Knights vs Samurai: Todd McFarlane Reveals Why He Wanted to Work with David Dastmalchian

Todd McFarlane has become a one-of-a-kind component of the comic space, with record-breaking runs on titles and a number of beloved characters under his belt. The latest title to join McFarlane’s bibliography is Knights vs. Samurai, a new Image Comics series shepherded by actor and comic writer David Dastmalchian. While speaking to ComicBook ahead of the release of Knights vs. Samurai, McFarlane offered praise for Dastmalchian as a collaborative partner on the project.

“I thought that his idea was a breath of fresh air, away from the norms of sort of spandex superheroes,” McFarlane explained in our interview, which you can check out above. “Maybe I’m just showing my age a bit but as I’ve gotten older, my taste have become way more eclectic. As much as I do enjoy superhero comics, I do plenty of myself. I don’t need, nor do I desire a steady diet of it. I’m looking for a little more variety in my reading habits. Plenty of people come and they bring sort of a nice version of another superhero idea. In my mind, I got plenty of superhero ideas I can come up with. I don’t need help on that. What I need help on is things that I’m not sort of adept that. So David walked in, gave me this big idea, but was able to condense it down to the humanity of it real quickly. And it wasn’t based on his initial story, wasn’t he? He didn’t focus on the magic and the wizardry of the world, or the creatures of the world. That was sort of in the back back of the conversation. What was way more interesting with the characters? 

“When you think about [The] Walking Dead, what makes that work?” McFarlane continued. “Is it really the zombie? They’re just a catalyst, right? It’s the humanity of what happens when two people, two families, run into each other and there’s only one gallon of water, and both families are thirsty. What happens, right? The humanity of people, and in this case, different cultures. So David came in big and strong with all of that and I went, ‘Wow.’ And that Knights [vs.] Samurai. That was the easy part, visually. I visualized it as soon as he said what the title was. I know it’s gonna look, but now how do we get people to care about the characters? David came out and pounded me with it. I was like, ‘Man, and they’re dressed like knights in samurai.’ Done, done.”

What Is Knights vs. Samurai About?

In Knights vs. Samurai, Sir Charles Ward, “The Dragon Butcher,” has achieved knighthood, acclaim, and is leading a legion of royal warriors on a noble mission, yet his self-doubt and grief haunt him. Venturing to a mysterious island in the Far East, Charles leads his diverse assembly of fighters (including a giant and two clerics) to seek vengeance against savage monsters who ambushed a group of English missionaries. Arrival on the island reveals that the truth may be drastically different from what Charles was led to believe, and the “savage monsters” he will face are actually a regiment of skillful warriors the likes of which he has never seen.

Knights vs. Samurai #1 will be released wherever comics are sold on September 25th.