods, and I was like, I don't know 32 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.879 how who's creating this, how they get this work or whatever. 33 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:44.400 So I never really pursued it, and then I just 34 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:47.879 sort of fell into it. But I kept writing, and yes, 35 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.599 you did fell into the business professionally in nineteen ninety nine. 36 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:56.120 Oh okay, so it was ninety nine and the first 37 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.519 thing out of the gate was it? It was X Men. 38 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.079 Yeah, it was my first paid writing job. 39 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:06.760 Okay, how does that come about? How do you go 40 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:10.439 from nothing to unrotting? The X Men film the super Bowl? 41 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.319 It's it's you went from the sandlot to the super Bowl, 42 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:15.080 that's right, with no practice. 43 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:22.319 It's a very strange, wild Hollywood story. I had produced 44 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.479 and starred in a little quarter million dollar film in 45 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:31.599 nineteen ninety seven, and that was executive produced by Brian Singer, 46 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.319 who eventually went on to direct X Men. He wro 47 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:36.840 directed Usual Suspect. 48 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:39.120 Well yeah, and which. 49 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:40.800 Won a couple of Academy Awards, and I had known 50 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:46.000 him before all of that occurred. And then and then 51 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.919 the deal for my little film fell apart, and I 52 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:50.560 was broke, and so I called Brian and asked if 53 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.520 I could have a job on his next movie, you know, 54 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.039 answering the Phones or something. So I got hired to 55 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.599 dance of the Phones on X Men and Brian complaining 56 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:02.319 to me because we you know, we had made a 57 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.159 film together, so he knew I was a filmmaker. And 58 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:07.319 he kept saying, bye, you know the script is, you know, 59 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.000 it's not good, and people don't nobody knows the x Men, 60 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:12.719 and I don't know how to achieve what I want 61 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:14.159 to achieve. And I said, well, I know the x Men. 62 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.639 I grew up with the comic books and all that, 63 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.280 and you know these you know, I knew those characters 64 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.759 like they were family. And so I said, well, why 65 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.960 do you have a scene where Cyclops runs into Wolverine 66 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:26.960 on the Mansion grounds and he says this, and he 67 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.639 says this, and he says this, and that'll solve your 68 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.840 problem for you. And Brian said, good, go write that 69 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.120 for me, and I thought he was kidding because it 70 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.400 wasn't legal. I wasn't in the writers Guild, you know, 71 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:42.599 I certainly wasn't getting paid. So I wrote the scene. 72 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.240 He put it in the movie, and then he started 73 00:03:44.280 --> 00:03:45.960 having and then he would he'd be at the end 74 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.199 of the day. I'd answer the phones all day. At 75 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:50.199 the end of the day, he'd say, all right, take 76 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.240 a look at this scene and make this better. 77 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:52.960 Wow. 78 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:55.719 So, by the time the studio found out I had 79 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.639 written rewritten about fifty some odd percent of the script, 80 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:02.759 they were in a legal bind and they had to 81 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:04.360 make a deal with me. So they paid me thirty 82 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.400 five thousand dollars, which is the guild minimum rewrite fee. 83 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.199 And basically I worked on the film for thirteen months, 84 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:13.840 went up to Canada, I was on set. I was 85 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:15.280 there for all the casting, I was there for all 86 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:15.719 the shooting. 87 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:16.120 Wow. 88 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.360 Wrote about one hundred and fifty drafts of the script, 89 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:24.560 and Yeah, got sole credit. And then my friend Chris mccuori, 90 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:27.240 who had been the writer on the film before me, 91 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.839 the Academy Award winner for Usual Suspects, called me up 92 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.199 and he said, do you realize you are the most 93 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:39.839 successful first time screenwriter in film history, and that I 94 00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:43.480 don't know if that's still okay. All by chance, I 95 00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:47.560 literally fell ass backwards into it and here we are. 96 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:48.720 It worked, yeah. 97 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:52.519 Yeah in the movie, you know, and people didn't didn't 98 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:53.319 think it was going. 99 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:58.920 To be good. This is pre MCU so oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 100 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:01.519 Nobody thought that any thing that wasn't Batman or Superman 101 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:03.040 or spider Man could work. 102 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:03.680 That's the thing. 103 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:07.639 And we had eleven superpowered main characters. 104 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.720 And and yeah, uh so I didn't even think of it. 105 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.079 Yeah yeah, yeah, it's and so while they had different 106 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.360 powers and different names and this and that and and 107 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:20.199 just setting up this weird world and so nobody really 108 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:22.279 had a lot of confidence in it. But I, being 109 00:05:22.519 --> 00:05:24.879 a fan of the comics, yeah, I was like, no, 110 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:27.240 this is this is a great world. It's it's an 111 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:32.199 amazing place to be and and uh stan Lee, yeah yeah, 112 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:34.839 So that love of the comic books came through in 113 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:36.519 the movies and they did pretty well. 114 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:38.720 And then I, well, it's a credit to you because 115 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.000 with Avengers, we had all these films setting up building 116 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:43.759 to that one. With them all in the same one, 117 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.920 you had nothing. You were just you were making Avenges 118 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:46.920 from the beginning. 119 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:49.759 Yes, yeah, yeah, and if you look at the first movie, 120 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:51.720 I mean, it really is all set up. It's just 121 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:55.160 all describing what this world is. They are, It's a 122 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:56.120 very simple story. 123 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:59.120 Yeah, you know how they got to be what they are? Yeah, 124 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:00.600 all that stuff for a while. 125 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:03.519 But that's how it happened. It was it was crazy. 126 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:05.439 You have said that the eleven main characters all had 127 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:07.040 to have their own journey, as you were talking about 128 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.199 before their own story. Which journey did you struggle the 129 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.279 most to incorporate into that world? 130 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:15.160 Well, I don't know that they all had their own journey. 131 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:20.639 I mean, Toad is just a Toad guy. And Sabretooth 132 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.560 I didn't even know that Sabretooth had eventually been revealed 133 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:29.160 to be Logan's brother, Wolverine's brother. I didn't know that 134 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.040 at all, So we didn't incorporate any of that. You didn't, no, 135 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.800 I know, I know. I'm sure the younger, younger X 136 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.360 Men friends are probably outraged. But for the X Men, well, 137 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:43.160 basically what I did was I just want to make 138 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.879 sure each character had, you know, and Magneto, that each 139 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:48.720 character had a beginning, in the middle and an end 140 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:50.639 no matter what. You know, how big or small, those 141 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:53.120 things were. So what I did was I did a 142 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:56.480 global search through the script for just the character's name 143 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.720 saying dialogue, and I went through all of Cyclopsis dialogue, 144 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:03.240 all of Storm's dialogue, all the Jeenes dialogue, to make 145 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:05.839 sure that they at least had you know, some sort 146 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:09.360 of growth, some sort of movement through the story. And 147 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.399 you know, apart from it all being difficult, I don't 148 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:18.680 remember anything being specifically harder than others. The hardest thing 149 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.199 was we want a Beast in the movie, but we 150 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:24.360 couldn't afford to have him do any action because he's 151 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:29.319 a big blue creature. So we kept writing that he 152 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:32.879 would break his leg before the third act action and 153 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.120 then eventually we're like, this is stupid. If we can't 154 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.600 use him, then yeah, then you know what's the point. 155 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.360 And so poor Beast got cut from the movie. 156 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.160 And that was based on just his inability to you 157 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:49.959 couldn't write for the or didn't want to or no, no, no, 158 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:50.680 no no. 159 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.199 I wrote a big sequence where they you know, they 160 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.120 go to the Statue of Liberty, and so I had 161 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.000 a whole sequence where he had a big battle inside 162 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.240 the statue where the where the staircases are and all 163 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.240 that stuff that he'd be swinging around and fighting with 164 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.560 evil mutants and whatnot. But that was so expensive to 165 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.079 to Oh you know, we didn't even create that set, 166 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:10.279 so it would have been just for him. 167 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:12.759 You know. 168 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:15.439 CG was not in a place at that time where 169 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:20.319 you could do like a big monkey type guy swinging around, 170 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.160 So so it just went away. At one point we 171 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:26.439 had Jim Hansen, Jim Henson's company bidding to build a 172 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.920 beast for us, which would have been really cool. Wow, 173 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:32.399 but again, you know, putting him up on wires and 174 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:35.000 making him do acrobatics was just not within our budget range. 175 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:40.720 Yeah, and CG. I wasn't really quiet there yet, was it. 176 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.399 No? I mean no, it was. 177 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:47.000 It was okay for doing like hard surfaces, airplanes and 178 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.279 rocks and stuff like that, but you couldn't do, you know, 179 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:52.639 any living creature look like crap at that point. 180 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:56.120 I have seen an interview where you said that a 181 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:58.000 lot of the actors and it didn't know who you were. 182 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.080 Some people from the studio didn't necessarily once you around that. 183 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:03.679 Oh yeah, what what was that like? 184 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:05.360 And do you ever call the moment where you sort 185 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:08.080 of felt like you'd earned the trust of the people 186 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:08.600 working there. 187 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.200 I felt I did. I don't think they ever felt 188 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:16.559 I did. You know, yeah, they were I was just 189 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:20.679 the phone answer guy to to them. You know, I 190 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.480 had I had been in a few movies and that 191 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:26.039 they'd never heard of, and I had produced and starred 192 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.879 in a movie that they'd never heard of. So, you know, 193 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:33.120 there's they call it breaking into Hollywood because you know, 194 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:36.320 there comes a point where your name goes on the 195 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:39.519 A list. There's literal lists that get given out for writers, 196 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.320 for actors, whatever, and breaking in means you end up 197 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.200 on these lists, and it's very you know, there's a 198 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.720 there's a sense of ownership over Hollywood by studio executives 199 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.679 and whatnot, and if they don't feel you deserve to 200 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:55.600 be there, they're very resentful about that. I thought once 201 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:58.320 the movie opened and made you know, four hundred million 202 00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:01.000 dollars or whatever, that I'd be like, Oh, now they'll 203 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.679 really respect me, you would think, But that that wasn't 204 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:05.519 the case. I Mean, they still the hired me to 205 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:07.480 write X Men too, but they were still just as 206 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.039 vicious and just as mistrustful as they had been. 207 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.840 Before in what way, So you would pitch something and 208 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:15.519 they wouldn't agree with you. What was in what way 209 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:16.120 would they know? 210 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:19.240 No, it wasn't that if I pitched something and it 211 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:22.840 was good, they would recognize it and they would they 212 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:25.360 would back it. It was really more a matter of 213 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:30.000 just how insulting the deals were and their business affairs people, 214 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.960 the people that make your deal were just so dismissive 215 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:34.159 and rude. 216 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.559 And I think I know those guys. 217 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:38.879 Yeah, I mean it was just they were just hostile 218 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:42.399 for no reason. And I, you know, I just sort 219 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.279 of took that as well. This is what it's like 220 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.720 working on the big movies. Now, I've since worked on 221 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:48.480 a bunch of big movies and it's not always like that, 222 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.679 but it is always stressful, and it is always, you know, 223 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:53.960 you have to prove yourself again and again and again. 224 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:56.480 And the fact that I came out of nowhere it 225 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:59.200 made them all very nervous. I mean, look, you know, 226 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:03.519 from their respective they have to justify to their shareholders. Yeah, 227 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:06.720 why the phone answer guy is writing their eighty million 228 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:09.440 dollar film, right, you know, as opposed to Josh Whedon 229 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.519 or Chris McCrory or these writers. So I understood it 230 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:16.840 to a certain extent, but it was it was pretty unpleasant. 231 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:19.240 Yeah, you know, was a case of maybe just toll 232 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.559 poppy scene drum as well as how dad this guy does. 233 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.879 He hasn't sort of had to go through the hot 234 00:11:23.960 --> 00:11:25.919 yahs and prove himself from a roting perspective. He's just 235 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:28.440 been given this massive opportunity. 236 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:32.240 Yes, yeah, that's exactly right, that's exactly right. They want 237 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.559 you to they want you to have paid your dues, 238 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.080 and they want other studios to have hired you first. 239 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:39.360 So nobody wants to be the first person to hire 240 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.080 an unknown writer and I and I totally get that. Yeah, 241 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.399 but I thought, you know, they'd be like, oh my god, 242 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:46.440 we love this this scene, you know, and they'd say, well, 243 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:47.120 you know who wrote this? 244 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.039 Once it worked? It worked I did, and you would think, yeah. 245 00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:53.320 They'd be like, oh okay, well fue. Yeah, they grudgingly 246 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:55.519 put it in the movie and grudgingly spend all the 247 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:00.600 money that they made off of my scenes, right right right, Well, 248 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:02.759 not that I'm complaining, I mean I am a little bit, 249 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:04.159 but but it all worked out. 250 00:12:04.039 --> 00:12:06.440 Well, it worked out and came out in the wash. 251 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.080 Yeah, and I and I just said, look, don't get 252 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:13.080 your ego involved. Just you know, this is the opportunity 253 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.639 of a lifetime. Put your head down, work as hard 254 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:17.879 as you can, take all the abuse, and don't you know, 255 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:19.720 just let it roll off. 256 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:21.639 And let it roll off your back and then roll 257 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:24.440 into the next one. Yeah, yeah, that's perfect. 258 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:27.240 That was it, you know, because getting your ego involved, 259 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:29.960 especially when you're starting out, will kill you. You know, 260 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:31.559 people will be like, who do you think you are? 261 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.279 And they won't hire you and there you know, there 262 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:37.799 are certain gatekeepers to the business in acting and right, 263 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:40.720 oh yeah, that you have to appease, whether your ego 264 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:44.159 likes it or not. So you know, best to just 265 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:46.240 sort of look at it all as a as a game, 266 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.519 and you know, try to be smart, try not to 267 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.600 take it personally, try not to let it, you know, 268 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:51.759 break you down inside. 269 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:54.919 Mm hm right, wow, well good for you. 270 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.120 Do you think the MCU exists if you didn't rock 271 00:12:57.159 --> 00:12:58.960 this film the way you didn't has such a success? 272 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:01.639 Do I think that? 273 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:02.200 Well? 274 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.480 I mean, obviously the X Men films led the way 275 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:10.399 towards the MCU as it is, but I also feel 276 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.360 like there were so many amazing untapped stories in there. 277 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:16.879 I think all of it, you know, me, Kevin Faigi, 278 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.399 Tom DeSanto. You know, the people that were real comic 279 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:24.639 book fans knew that there were you know, sixty seventy 280 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.240 years worth of storieselievable that were amazing that weren't being 281 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.720 exploited for movies. And with CG coming into its own, 282 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:33.960 we were getting to a point where we could make 283 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:36.879 Iron Man or the Hulk or whatever, which I worked 284 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:41.080 with both of those, and so I think there would 285 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:45.720 have been an MCU eventually, you know, if the stars 286 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.759 had come together differently, But certainly we opened the doors 287 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:53.519 for that and made the studios very confident that other 288 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.960 comic book characters could could be successful in the movies. 289 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:57.720 All in the one film. 290 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:03.279 Yeah, yeah, well yeah, I mean, and you know, I 291 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.559 said to Tom Rothman, who was the president of Fox. 292 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.120 I was like, look, there's there's fifty x men imprint 293 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:12.720 comic books out there every month, like all over the world. 294 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:15.919 Like we should have a built in you know, enormous 295 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:17.080 built in audience. 296 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:17.480 Built in audience. 297 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:21.519 Yeah yeah, And he said, he said, David, the comic 298 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:24.120 book fans will be done by ten pm Friday night, 299 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.320 and we have to get everybody else. So that kind 300 00:14:28.360 --> 00:14:29.480 of put it in perspective for me. 301 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:30.440 Well that's interesting. 302 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:31.720 Do you agree with that perspective? 303 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:33.879 Well, he's the president's studio. I figured you had to 304 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.559 have done some restart. Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, 305 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.399 when you really think about it, the number of people 306 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.480 who see movies versus the number of people who read 307 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:49.240 anything is far greater numbers. So yeah, it made sense 308 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.360 to me. But I did feel like there was a big, 309 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:57.519 you know, an underground base of fans that that would 310 00:14:57.559 --> 00:14:59.480 turn out for the movie and would bring, you know, 311 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.840 friends and girlfriends. Well they wouldn't have girlfriends, but you know, 312 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.679 friends and relatives and whatnot to their comic book movies 313 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:08.159 to see the characters they've always loved. 314 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.519 Yeah. Yeah, and girls aren't going anyway with themselves. 315 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:14.519 Well well you know, but the thing is we had 316 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.240 we had really kick ass women characters which came from 317 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:18.799 the comic book. 318 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:19.519 Well, that's true. 319 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.919 And so it was really, you know, I mean a 320 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:24.799 personal goal of mine to make sure that the girls 321 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:26.720 would go and go, oh my god, I could be 322 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:27.279 an X man. 323 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.879 I could you know, that could be pretty pretty bodacious. 324 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.039 She was pretty awesome and Jeane and Mystique is amazing, 325 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:37.159 Like Mystique. 326 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.080 Mistake was the big one for me. 327 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.879 Yeah, and she had people forget she had one line 328 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:43.200 in the first film and then became like a lynchpin 329 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:44.360 of the whole series. 330 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:46.080 So wow, yeah, I didn't. 331 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.759 As you said earlier, you know, we had Batman and 332 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.759 Spider Man and Superman. It was always Men Men Wonder Woman, 333 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:54.799 but Wonder Woman had had her own film at that point. 334 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.279 You know, no, just the TV show in the seventies. 335 00:15:57.480 --> 00:15:59.799 And in fact, you know, after X Men, I was 336 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.600 hatched to direct, write, and direct the Black Widow movie 337 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:07.480 and that's right, yeah, after her. Yeah, I named my 338 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:10.360 daughter after forced them to make the movie, but they didn't, 339 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.399 and that one we were ready to shoot. And then 340 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:20.240 in one weekend, Eon Flux and Blood Rain and Ultra 341 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.039 Violet came out in the same weekend and they all failed. 342 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:26.039 And so the Lionsgate was like, oh, you know, female 343 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.080 action movies don't work, Female superhero movies don't work, and 344 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.120 so you know, that knocked us back another decade or so, 345 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:33.799 which was a shame. 346 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:34.759 Yeah, that is a shame. 347 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.840 Yeah, well, Jim, you're a big comic book guy, aren't you. 348 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:38.720 Love You love collecting comics, don't you, Jim? 349 00:16:38.919 --> 00:16:42.360 Oh, god. Yeah, yep. Still I still go over to 350 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:46.279 Burbank and hit up the comics, you know, every couple 351 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:46.639 of weeks. 352 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:47.600 What are your favorites? 353 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.559 Well, spider Man, yeah, Punisher, yeah, x Men yeap. X 354 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:58.600 Men are way up there. Always love Wolverine, Deadpool, he's working, 355 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:03.440 you know, gosh, and some Batman. 356 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:05.680 Oh I was Yeah, it was a huge Batman. 357 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:10.079 Huge Batman. Yeah. There's like eight Batman titles out there now, yeah, 358 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:10.880 right now. 359 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.079 Did you guys get a chance to see Deadpool and Wolverine? 360 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:15.200 Yeah? 361 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:16.400 Yeah, have you seen it? 362 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:16.559 Ye? 363 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.480 Yeah, and they do. They do this really amazing tribute 364 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:25.240 to the Fox X Men era, and so all of 365 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.160 those behind the scenes clips from X Men one. I 366 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:33.200 am standing, like literally right off camera watching all that happens. 367 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.480 So it was really emotional watching. 368 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:36.200 That's nice. 369 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.119 It was really cool. 370 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:38.119 Well that's good to know. 371 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:39.000 Yeaheah, I loved it. 372 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.920 Good. Now I'm gonna look for it, look for your shadow. Yeah. 373 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.519 I might be in the footage. 374 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:43.839 I didn't. 375 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:47.279 I didn't spot myself, but yeah, I am there for. 376 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.880 The entire It was emotional, wasn't. I wasn't even involved 377 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.640 with the project, but I felt the same way because 378 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:54.079 to me, like the X Men. To me, it was 379 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:58.119 like x Men x two, Iron Man. That was kind 380 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:01.359 of like the impetus of like the new aneration of Superheroes. 381 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.000 You know, it changed like the Batman forevers and like 382 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:07.000 you know, that was kind of like a different it 383 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:08.880 was just a different feel to those movies. 384 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:11.960 Yeah, well we decided and I think that this really 385 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:13.920 did help kick off the MCU that. 386 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:16.319 We didn't. 387 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:17.039 Well. 388 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:18.759 I wanted to make a com book movie because I 389 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:21.559 knew how cool comic books were, but Brian Singer didn't 390 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:23.079 read comic books, and he was like, no, we're just 391 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.240 making a real movie and an actual action movie with 392 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:29.000 real characters, and if it doesn't feel real, we're not 393 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.480 doing it. And so that really, you know, taking it 394 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.680 seriously like that said, you know, spoke to the fans 395 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.759 and also spoke to people who had not yet been fans. 396 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.400 So yeah, so it worked out, and to your point 397 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.400 of like how far CGI has come as well, I 398 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.440 remember there was one scene and it's when Deadpool and 399 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:50.240 Wolverine are fighting like all the multiverse of Deadpools, and 400 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:54.400 I swear there was like an entire animated fight scene. 401 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.720