Interview: Kicking Ass with Mark Millar

While taking time out from work on the new six issue follow-up to Kick-Ass called Kick-Ass: Balls to the Wall, that will focus more on the continued adventures of the title hero David Lizewski, with Hit-Girl adjusting to normal life, and Red Mist’s revenge, Mark Millar chats with Killer Film about the comic-turned-hit film on the eve of Kick-Ass‘s Blu-ray and DVD debut.

Jon: The rights to Kick-Ass were sold before you started printing issue #1. How did this come about and did Wanted‘s huge box office help?

Mark Millar: Oh, certainly. I think when you have something that was as big as [Wanted], it’s a little easier getting more money for the next. But it was Matthew Vaughn, who he and I became friends, wanted to do something together. At the time, he was going to do X-Men: The Last Stand and then something else fell apart for him, and he really wanted to do a comic adaptation. He asked me what I had, and I said I have this thing called Kick-Ass and American Jesus, but there’s only a few issues done but since I loved Kick-Ass, I offered them. And he loved it. A few months later he got the options on it. It was all very, very fast.

Jon: You were writing the series as Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman were writing the script. How was that process and were you afraid there might be difference between the two that could alienate fans, as was the case with Wanted?

Millar: It was pretty good. I had written the first four issues by the time they started. It was just very relaxed, even though we were off doing our own thing, yet collaborating together. I understood they wanted to change a few things from the comic, that would work better in the film, and I thought that was just dandy.

Jon: As a writer who has had his properties sold, to you, is it more important to have the right cast or the right director to translate your sensibilities to the medium of film?

Millar: That’s a great yet easy question to answer: a great director. Because I’ve seen good actors in shit movies. It’s very rare to have a great director make a bad movie. I think if you have a good director like a Matthew Vaughn, it makes the actors and the movie better.

Jon: Some of the controversy was quite interesting prior to the film’s release and also some of the divided reviews, notably from Roger Ebert (here). I see Kick-Ass, David Lizewski, as a hero of the Recession, with a real do-it-yourself type of attitude. Is the property just that, or is it a punch-to-the-face of America’s ever-so tight conservative mentality?

Millar: [pauses] I haven’t actually thought that, and that’s quite interesting because I never considered that. The Marvel characters are born out of radiation or bitten by a spider. I just went for the average kid-turned-hero angle and never actually considered what you said. Maybe people do look at Kick-Ass as a low budget hero for a low budget era, since he doesn’t have money, a Batmobile, or plane. Interesting. I’m going to have to start using that now!

Jon: Were you pleased with the final product of Kick-Ass, compared to Wanted, that was really different from the graphic novel?

Millar: Well, with Wanted, it was directly the comic for the first 50 minutes, then it went off on its own thing. To me, I was really happy with it, but if it would’ve sucked, I’d hate it. It was my first film adaptation, and it made a lot of money, so I was happy how that all turned out. But for Kick-Ass, I was more happy with it, since it was more personal to me, and Matthew [Vaughn] got it.

Jon: Kick-Ass: Balls to the Wall is out August 11th in comic stores, yet the sequel has been talked about since April at the time of the film’s release. What’s the status on that?

Millar: Well, it always was me doing the next series and having Matthew direct it. We always planned for a sequel. I should be finished with it by Christmas and hopefully start the movie soon there after, when Matthew is done with X-Men: First Class. The first film only cost $28 million and made a pretty good overall box office like $100 million [worldwide], and Lionsgate is expecting it to do well on DVD, so the money is there. The first film ended on a cliffhanger, so it will naturally go from there.

Jon: You have a unique position in the comic industry, by having you two feet in that world, as well as in Hollywood. Is that a hard duality position to have, knowing that something like Kick-Ass: Balls to the Wall have a very shot at being optioned.

Millar: I write what I want and if you think about it, is this going to be a movie, you’ll end up disappointing yourself and people. You got to do what please you first, then if it’s good, people will respond to it. I wrote Kick-Ass as they were writing the script, but I did it for myself first, and treated the film as something extra.

Jon: Finally, I wanted to say I was a fan of your Civil War [Marvel, here]…

Millar: Thank you.

Jon: But you seem to attract controversy. Do you think it’s all overblown from the media or is it something you’ve tapped into that forces them to react the way they do, like when they saw Hit-Girl in the film?

Millar: I think it’s a combination of both, really. When I started out in my 20s, I was making comics nobody was buying. So I had no controversy in those works and that was it. When my work started getting noticed, when my first big hit came, that was it, I was on everyone’s radar. When you have a big hit, you stand in a different light. You’re going to get a lot of distractors and that’s always going to be the case. I’ve accepted that. I think as a writer, you have 20% of your audience that just doesn’t like what you’re doing, and the bigger you are, the bigger that 20% is. I enjoy it. I love what I do and have been very lucky in the industry, to have the success in the comic world, and a few movies made from them. I can understand them though, since I don’t think my work attract the traditional types of readers.

Kick-Ass is in stores from Lionsgate Films on Blu-ray and DVD August 3rd everywhere!