Q&A: Writer Ed Brubaker on Making Crime Pay and Protecting Your Voice in Comic Books and Hollywood (Part 2)

I can’t imagine there are many people in the world who would argue with the assertion that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Brubaker" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Ed Brubaker</a> is one of the greatest comic book writers of all time. For a quarter-century, his work on creator-owned crime comic books and superhero series has inspired readers, influenced countless artists, and produced characters and storylines so significant they’ve helped build cinematic franchises. But starting in the aughts, the writer set his sights on conquering Hollywood next. By 2016, he had landed in the writers’ room of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(TV_series)" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">“WESTWORLD”</a> and co-wrote Episode 4 of its first season. While still on the show, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_(2011_film)" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">DRIVE</a> director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0716347/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Nicolas Winding Refn</a> came calling and asked Ed to write a film for him, an opportunity that evolved into the seedy modern noir <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Old_to_Die_Young" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">“TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG”</a>. These opportunities didn’t come without challenges for him, as you’ll see. Today, he’s the head writer of the upcoming <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14681596/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">“BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER”</a> series and is co-showrunning an adaption of his seminal comic book series <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/02/criminal-series-ed-brubaker-comic-amazon-studios-1235247948/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">CRIMINAL</a>. In Part 1 of my conversation with Ed — <a href="https://fanfare.pub/q-a-writer-ed-brubaker-on-making-crime-pay-and-protecting-your-voice-in-comic-books-and-hollywood-8bb50385f591" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">which you can read here</a> — we discussed how he developed his unique voice and his comic book journey. In Part 2, we transition from comics to his career in Hollywood. You’re going to get a front-row seat of what this experience has been like for him and what he’s learned from it, which will hopefully better prepare for it when your time comes. Again and again we will return to a question that defined our chat: <a href="https://fanfare.pub/q-a-writer-ed-brubaker-on-making-crime-pay-and-protecting-your-voice-in-comic-books-and-hollywood-c702e4979cda">Read More</a>