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Its fitting, then, that Wolvie will be the first Marvel hero to get his own podcast.
We caught up with Percy to talk about influences, format, and his own remarkable basso profundo.
Hes one of those characters that Ive followed my whole life.
I always wanted to write Wolverine, but I never thought it would be in this capacity.
I never anticipated this podcast universe would unfold before me.
I have a strong affinity for the [Chris] Claremont/[Frank] Miller stuff.
I really liked what [Greg] Rucka did in his run.
Jason Aaron is one of my favorite writers in comics.
His work on Wolverine is pretty definitive.
Everyone from Wolverine to Don Draper to Tony Soprano.
That struggle between light and dark.
The struggle to do good, even though youve done bad.
Wolverine is such a compelling prism to explore these elements through.
Complicated characters are always the most interesting to me.
Hes about as gnarly and complicated as they get.
This industry is a ladder.
I guess you could say Ive been working my way up a few rungs at a time.
I was approached about this by Midroll and Marvel, and I put together a pitch.
I wasnt the only person they approached.
I put together a pitch that was, I guess you could say,muscular.
I dont fool around with this sort of thing.
My pitch probably numbered 30 single-spaced pages.
Geez Louise.I laid out what I wanted to do with the character.
I laid out as many compelling story beats as I could.
They gave me the green light.
My claws have been out ever since.
The scripting, however, is incredibly different.
Youre tearing away a primary sense.
Theres no sense of vision, so you have to find other ways to tell the story.
How do you write a fight scene in audio?
You cant, really.
I was already an avid podcast listener, but I brushed up on some of my favorites, includingSerialandS-Town.
In our series, our point-of-view characters are FBI agents.
Tell me about them.I cant tell you too much.
You want characters to play off each other.
Sally Pierce and Tad Marshall are characters who have very different techniques.
I wouldnt call them a good cop and a bad cop, necessarily.
You might find a parallel in, say,True Detectiveseason one.
Theyre sparring with each other, even while working together toward a singular goal.
When you say the agents are the POV characters, how does that work?
Is this like aTwin Peaksthing, where theyre narrating to Diane?
Were cycling through the different timelines, and were trying to make sense of it all.
Sometimes were in past tense and sometimes were in present tense.
Theres a recollection when they interview somebody, who tells them what theyve seen.
Sometimes one of the agents is reporting to another what theyve discovered.
I talked aboutTrue Detectiveas an influence.
The other primary influence on the construction of this podcast wasUnforgiven.
Like Clint Eastwood inUnforgiven, Logan has separated himself from the world.
Theres no better place to do that than Alaska, the last frontier.
This is a place where survivalists go.
This is a place where religious extremists go and criminals go.
Its very much a land of misfits, and rogues, and neer-do-wells.
Logan is trying to escape what he has done.
He has troubles with his memory.
But he does remember that he has done monstrous things, terrible things.
He is trying to escape himself and seek atonement.
Thats what hes going to pursue over the course of these ten episodes.
Hes drinking himself into oblivion.
Hes working himself raw as part of a fishing crew.
Hes racing through the woods, sometimes even among packs of wolves, until his body wants to collapse.
How cheery.Its a romantic comedy.
Lets just say that there are glimmers all throughout this first season that Marvel fans will recognize.
He is the subject of their investigation.
One of the devices of suspense is withholding information.
Have you spent much time in Alaska?I have, yeah.
What kind of impression has it left on you?Its nature porn.
You have the mountains crashing up against the sea.
You have wildlife roaming through town.
You have extreme conditions and extreme people.
For someone with a personality like mine, its kind of heaven on Earth.
Its also a great stage for drama.
Its melting my brain.
It really is giving me gooseflesh when I listen.
This is cinema for your ears.
This is not some old-time radio serial.
But in my heart, I was racing naked through the forest.
Tell me about Brendan and Chloe.
Im assuming the answer is nothing, but what can you tell us about the supporting cast?
There is a cult stationed outside of town.
All of them come together and make Alaska a kind of character as well.
The one supporting character we know anything about is Bobby, the local Alaskan cop played by Andrew Keenan-Bolger.
But thats basically all we know about him.
Hes so talented.His part is one of my favorites in the whole podcast.
He does such a fantastic job.
He brings this wonderful vulnerability to the role.
I just knew that he was perfect for this role.
Hes a very, very smart guy.
Hes not someone in this role.
Thats a good Blake cut.If youre familiar with that painting, its the man on all-fours.
He saw in that painting an equivalency to Logan.
I am the voice of every comic-book villain.
When did you get this voice?
How early in your life did it appear?I was 14 years old and probably 70 pounds.
you’ve got the option to imagine the looks that I got.
Like, What is wrong with you?
Did you eat a monster?
You didnt know the voice of the witness-protection program was an actual dude, until you heard me.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
