Exclusive: Interview w/Reginald Hudlin

From Harpo's Juke Joint

If calculus knowing, AP class taking, comic book reading geeks ever have a superhero, he'll probably look a lot like Reginald Hudlin. Deep down, the acclaimed director and writer is a fanboy just like us...except he has the power to take two of the most famous and long-standing comic book characters in Marvel history and marry them, making the heads of die-hard RoLo 'shippers explode all over this great land. What we call fan fiction, Hudlin calls a paycheck. Just weeks before the Wedding of the Century, Harpo's webmaster and owner Jennifer Daniels raps with the president of BET Entertainment about Hollywood, race, and those dang-blasted Panther/Storm haters...

Part one: The Bad Mutha Wedding

Let's talk about Black Panther for a minute. How did you get in with Marvel in the first place?

Reginald Hudlin: I was working with a storyboard artist in LA named Paul Power. He's a comic fan too and as we do boards I often use comic book references. One day he asked if I would like to meet legendary comic artist Neal Adams. I said sure and he got Neal on the phone. Neal is a hero to me so I was hyped.

Next time I am in NY I meet Neal in person. After talking, and hearing my passion for comics, he says I should meet Joe Quesada, the top dog over at Marvel. He makes a phone call, and the next day I'm sitting down with Joe and editor Axel Alonso. I go into my rant about how Marvel was built on cultural relevance and even though I love Spider Man, he's basically the Beatles and we're living in a hip hop era. They actually agree with all this and we stay in touch.

One day, while visiting NY, I have lunch with Axel, and he pitches me on reviving the Black Panther. I'm reluctant, because I know they won't meet my deal requirements. But when I start telling him what it should be, he says do the deal or he'll steal my ideas.

I actually walk away from the deal three times, but my wife says I'm making myself miserable and close. Great decision.

What are the main differences between your Panther and the Panther that people were accustomed to? And what made you take Panther in its current direction - not just the wedding, but overall?

RH: Well, I think my version is a natural evolution of every previous version. The original version by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby made a very big impression on me, as well as the Priest version. My version doesn't really change what they did, just build on it. Of course there are obsessive sticklers who will say otherwise, but every key element of what defines the Black Panther are there. I probably changed less than Priest did on his run.

My take on the Panther is just doing the book I've wanted to read all my life. Dialogue I've always wanted to read. Fights I've wanted to see. And when readers say "I've waited all my life for this" I know I wasn't alone.

Do you agree with the people who consider this version of Panther a "reboot"?

RH: The whole "reboot"/"year one"...all that stuff is just irrelevant issues that mask the bottom line - whether you like the book or not. All characters change. Or else Batman would have died of old age by now and Spidey would be middle aged. The question is, do you like the changes or not.

How come Panther is marrying Storm under your pen? It's not like this is a new idea, and there were many more established writers who came before you - Chris Claremont, Scott Lobdell, Grant Morrison... Christopher Priest was at Marvel longer than I've been alive. Yet they handed Marvel's most famous female character to you and said go for it.

RH: Why me? Timing, I'm sure. Priest proposing the idea probably softened them up, but at the time they may have had other plans for Storm. Who knows. Marvel has not been shy about making big changes in the lives of flagship characters these days, so maybe it's just a different editorial tone now. In any case, I was very happy.

Why did you choose T'Challa's first love over his ex-fiancee, Monica Lynne?

RH: Because Superman should be with Wonder Woman, not Lois Lane. I mean, how long was Panther with Monica? No one cared. Now he's with Storm. One way or the other, EVERYONE cares.

Do you see any actual "differences" between your Storm and the Storm of old, or did you simply choose to explore another side of her?

RH: I don't think my Storm is "different", I just show a side of her that had not been revealed. I always imagined these off panel conversations between characters, I now I get to write them for real.

There's a scene in Black Panther #15 that suggests that T'Challa and Ororo made love en route to Wakanda. Are you surprised at the serious backlash against Storm and the judging of her "virtue", or did you see that coming ahead of time?

RH: I'll be honest - the fact that ANY of this shocks or upsets people blows my mind. I didn't anticipate any of this. But I think we've pretty firmly established there is a real gigantic "perception of reality" gap going on here. One person's dream come true is another person's nightmare, I guess. That is part and parcel of the whole "ownership" issue when it comes to some rabid comic book readers. "We thought you were 'different', we thought you were 'ours'". Classic madonna/whore syndrome. They want her with someone they identify with - Wolverine, or Forge - or just alone, always potentially available for capture and symbolic rape by villians.

Some folks are going to dislike the wedding, and that's one thing. But there are readers who seem to be very unsettled at the thought of Storm having a sexual relationship with Panther, even though they are engaged to be married. It's my belief that had Storm and Wolverine been in that jet plane (in BP #15), no one would've made a peep. But because it's Black Panther, it's a big problem. I can't help but feel that race is an issue, because I've seen too many people try to say this wedding is because they're both black, completely disregarding they relationship they've had since Marvel Team-Up #100 over 20 years ago.

RH: For the small but vocal contingent who write stuff like OOC, and expect everyone to understand what that means.... what it really means is "why would Storm choose Black Panther?" He's doesn't have superpowers, he's not a mutant, he's not as popular as her...and the big unspoken one - he's black. To readers like those, Storm is the kind of black woman who, regardless of who she might really be, is perceived to be a white man's woman more than a black man's woman. So for Storm to pick a man like T'Challa over Wolverine or Gambit or Forge makes them feel betrayed. OJ level betrayed. Like they found out the black person they liked...was black. Like all those other black people out there they don't like.

What are your thoughts of readers who dismiss Panther as "ghetto", and refer to his relationship with Storm "misogynistic"?

RH: If a reader can dismiss the king of an African country that has never been conquered, never been colonized, and as a result of that is one of the most technologically advanced countries on Earth as "ghetto", that is a lot of denial at work. If that's ghetto, that's the ghetto for me!

I think what inspires comments like that is that when I write Panther, he is actually living and aware of modern society...after all, if it is such a modern society, and the Panther is so astute, then he would have at least a passing knowledge of pop culture. Fela Kuti, perhaps the greatest African musician of the past 50 years, was inspired by James Brown - and that was in the 70s! I guess if you have contempt for contemporary black culture, it would follow that the Panther being familiar with it would "degrade" the character. I have no problem going from Mahalia Jackson to Miriam Makeba to Mike Jones. But maybe that's just me.

The idea that their relationship is "misogynistic" follows the same logic. If you hate the Black Panther, then pairing Storm with him would, I guess, be cruel. The question is, why do these readers hate him?

The last person who attempted a Panther/Storm marriage was Priest. Is he okay with the fact that you're the one doing the wedding?

RH: Priest and I spoke at the beginning of my run, where we told me to do whatever it was I wanted to do and make the book my own, because that's what he did. Which was a classy, cool thing to say. We've known each other for a long time. I keep trying to get him to come to Hollywood, but he really runs from it.

I'd run, too. Have you seen Uncut?

RH: This is the LAST week of Uncut - so brothas need to set their TiVos now!

Part two: BET, black folk and Hollywood swingin'

When black people talk about all that's wrong with black people, BET always comes up. We're always cussing and crying about the way we're represented on screen and on TV, and complaining about Uncut this and Cita's World that, and how rappers make videos degrading women and blahblahblah. How much of an influence do you think that music video and rap/R&B songs, etc. really have on today's youth?

RH: Obviously, economic conditions and human nature create crime more than rap records. If music was that powerful, there wouldn't be divorce because there are so many love songs. I think the materialistic state that hip hop is in is both artistically boring right now (with the exception for a few brilliant practitioners) and lacks an inspirational element that people miss.

For all the complaining about the films made depicting blacks in Hollywood and the way we're being depicted onscreen, when people step out on a limb and make movies like Akeelah and the Bee or The Gospel, we don't support those films. On the flip side, Big Momma's House II grossed about 70 mil. Why do you think that's so?

RH: The PBS effect. Everyone says that they don't like to see sex and violence, and that TV shows should be less exploitative and more educational. But when programming like that is offered, from PBS to Pax, viewers don't tend to show up. People don't like to admit that are a bundle of contradictions, but they are. This is not a "black" problem, this is a "human" problem. Of course, programming that doesn't have sex and violence has to rely on pure craftsmanship to entertain. So the bar is higher for it to break out and connect and move an audience.

Lastly; a lot of very well-intended programming is just badly made; so when the audience doesn't support it, people think that's a rejection of positive values. And of course the converse is true - people enjoy morally dubious entertainment because often it is very well made!

With all of that in mind, what do you think your responsibilities are as president of BET Entertainment?

RH: My job is to entertainment people. My desire as a citizen is to lead the culture, to raise the game and bring enlightenment, if possible. But it's a tricky balance to LEAD culture and not LEAVE culture. My job means I create all kinds of television shows, movies, webepisodes...a crazy wide range of communication platforms. So I can experiment with all kinds of messages delivered in hard sell, soft cell and subliminal form. Audiences are not monolithic. My target audience is "consumers of black culture on a global basis", so everything is not going to work for anybody. But I want to offer people choice. It's up them to drink, and decide whether it quenches their thirst or not.

We know that racism is a factor in Hollywood, but Denzel, Will, Halle, etc. can carry films on their own - no less than white stars, at worst. Where does the fault w/Hollywood end, and where does the fault with our "Soul Plane" supporting crew begin?

RH: Bad black movies...mainly white Hollywood's fault. The game really is fixed and folks just wants jobs. The "our fault" thing kicks in because standards are really confused, and craftsmanship is diminishing.

Speaking of diminishing craftsmanship. Academy Awards 2002 - the Year of the Negro. Thoughts?

RH: Was that the Denzel/Halle/Sidney year?

Will Smith got a nod, too.

RH: I'm a race man. Black folks on a ballot will always get a vote from me.

Here's to hoping that Soul Plane II never gets nommed. You seem to be the Paul Cicero of Hollywood; no matter how much or how little you wind up influencing a project, they have to cut you a check. If they keep making House Party movies, you'll never need to work again. Is that any legal wrangling on your end, like a musician fighting for his/her masters? Or is that just how it goes in Hollywood for writers?

RH: Me, Big Paulie? No, it's actually how business is done. Brad Grey, chair of Paramount Studios, still gets Sopranos checks. I help a lot of people; I get a taste for helping out. I help a lot more people than I get checks.

Can you help me get a Dell XPS 700? I'm sure they'll run Bebe's Kids on TBS this weekend and you won't even miss the money.

RH: I'm sorry, I try not to give money to...well, not just to strangers, or friends, or relatives...I try not to give money to anybody.

See, this is why black people can't ever have nothin'.

RH: Why? I'm black and I have a lot of things.

Noted. Last question: How did it feel to have Harry Belafonte give you props in his Humanitarian Award acceptance speech at this year's BET Awards?

RH: When Harry Belafonte mentioned me in his speech, I felt like I had accomplished something. To achieve enough to be in position to create an opportunity to publically acknowledge his contributions to society made me feel like it's all worthwhile.

"Black Panther 18" hits comic book stands on July 26, 2006. Reginald Hudlin can be reached at his message board at Hudlin Entertainment.