Melissa

Do you think the recent “Avengers” animated movie will help in terms of making at least Pym and the Wasp more accessible to new readers, or do you think it’ll be unrelated?

McDuffie

I think that doesn’t hurt. From what I hear, that movie did really well, so a lot of people saw him and saw her, and have more of an idea of who he is. Although, a lot of this series is going to be about clarifying who he really is, both to himself and to the Wasp, who for me is sort of representing the audience. She has an idea of who he is based on who he was years ago, and she’s going to have to learn that he’s sort of a different guy now. He’s got to learn that himself, actually.

Melissa

Wrapping up, is there any advice that you would have liked to have given yourself twenty years ago?

McDuffie

You mean other than, like, stock tips? I don’t know, because I think part of the fun of it is just sort of getting dumped into a situation. Everything sort of becomes an ad for BEYOND! (laugh) The fun is getting dumped into a situation and working it out for yourself. I had a fifth grade teacher. I used to be very frustrated with my classmates who weren’t as good at doing math as I was, and I would just shout the answer out disgusted, because I couldn’t stand waiting on them anymore. And she used to tell me all the time, “Dwayne, you have to let them do the work. They won’t understand it if they don’t go through it.” I think that’s pretty good advice in general, so I would just let young Dwayne stumble into all of his stupid, stupid mistakes just like I continue to stumble into them now. Working the answer out for yourself is part of the fun.

We’d like to thank Mr. McDuffie for talking with us. BEYOND! #1 is on sale now at your local comic shop. Be sure to check it out!