Seth Rogen Explains Why Fear Has Kept Him From Working with Marvel and DC, but He's Doing Fine Without Them

Seth Rogen has developed some great comic book projects over the years with The Boys, Preacher, Invincible, and most recently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There was also The Green Hornet, but that wasn’t his best work. He seems to have a knack for making really good comic book film and TV projects, so why hasn’t he done anything for Marvel and DC?

During a recent interview with Polygon about the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem movie, Rogen was asked if there was anything that “turned him off” from working with Marvel or DC, and he explained that it is fear. He said:

“Honestly, probably fear. We really have a pretty specific way we work; me and Evan [Goldberg] have been writers for 20 years at this point. It’s a fear of the process, honestly. And I say that knowing nothing about the process. There are a lot of Marvel things I love.

“It’s mostly a fear of how would we plug into the system they have in place, which seems like a very good system, and a system that serves them very well. But is it a system that we would ultimately get really frustrated with? And what’s nice about [Mutant Mayhem] is that we’re the producers of this. So we dictated the system, and we dictated the process in a lot of ways. And that’s what’s also appealing for us about The Boys and the other bigger franchise-y type things we’ve done, is that we are creating the infrastructure and process for them, not plugging into someone else’s infrastructure and process. We’re control freaks!”

It makes complete sense why Rogen wouldn’t want to jump into the Marvel and DC system. Over the years we’ve heard how Marvel and DC have allowed filmmakers creative freedom, but we’ve seen time and time again that that really isn’t the case with all of the filmmakers they work with.

Honestly, though, Rogen is doing just fine without Marvel and DC. He and Goldberg continue to pump our fun, wild, and entertaining content with their projects. I’d rather them do their own thing than do anything with Marvel or DC.

When asked about his taste in comics, Rogen said:

“It’s everything that is not Marvel and DC. So that eliminates a lot right away. I grew up going to comic book shops, and it’s funny, video stores are making a slight comeback in some ways. This idea of browsing and not having things fed to you — as I think people feel we are now when it comes to entertainment — but instead entering the fair market of entertainment and just wandering around and seeing what catches your eye.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem releases theatrically in the United States on Aug. 2, 2023.