Joshua Williamson Reveals Knight Terrors isn't About Fear

Knight Terrors creator, Joshua Williamson, tells DC that the Dawn of DC event isn't about fear at all.

Knight Terrors creator, Joshua Williamson, revealed that the Dawn of DC event isn't about fear.

Williamson sat down with DC for an interview where he said Knight Terrors, a story where the publisher's most iconic characters were trapped in their worst dreams, wasn't about fear because a person's worst nightmare may have nothing to do with being scared at all. The writer explained "It’s a bit different because nightmares doesn’t necessarily mean your fears. It really became this conversation about each character."

Williamson stated that while fear was a "powerful storytelling tool" it was used too often in literature. He further elaborated "So many stories are about that -- I’m afraid of this, but I have to conquer that fear. With this, it really gave us a lot of things to explore, and again, it became about character and less about big explosions and the multiverse."

Joshua Williamson Explains the True Meaning of Nightmares

The author also spoke about the difference between nightmares and fears. He said "I feel like those are two different things. You sometimes have nightmares about things that aren’t actually your fears, and I think that can reveal something about yourself -- what you’re going through in that moment when you have that nightmare. But it might not actually be your fears." He also advised the creators of the series to focus on what felt right for the character instead of fear. He told them "You do what is best for your character. There is no rule on this. The weirder and the more fun, the better.”

An example of Williamson's statement would be Poison Ivy's installment of Knight Terrors. At the end of her tie-in story it was revealed that her nightmare wasn't about her fears but her insecurities instead. Deep down, Poison Ivy felt as though she wasn't worthy of having a good life and how nothing she had done made an impact on the world. She admitted that she believed the best parts of her no longer existed and died with her former self.

Williamson also told DC what his biggest nightmare was and what it revealed about him. "I always have nightmares about tidal waves, which they say means that you’re feeling overwhelmed, so that tells you something about me. "I’m always overwhelmed. Always doing too much. In fact, I put that work into The Flash and Superman. These are two people who want to do it all and want to save everybody, and I always relate to that and how they’re always trying to do too much. So yeah, when Superman has the nightmare about the tidal wave, that was me putting myself in there!" he said.

Knight Terrors and its tie-ins are now available in comic book stories and participating digital platforms from DC Comics.