It’s all happening, my brothers and sisters. Last week you had the brilliant Sean Gordon Murphy here talking about Chrononauts (thanks again for the sell-out btw). This week we have Star Wars and Millarworld’s Starlight screen-writer Gary Whitta here and dangling for sixty minutes for your live amusement.
As always, this is 5pm New York time and only here on this thread tonight. Be lovely to him. Oh, and ask him anything you like about Star Wars 
MM
I did! But growing up in the UK I read mostly the stuff we had over there like The Beano and The Dandy and Whizzer & Chips (I was a Whiz-Kid.) I was aware of the Marvel and DC stuff but really more from the TV cartoon adaptations than the comics themselves. For me, like so many, my real interest in comics was sparked in 1988 (I was 16 at the time) by the double punch of WATCHMEN and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
It’s just a fantastic premise - “what if Flash Gordon got old and had to go back and do it all over again?” - and struck me as so ready to be a movie. The idea of an older, more vulnerable hero, with plenty of reasons to doubt himself, seemed like an opportunity to write a really interesting character and also a big adventurous movie that’s about something real - themes of mortality, coming to terms with age, connecting with your family and loved ones - those are all real, substantial ideas that allows STARLIGHT to be something more than just a piece of popcorn entertainment and hopefully something that can strike a meaningful chord with all kinds of audiences because those themes are universal.
Well it certainly can’t hurt. What’s interesting is that both Star Wars and Starlight both, to different extents, count Flash Gordon as major influences.
Do you have in mind the actor that could lead the movie?, I think Michael Rooker could make an awesome Duke
Mark and I have spoken a lot about that, there are a lot of ideas. At the end of the day I’m just the writer and casting is something that happens way above my pay grade. Ultimately I hope that the casting does embrace the idea of the older hero. Duke McQueen is kind of an American icon and I hope we’ll find someone of similar stature to play him!
I just discovered Inkshares through a link in your interview today. It looks like a really great way to publish and a nice alternative to other crowdfunding sites. How would you rate your experience so far?
Great answer. Those human elements of the books produced its strongest moments, I think.
Best of luck with the adaptation.
The Inkshares experience has been great, I highly recommend it. It’s like self-publishing but with all the benefits that a “real” publisher offers. Definitely worth looking into if you have a book you’re itching to write!
After Starlight are you interested in other Millarworld movies or you wanted to write your own stories?
