Earlier this week Newsarama published our interview with the writing team of Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad about their upcoming two-part Midnighter story in January and February's Future State: Superman: Worlds of War anthology limited series.
But that isn't the only Future State story the creative pair are teaming on - they're also co-writing the equally two-part Wonder Woman story starring Diana Prince in the farthest-flung DC future as the lead feature of Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman.
And that isn't the only Wonder Woman story the writing firm of Cloonan & Conrad will be presiding over. Over last weekend the duo was announced as the new writing team of the ongoing Wonder Woman series when it returns with issue #770 in March.
We digitally exchanged questions and answers about Immortal Wonder Woman before that announcement, so a conversation about their plans for the present-day ongoing series will have to wait for another time. But until then you might get a sense of their plans for comic books' greatest female character from their thoughts about their Future State story illustrated by Jen Bartel.
Newsarama: Becky, Michael, some of the Future State stories are taking place in different eras of DC's future. The solicitation copy of #1 says a few of Wonder Woman's friends have not survived, but many of them (like Superman and Bruce Wayne) are alive in other Future State titles. Can you provide any context as to Diana's status quo when we meet up with her in Immortal Wonder Woman #1?
How far in the future is her story set?
Becky Cloonan: When we dove into Immortal Wonder Woman, our first thought was to tell a story about 'Wonder Woman at the End of Time.' Who would still be around? What has changed? Through it all, Diana has to redefine who and what she fights for, and what it means to her to be a hero.
Michael Conrad: Immortal Wonder Woman is set in the distant future — it is the most 'Future' of Future States possible. We meet her at the end of everything.
Nrama: So speaking of the end of everything, here's a thing - the mantle of Wonder Woman has been passed down to another character in other Future State titles. Does the presence of Yara Flor and Nubia as well in earlier Future State eras inform your story at all?
Conrad: Immortal Wonder Woman is first and foremost, a Diana story. I am incredibly excited to read about the other iterations of Wonder Woman, but ours doesn't involve Yara or Nubia — we don't want to get in the way of what is being built in those stories, and we're excited to show up as readers and find more Wonder Women to love!
Nrama: What can you tell readers about the Undoing (not to be confused with the hit HBO series), who appears to be this story's big bad?
Conrad: Our story is very much about immortality vs mortality, so it was important to us to bring in an adversary that wasn't beholden to these binary concepts. Immortality means undying — living forever — which presents its own problems. But just because something can't die it doesn't mean that there aren't endings.
An ending means nothing when faced with the potential of 'never was.'
Cloonan: The Undoing doesn't have a motive, purpose, or origin. I can't even say that they're bad, really. But they pose a singular challenge to Diana, and through them, we tell a story with big concepts on a very human, very emotional level. I don't want to promise anything, but this story might make you cry.
Nrama: Darkseid has likely made billions of people in the DCU cry. The mention of the iconic villain in the solicitation copy is curious - "a threat appears that even the mighty Darkseid can't handle." In the setting of your story, is he now some sort of protector/champion?
Conrad: There is no way to respond to this other than to say, 'Darkseid is.'
Cloonan: He really is, too.
Nrama: Darkseid has likely made billions of people in the DCU cry. The mention of the iconic villain in the solicitation copy is curious - "a threat appears that even the mighty Darkseid can't handle." In the setting of your story, is he now some sort of protector/champion?
Conrad: There is no way to respond to this other than to say, 'Darkseid is.'
Cloonan: He really is, too.
Nrama: So, same last question we asked you about Midnighter - does your story portend anything Wonder Woman (and/or Cloonan and Conrad) fans should be watching out for post-Future State?
Conrad: Immortal Wonder Woman is canon. This isn't an Elseworlds, Black Label, What If?, or anything like that. This is a thing that most certainly happens in the future, so from now on every time you read a DC Comic, you will know what the real ending is. I think Neil Gaiman once said something about happy endings happening because the writer knew where to stop — we didn't.
I'm only half kidding here. Canon is determined 100% by the individual when we are talking about myths. Fans of Wonder Woman would be well-served to keep that word — 'myth' — handy. We have more Diana on the way.
Cloonan: We wrote Immortal Wonder Woman in the semi-protective bubble of Future State, but it actually has informed the story we're writing for Diana starting in Wonder Woman issue #770, coming in March!
Travis Moore is drawing it, Tamra Bonvillain is coloring it, Michael and I are writing it, come on through, we're having fun!
Maybe someday in the not-too-distant future, Cloonan and Conrad will have written a story in Newsarama’s countdown of the best Wonder Woman stories of all time.
