NYCC 2023: Gail Simone Pleads For Wonder Woman’s Safety In ‘DC Heroes United’

Gail Simone has one key request for those who might take part in Genvid’s upcoming interactive series DC Heroes United – “Please don’t kill Wonder Woman.”

Simone, along with writers Joshua Hale Fialkov, Brian Buccellato, DC interactive creative director Randy Ma, and Genvid Chief Creative Officer Stephan Bugaj, took to a panel room at New York Comic Con Thursday to discuss the upcoming project which puts DC fans in charge of Earth-212.

According to Bugaj, the series will be a cross between the infamous “Death of Robin” phone-in vote and Telltale Games The Walking Dead narrative games. Set in a universe where the Justice League have yet to form and many of the heroes are still operating in the shadows, viewers will see a scene each day in the ongoing tale – precipitated when the Tower of Fate appears in Gotham City — and make one of three decisions to advance the story. At the end of each week, the choices will be compiled into a longer episode revealing how the choices played out. Those choices will be the canon of Earth-212, a world with the artistic stamp of artist Terry Dodson.

“It’s not just the ease of access, but the communal aspect and the tribalism within that community,” Ma said of leveraging fan votes on a daily basis. “[It’s] also the relationships, how the characters interact.”

While it is still unclear just how many platforms DC Heroes United will appear on, Bugaj mentioned Genvid’s technology can appear just about anywhere – from phones to consoles to computers. And should it become available on all those devices, it will lead to a truly worldwide experience with DC fans from all over the world debating and voting on which way things may go for the characters. The writing team, meanwhile, is charged with creating the larger aspects of the story and the rails in which it operates, but nuances, characterization, and relationships will be up to the vote, leading in directions none of the writers can anticipate at the moment.

Simone added, “When I sit down to write, so many choices have to be made by me. How is [Wonder Woman] going to respond to evil characters or her mother? As someone who writes Wonder Woman, I would love to sit down and see how the viewers think she would react to a certain situation. I cannot wait to see the outcome after all of the discussion. I want to be surprised. And maybe it will be something none of us thought of.”

“We know you as fans all have opinions,” she continued. “This is a chance to get in there and make your opinion heard. I don’t think that’s been done with DC superheroes before. I’m curious to see if there is a global opinion on these characters.”

“My kid is so jazzed,” Fialkov said. “It really taps into a new form of storytelling. It’s something that’s evolved over the last 20 years that allows the user to engage and drag themselves into the story. Sometimes we hear too much from the fans, but we know they have great ideas and know these characters really well.”

“The fandom is so intense,” Bugaj said.

Nevertheless, engaging with that intensity is part of the point. Beyond the vote, the eventual app will have a community component where participants can debate among each other what different decisions might mean for the characters or even how the play off of one another – are Superman and Batman friends? Begruding co-workers? Will one dislike the other’s methods? They can also advocate for their favorite daily choice as the canon of Earth-212 coalesces.

Of course, Buccellato mentioned, the writing team still needs to know “who [the characters] are and who they’ve been for the last 75 years. You don’t want to set up choices where you say ‘Wonder Woman wouldn’t do that.’” Although the heavy hitters of the League will be featured, some of the more obscure DC heroes may pop up as the story progresses and the viewers begin selecting members of the universe’s JLA.

“We put the pieces on the table and tell you to put the puzzle together,” he continued. “[And] since this is pre-forming of the Justice League, you’re engaging with them where they are more impressionable. They’re a little more human.”

That level of humanity may lead to interesting quirks, like Lex Luthor turning out to be a hero of Earth-212, an idea Fialkov even suggested in the earliest conversations about the project. “Lex can be a hero,” Bugaj said. “He doesn’t start in our universe as evil and he does not need to become evil.”

Although those choices will be “free-to-decide,” Bugaj mentioned a monetized option will also be available offering “additional depth” to the DC Heroes United story.

The release date and duration of DC Heroes United is still being firmed up, but Bugaj revealed one other tidbit that pleased those in attendance: it will not use AI to generated artwork or voices for the series.

Toward the end of the session, a member of the audience asked if romance options will also be up for the vote. Buccellato teased “more [like] ‘flirt-mance’ options.”

Simone shouted, ‘You decide!’