Paul Danois here to bring trauma to the forefront in the most pop culture, mainstream way possible - in the form of a comic book surrounding hisThe Batmancharacter,Riddler. Since the project, titledRiddler: Year Onewasannounced back in March, fans have been eager to learn more about what will be Dano’s first step into the world of animated, on page storytelling. With the six-issue Black Label Bimonthly Limited Series soon hitting shelves in October, Dano sat down withEmpireto discuss his vision for the project.
In what theThere Will Be Bloodstar has described as a background telling of how an ordinary accountant named Edward Nashton would transform into one of Batman’s arch nemeses, the story will center around those early days of Nashton’s traumatic and dismal life that led him down the path of becoming a serial killer. Through Dano’s preparation to take on the dark role, he says that he formed a “backstory”, better allowing him to understand the maniacal villain’s drive for committing his heinous crimes.
Instead of creating a character journal as many performers do, Dano instead began to pen a comic book and then took it toThe BatmandirectorMatt Reevesand the film’s producerDylan Clark. In his decision to move forward with the piece, Dano said, “I secretly thought, ‘This could be kind of cool as a comic,’” setting things in motion for theStevan Subicanimated project. In what Dano referred to as “an emotional story about trauma,” the publication promises to deliver on the rise of Riddler while tackling another, less talked about side of the bad guys in superhero pieces.
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Outside the colorful pages of comic book creation, Dano is gearing up for the release of two films, preparing to shoot another, and was recently announced to have been cast to star inPrime Video’s small-screen takeonMr. and Mrs. Smith, where the actor will appear alongside a lineup that so far includesMaya Erskine,Donald Glover,John Turturro, andMichaela Coel. In the feature-length world, Dano will soon be seen inSteven Spielberg’scoming-of-age dramaThe Fableman’s as well asJohan Renck’s sci-fi flick,Spaceman, the latter of which is in post-production and eyeing a release date of sometime in 2023. Meanwhile, it wasrecently announcedthat Dano would be appearing alongside the likes ofSebastian Stan,Pete Davidson, andSeth RogeninDumb Money, a feature about the GameStop scandal.
If you haven’t yet seen it, you can catchThe Batmanstreaming on HBO Max before the first issue ofRiddler: Year Onelands on shelves in October with bimonthly releases to follow.
