Source Wall from Dark Nights: Metal #6
Credit: DC
Dark Nights: Metal could have had a very different ending, if Scott Snyder, on the suggestion of Grant Morrison, had his way.
Monday during a webconference Q&A Snyder conducted with a small group of fans in benefit of the Hero Initiative, the writer of 2017-18’s Metal and its upcoming sequel Death Metal responded to a question about his vision for the Sixth Dimension relative to Morrison’s Multiversity map the latter writer created for his own DC 2014-15 event.
Speaking in great detail about concepts he’s introduced in Justice League and Metal, Snyder explained the difficulty of visualizing a map of a “realm beyond imagination,” but tried to describe how he sees it, articulating that he considers the Source Wall (which he broke in Metal) the actual boundary between the realms.
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He then spoke about how he and his collaborators view creatively coexisting in the DC Universe, working with concepts created by other writers, and conversely other writers picking up concepts they create.
“And by the way, someone might take it and write it a different way, and then they’re right,” he explained.
“We really do care about it a lot. When we did Metal and doing Death Metal now we reread all the stuff. We talk to Grant. We talk to anyone that we can speak to about the rules and regulations – the deepest DC fans in editorial there – because we don’t want to step on anything. But the fun of it is try and find the pieces you’re inspired by and be additive.
“No one is trying to break anything or detract from the DC Universe. It’s all about adding to it.”
On that note, he revealed an idea that could have been the biggest additive of all.
Snyder recalled a conversation with Morrison in which the writers talked about going past the boundary of Source Wall in Metal and having to create something that gives an equal sense of “mystery, awe, all of that.”
“If you break the Source Wall you have to put something on the other side of it that’s equally wondrous and terrifying,” Snyder recalls Morrison advising him. “I said ‘Yeah, I know, I’m going to,’ and Grant said, ‘Let me guess. They break the Source Wall and on the other side is Marvel Comics?’
Silver Surfer #5
Credit: Adi Granov (Marvel Comics)
“And I was like ‘Ahh, if only … if only we could do that.’ Like if the Source Wall breaks at the end of Metal and you see the Silver Surfer. You know what I mean? Like it’s the beginning of the DC-Marvel crossover.”
“I’d do that in a second,” Snyder wistfully mused. “I’d write Batman and that.
“I’d do that.
“I’d do that.
“If I ruled the world.”
DC and Marvel Comics could consider that an opportunity missed … or an invitation.
Snyder is just one of dozen of creators taking part in Hero Initiative’s live Zoom pro-fan webconferences to raise money for comic book creators in medical or financial need.
For more information visit www.heroinitiative.org or www.heroinitiative.org/merchandise to see what experiences are still available for purchase.