Written by Lauren Stern | Photos by Ryan Demarco
Whenever I watched the Black Dynamite animated series, I would ask myself three questions: “What am I watching right now?” “Did they really just do/say that?” and “Am I high on something?” Aside from the third question, I finally got all of those answers when I sat down in a roundtable interview with Michael Jai White, Byron Minns, and Carl Jones at New York Comic Con. While Kym Whitley and Tommy Davidson told us what we could expect from the new season, the creators gave us more background as to how the animated series and the film came to be.
“I wanted to celebrate a time in the ‘70s where music, fashion, and social events were very vibrant,” White, who voices Black Dynamite said, “I think as in any good art, you can entertain, make statements, and have social commentary all in the same jump.”
According to White and Minns, the Black Dynamite film and series were a collaboration effort. Most of the concepts came into fruition during creative writing sessions in White’s small, cramped cabana. Once these ideas were cemented, the two hooked up with former Boondocks producer Carl Jones to bring them to life through animation.
“There’s something about something you create in your brain and people like it, it’s more rewarding than just playing some character that you accept.” White said.
As far as the material is concerned, the trio agreed that “it was close as free as you could possibly get.” This was a little hard to believe at first given the content from the series’ first season, and Jones wasn’t shy to admit that there were some jokes that didn’t make the cut.
“There are episodes where they wanted us to put them towards the end of the season so that we don’t get taken off the air too early,” Jones said, igniting some laughs. “We have those talks all the time. There are episodes where we’re always going back and forth with the air order. But there was nothing we couldn’t do or didn’t do.”
With rumors abound on the internet about a potential second film, I had to close out the discussion with the trio by asking whether or not Black Dynamite will hit the big screen for another live action adventure.
“We got a couple of things in the works,” White revealed, “Our intention was to do three blaxploitation type films, Black Dynamite being the first. There’s another one that’s going to cross over into horror, and another one. We’re pretty excited for the second rendition. Whether that be Black Dynamite 2 or not, we’re not sure. Both are in the works.”
Black Dynamite airs Saturdays at 10:30 PM EST on Adult Swim. For details on the second season, check out our interview with Tommy Davidson and Kym Whitley at New York Comic Con.
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As the Managing Editor, Lauren Stern is responsible for curating Pop-Break.com’s content. This includes managing the editorial staff, coordinating the content calendar, and assigning publishing dates and deadlines. She graduated Rutgers University with a degree in Journalism and Philosophy. She spends her free time searching for the best gluten-free food in the Tri-State area, playing with her dogs, and reading an insane amount of books. She tweets constantly about pop culture and social issues and hopes you follow her musings @laurenpstern.
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