His comic series Wanted left bullet holes in cinema screens last summer; this year he intends to give audiences a new hero to cheer, Kick-Ass. Scottish writer and producer Mark Millar reveals his upcoming projects to The Times and explains why Marvel and DC should be worried about the future of comics and superheroes.

The Times Your book Kick-Ass is attracting a great deal of praise and is being made into a movie starring Nicolas Cage. The plot is wonderfully fresh - what would happen if an ordinary high school kid donned a mask and tried to become a superhero? Can you explain how Kick-Ass came about?

Millar It looks like I had this genius plan because it has all worked out well but really it was a bunch of happy accidents. My only real ambition was to work in comics, specifically American comics, that's what I grew up with. So working at Marvel was the summit of my aspirations. My big break came in 2000 with a [DC-published] book called The Authority. I got headhunted by Marvel because The Authority was the only book going up in sales when everything else was going down. So when I came to Marvel, I thought that was where I would spend the rest of my life. What I didn't anticipate was that if you were successful at Marvel, then you'd be suddenly thrust into the movie world. At that time Marvel movies were starting to take off: there was Blade, X-men and Spider-man. I found myself in meetings that I didn't ever expect to be in. Producers would ask afterwards over dinner: "Listen, do you have any characters of your own?". And I'd say: "What do you mean?" "Well, your own characters. You could own them, own the rights." I hadn't considered that before, that instead of getting a salary for writing a monthly book, you could become J.K. Rowling and create your own characters and license them out as movies.

The Times That was the big idea in the early Nineties, when comic creators struck out on their own.

Millar The early Nineties was the beginning of the deal where comic creators could own their material. Unfortunately the stars hadn't aligned at that time to let Hollywood capitalise on that. The technology wasn't really there for a lot of those superhero high concepts. But now Hollywood can do it, they can film anything.

When these movies started making money, about the time I started at Marvel, Hollywood started treating the creators seriously. It was a case of, if you've got ideas that translate well into big budget movies, then suddenly producers want to have dinner with you. Right after Batman and Robin came out, if anyone suggested a comic book movie, they were laughed out of town. Now trying to get a movie made without a guy in a cape is difficult. If you go in with a relationship drama, they don't want to know or they ask: "What powers does the main character have?" So I found myself being asked to produce stuff. I took time out from my Marvel contract - may be a month here and six weeks there - to create my own characters. Wanted was the first thing I did and within about a month it was picked up as a movie by Universal. That was just incredibly lucky - to have the first thing I create become a $350 million grossing picture. After that all the other studios were asking: "What else have you got?" I then started doing less with Marvel to spend more time on stuff that I could keep the copyright of. I didn't have a great plan - it was just the right people phoned me up and asked me to do stuff and I was happy to oblige. Kick-Ass is just one five properties I'm developing.

The Times I take it there's a lot of trial and error in coming up with characters, to make them work.

Millar Theoretically yes, but if you're any good, they will work. After ten years of doing Marvel characters, I can see what works and what doesn't. I have a pretty good mainstream eye. At Marvel you can't do some fancy little art house project; you're aiming at a wide audience. And mainstream stuff is what I'm into anyway. I grew up loving Superman, Star Wars and Jaws and I wanted to do stuff like that.

The Times You do have a knack for writing comics that appeal to that audience, teenage boys.

Millar I'd hate to be one of those guys who is really into art house but has to prostitute themselves by doing mainstream writing. If I'm at the cinema with my wife and I see a trailer in which the White House blows up, I think: "Oh my God, it's cost them $200 million to make that film and I'm going to see it for a fiver. That's a bargain." If I see a great explosion or somebody getting shot in a really interesting way, I have to go and see that film.

The Times What did you think of Watchmen?

MillarI went to the premiere and it was weird because I was 16 when the Watchmen comics were first published. I remember going on a date after buying the final issue and I was so excited about Watchmen, that I actually pretended I had to go to the toilet so I could read it. I just sat on the toilet and read the whole comic.

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