Speaking with CBR, the incoming Red Lanterns writer Charles Soule divulged his thoughts about the recently popularilized villain, Black Hand. In case you missed it, Soule will be writing a one-shot issue featuring the character this September which DC Comics is deeming “Forever Evil”. Check what he had to say about Black Hand below.

 

How he came to like Black Hand:

Since “Blackest Night,” I’ve always felt Black Hand was a great villain. The way he was written and portrayed as just this weird, strange psychotic individual obsessed with death. I think there’s a lot to work with, and I think the story that I tell delves into that. What it would be like if you would literally prefer everyone in the world be dead? If that was your perfect world, with everyone dead, you view people that are alive with the same disgust we might view a corpse; that’s how Black Hand sees anyone who’s alive. That’s a fun story to tell. Well, maybe “fun” is the wrong word to use.

Soule on why Black Hand has become popular:

First of all, he’s a conduit to storylines that have been dead and gone; they can kind of come back through Black Hand as we saw in “Blackest Night.” A lot of characters who were out of play can come back, albeit in a gross zombie way, but they can appear again. Whenever Black Hand shows up, you tend to have things happening that wouldn’t otherwise happen, so that’s fun. As far as his specific appeal, it’s interesting because he is essentially a guy who likes zombies. Zombies are hot right now — maybe it’s as simple as that!

Soule on how he’s writing the character:

The way I’m planning to write Black Hand is as someone who is fundamentally damaged. He’s not an evil mastermind, he is not a well-rounded person. He is a damaged person who, as I mentioned, is just obsessed with death and dead things. That’s what makes him happy. But I also feel that this is a mindset that is so alien to anything you or I would think of, so contrary to the way we view existence, that it’s about getting into that perspective and trying to explain what it would be like to be in Black Hand’s head. How he sees the world and the way he’d remake it if he could. Because he’s so damaged, I don’t think he’s as well rounded as someone like Lex Luthor, but that means I can explore the concept of Black Hand’s weird psyche in more depth and detail.