You may have heard by now that the recent animated adaption of the classic Alan Moore Batman story, The Killing Joke has been the source of some controversy after it debuted at San Diego Comic Con this past weekend. Well now the film’s writer has seemingly added to this controversy, after making some offensive remarks to a fan.
For those of you not caught up with the story, you can read up on it here. But the interesting part is what came next. After the preview was a panel with Executive Producer Bruce Timm and the film’s Screenwriter Brian Azzarello. Whilst taking questions from the audience, one man, later identified as Bleeding Cool contributor Jeremy Konrad took offence to scene which saw Batman and Batgirl engaging in ‘sexual relations’ to paraphrase a certain ex-president.
When arriving at the mic, Konrad asked:
“You have talked about how you wanted to give Barbara more story … and yet the story you gave her ended up being about the men in her life. Why?”
To which Azzarello responded that she is ‘stronger than the men in her life in this story.’ Before adding:
“She controls the men in her life in this story.”
This didn’t sit well with Konrad, who whilst walking away called back ‘Using Sex?’. Not about to let Konrad get the last word in, Azzarello called out:
“Wanna say that again? Pussy?”
It was then that the rest of the audience chimed in, expressing there objection to Barabara ‘pining over Batman’ to which Azzarello refuted:
“I don’t think she’s pining over Bruce at all, She’s pining over the violence.”
It was then that Bruce Timm stepped in, adding:
“It’s complicated. I actually like that in that opening story both Batman and Batgirl make a series of mistakes and then it kind of escalates, because Batman kind of overreacts and then she overreacts to his overreaction, That’s a very human thing.”
Konrad later posted on bleeding cool about the incident, writing:
“Clearly, it was contentious, and I let my emotions get the best of me, and I need to be better than that as a journalist. But it was not necessary to use that derogatory word, especially in this situation, in a public forum. Hopefully, no offense was taken by anyone.”
Azzarello also referenced his outburst in a tweet later on which you can check out below:
No, I called someone a pussy when they unintelligibly yelled from the back of the room, then wouldn’t repeat it https://t.co/15GNyna64F
— Brian Azzarello (@brianazzarello) July 23, 2016
Batman: The Killing Joke will see a limited theater run on 25th July, before being released digitally on the 26th.
What do you think? Do you agree with the complaints? Will you be checking out the film? Let us know below!