Over the past few years, Batwoman has carved out a unique corner for itself in The CW’s DC universe, with its ensemble cast and crew putting their unique stamp on Gotham City. That has especially been the case in the series’ third season, which has seen series star Camrus Johnson step behind the camera on the series’ most recent episode, “Broken Toys.” With just a few episodes left until the Season 3 finale, the series’ array of plotlines are beginning to really kick into high gear — and Johnson, who has played Luke Fox / Batwing on the series since its inception, turns the episode into an epic and wildly-entertaining installment of the series.
Videos by ComicBook.com
ComicBook.com got a chance to chat with Johnson about the biggest moments of “Broken Toys”, from the introduction of the series’ newest villain to the Internet-breaking “WildMoore” scene. We also spoke about Johnson’s short film She Dreams at Sunrise, his upcoming story in the DC Comic miniseries Earth-Prime, and so much more.
Earth-Prime
The Earth-Prime comic series was recently announced, and I’m excited to hear that you’re doing a story for that. What can you tease about that?
Before I answer that, I just want to say it’s been so cool that DC has been allowing me to write with them. It was funny, because this comic, they were like, ‘Would you like to write another one?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, maybe. I’m a little busy.’ And then they send me an email saying, ‘Camrus is writing the next comic.’ So I was like, ‘Okay, cool!’ [laughs] It’s been really fun to not only dive into the comic book space, but also the animation space. The past couple years, I’ve been really able to find my love for the color and the fun of it all. I’m actually going to plug my new animated short. Making She Dreams at Sunrise this year really got me the confidence that I had to do what I did on this episode of Batwoman. And the fact that it is NAACP Image Award nominated and all that stuff is just so incredible.
This comic book, the one thing I will tease is – we don’t see Luke in the real world really ever. He’s sort of just always in the Bat Cave and working with the Bat Team. We don’t know much about his personal life. So I just wanted to see what would happen if – during an episode that we saw on TV already, but we are not seeing Luke a whole lot – what is he doing? Where is he? The idea for this issue is that during [the events of the] “A Lesson From Professor Pyg” episode, we’re with Javicia and Meagan and Nick and Robin, all at Robin’s place. Where is Luke? What is Luke doing? In between those scenes, where is he? I kind of wanted to dive into his dating life, and see what his personal life is when he is not behind the console.
***
New episodes of Batwoman debut Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
WildMoore
I would be remised if I didn’t ask about the final scene of the episode. I know the WildMoore fandom, in particular, is going to be very happy with ending of this episode. How did you approach that as a director? Because I think you guys did such a good job of making that moment so special.
I was so surprised that they trusted me — and by they, I mean everyone. I mean the cast, I mean the crew, I mean the producers, Caroline, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schetcher, everybody. Warner Brothers, The CW, the fact that they trusted me to direct such a vital and important scene meant the world to me. It also just goes to show how comfortable me, Javicia and Meagan are with each other, and how friendly we are and how much we love each other.
The thing about directing the scene is — I have so many actor friends that have to do scenes like this, and I’ve heard so many uncomfortable stories. The last thing that I wanted was for either of my friends to feel uncomfortable when it doesn’t have to be, because things like this can be fun, both for us to shoot and also for the audience to watch. And I think, instead of taking it too seriously, we just make it fun. We make it lighthearted, because I feel like scenes like this in real life aren’t always super romantic with the candle light and rose petals. It’s a little goofy, it’s a little fun. It’s light hearted sometimes.
I think sometimes, some directors think that you really have to cake on the romance. But the act itself is romantic. If you add on that realness to it, like them smiling and making mistakes, it just makes it that more real. And somehow when you make mistakes in a scene like this, that is the romance, right? It’s you trying to impress your partner. It’s you trying to please your partner.
We had intimacy coordinators on set that were there to oversee everything, and make sure everything went all went well. And yeah, we had such a good time. So shout out to Javicia and Megan for doing such a great job.
Luke and Lucius
For Luke’s arc, this episode had some major moments. The scene towards the end with the Lucius A.I. was so powerful to watch. As both an actor and a director, can you speak to that scene? It feels like that’s going to be a huge turning point for Luke.
Absolutely. It’s funny, because Luke’s main thing about his character in this show is his connection to his dad. So as soon as he no longer had the device to talk to him, things have been different. He just feels like his champion, his hero, his icon, his conscience, his deep thoughts are no longer there. So he kind of feels alone in the world. It was a big deal for him to go out and adventure off with Sophie, to go find this device, so that he had the connection to his dad again.
I think it just gets him closer and closer, because the big thing about Luke’s relationship to his dad is he’s been sort of battling closure. He’s been battling letting go. His dad died years ago. And although he was slowly getting over it, then he got reintroduced to his dad’s A.I. and was like “Well, what’s the point of getting over it, if it kind of feels like he’s here?” It’s kind of this interesting dynamic of — Should he really build a relationship with this A.I.? Or should he continue to grow, and mourn, and heal from the loss of his dad? Because constantly being in contact with a version of him that is not real is not the healthiest thing. It’s very fun to figure out how exactly Luke is going to grow when this A.I. is still in his life.
Luke and Sophie
You mentioned it earlier, but I love the mini team-ups across the episode. I love Luke and Sophie’s dynamic, especially. Both as a director and as an actor, how did you kind of approach that aspect?
I love Luke and Sophie’s dynamic. They really have this sibling bond going on. And I think it’s just because me and Meagan love each other so much, and we haven’t had a chance to work a ton together. So the more that we work together this season, the more fun we have, and the more that you see Luke and Sophie growing, because we’re just getting more comfortable on camera together.
It was fun shooting those scenes, and Wayne Tower was really interesting because it’s pretty difficult to act in the scene and also direct on TV. We’re limited on time every day, and I don’t want to rush back to the monitors and replay back the scene and waste time. So my stunt double was often in the suit doing the scene for me — Jesse Miller, by the way, shout out to him. He learned every single line of the episode for me, and he stepped in from many scenes for me so that I could watch. And then I would step in when the camera turned around. Sometimes he was actually in the scene when the camera was rolling, if his face was covered by the Batsuit. A lot of it was him working with Sophie, but then I got to flip in and do my work with her. Meagan is just so good that you can’t even, you obviously can’t tell when she’s acting with me and acting with him.
But yeah, I like having this dynamic between two, because they’re always ripping off of each other in these past recent episodes. So as much as I could, I tried to make the dynamic fun.
Kiki
You mentioned your love for The Joker — I loved how the episode introduced Kiki, and built out that corner of the lore in a way that we haven’t really seen before. Since you are such a fan of that part of the universe, what was it like to introduce her and put your stamp on that aspect of it?
Oh my gosh. It was amazing. What’s funny about Kiki is — that was one of the first huge director decisions that I made for the episode. The character was written very differently, she was written to be around like 30 or so, similar to the rest of the cast. I thought that Judy Reyes would play such an incredible Kiki.
I was really glad that I got to cast that role because, at first, I didn’t know how much we were going to play with Kiki in this episode. When I got the scripts, I was like, “Oh, no. Kiki is vital.” I knew that if we had a seasoned, legendary actor that could really come to set and absolutely crush it… If that character wasn’t dynamic and interesting and fun and funny and dangerous and surprising us, the episode probably would’ve fallen through a little bit. So I was so excited to get to go through and cast it myself, and figure out who I wanted to play it. And the actor that I got to play it, I’m such a huge fan of. So the fact that she even said yes made me so happy. She did such an incredible job.
The Episode
ComicBook.com: What drew you to this episode, in particular, being the one that you knew you wanted to direct?
Camrus Johnson: Oh my gosh, what drew me to this episode? There is a certain Batman villain that we discuss, we talk about. We go to their old bunker, and we see a lot of their old toys. And that was my favorite part, because that specific villain is my favorite villain. If you know me, you know exactly who I’m talking about. That was amazing. And the guest stars that I got to play with, the new characters that I got to play with, and cast in this episode made me very happy. And also, the mini team-ups — Luke and Sophie sort of go on an adventure together, Mary and Alice go on an adventure together, and then Marcus and Victor Zsasz team up. There were all these little teams that I got to direct and put together, and find new dynamics with.
Oh man. There was just so much to play with. There was just so much going on — there’s incredible fight scenes, there is a lot of comedy, there’s a lot of fun things. Throughout the episode, once you get halfway through, it almost feels like the episode’s over, because that’s how much there is going on in it. And then the second half is like, “Nope, we have a lot more going. We have a lot more coming.” It was my favorite for a lot of reasons.
