Q&A With Matt Wayne

Bellicus wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

I think the problem was that the first glimpse of Omniverse was a photo of a very large poster of Teen Ben that didn't do the show, or Derrick and his teams wonderful animation any justice at all. What followed was panic and wild speculation (by myself as well). If the first glimpse of Omniverse had been an official trailer, I think more people would have been on board from the start. That said, Omniverse has been on our screens for a while now and from my own point of view and from what I've seen online and heard directly from the mouths of kids. Omniverse is a well loved edition to the Ben 10 franchise that I hope continues for many years to come.

To add to this, it really didn't help that Shocksquatch was one of the three-four most advertised transformations. He was the only recognisable thing apart from Ben in a sea of change, seeing him, and wondering what the implications there were for the other returning aliens, caused about 60% of my panic over the future of the series.

As to whether it's won me over, I think that that question is not really worth writing a full answer too. You don't need to be won over by something that was so good from the outset.

1. When Ben said "my best friend is an alien" in Ben 23, did he mean Kevin or Rook?
2. Are you enjoying the design and overall feel of the forum?
3. And most importantly (for me at least ), what do you think of the Ben 10-inspired ranks on the forum?

Bellicus wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

I think the problem was that the first glimpse of Omniverse was a photo of a very large poster of Teen Ben that didn't do the show, or Derrick and his teams wonderful animation any justice at all. What followed was panic and wild speculation (by myself as well). If the first glimpse of Omniverse had been an official trailer, I think more people would have been on board from the start. That said, Omniverse has been on our screens for a while now and from my own point of view and from what I've seen online and heard directly from the mouths of kids. Omniverse is a well loved edition to the Ben 10 franchise that I hope continues for many years to come.

Indeed, we received a lot of bad quality glimpses at the series which left a bad taste that stayed for quite a while.
Still not ok with all of the designs, (for example, I still hate the college Gwen look and the new Kevin equally as much) but most of them are really awesome, especially the new villains.
But the wonderful plot, animation, aliens, villains and characters completely surpasses any expectations I might have had!
Sure, I miss the darker episodes and the night color palette of early AF (season 1 and 2 are the best the series ever was IMO), but Omniverse has definitely won me over.

Matt Wayne wrote:

datdude wrote:I got a weird one. Do you have any questions for the fandom at large?

Yes: Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

Well, Mr Wyatt, I'll tell you since you ask; although since you answered some of my previous post before, I guess you can imagine it. In general, I like the series, but there's a few things on it that bugs me and makes me uncomfortable to see it.

First of all, the new design of the series is good in general, but it seems too "cartoonish" after 98 episodes with the cool action from "Alien Force" and "Ultimate Alien". And it's really weird looking at some of the characters now. Grampa Max looks like chinese with those "apparently closed" eyes and Gwen's college outfit really doesn't suit her. She was better with her look from AF-UA in "The More Things Change - Part 1" (the whole package: smart, cute and tough), now she just looks like a typical nerd. And Kevin's new design, well, it simply scares me when I see him. However, I also admit that other characters have been really improved; like Psyphon, who now really seems way much than just "Vilgax's minion".

And second, I really like most of the stories in the episodes shown until now. The problem is that there are several "continuity errors" that ruins part of the plot. For example, Dr Animo's episode had him back as a brilliant but weakling man, just like in the original series. But in AF-UA, Animo gained some muscle as D'Void and improved his villain's equipment; now is like seeing him as he was before, dangerous but ridiculously looking. Besides, I miss a little "teen drama" in these stories, like boyfriend-girlfriend relationships back in AF-UA. I have been waiting for Julie's return after Derrick said it will be the 18th episode, but they keep delaying the episode of Julie's return over and over. (I'm starting to have a grudge against the Cartoon Network's responsibles of this).

So like I said, Mr Wayne, I like "Ben 10: Omniverse"; but it has brought so much changes from "Alien Force" and "Ultimate Alien" that it's a little uncomfortable to see some episodes. That's my honest opinion and I hope you won't get offended by it.

What are the differences between the original Universe and the Universe who created Ben?
Ben prefers Julie or Ester?
What Malware stole from the Proto-Truk?

Primus 10 wrote:What are the differences between the original Universe and the Universe who created Ben?
Ben prefers Julie or Ester?
What stole it Malware of the Proto-Truk?

Uhm. Could someone say the bolded question in English?

richard10 wrote:

Primus 10 wrote:What are the differences between the original Universe and the Universe who created Ben?
Ben prefers Julie or Ester?
What stole it Malware of the Proto-Truk?

Uhm. Could someone say the bolded question in English?

He's asking what Malware stole from the Proto-Truk.

1. If human is lowercase, and all the other names of species are lowercase, why aren't alien species lowercase?
2. How come so far, there are 1 5/6 episodes about 11-year-old Ben, and 18 1/6 episodes are about 16-year-old-Ben?

Kariachi wrote: even if I don't like this series as much as Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, I'm still gonna watch to learn more.

Fair enough!

Kariachi wrote: Here's a question that definitely isn't spoilery(hopefully);

1) Do you know the specific ages of the characters parents?
and if you do
2) What are they?

I write fic, this would help with my timelines.

Their ages are never spelled out--mostly because we might need to assign them a specific number down the road, for some reason, and it doesn't seem smart to nail it down without that reason. But Sandra and Carl seem mid-forties to me.

Primus 10 wrote:Mr. Wayne:
1) In Showdown, appears the Predator of Grey Matter, right? Because I read in a blog, the plot is that Khyber, their pet, Malware and Psychobos want to kill Azmuth, then I guess that Khyber try to kill Azmuh with its Predator, ¿Right?
2) Sixsix change his appearance or will be the same in the Original Series (Obviously, with the animation style of Omniverse)?
3) There any plans for Hex?
Thanks for you attention!

1. Yes!

The other two are about stuff that hasn't aired yet.

Bellicus wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

I think the problem was that the first glimpse of Omniverse was a photo of a very large poster of Teen Ben that didn't do the show, or Derrick and his teams wonderful animation any justice at all. What followed was panic and wild speculation (by myself as well). If the first glimpse of Omniverse had been an official trailer, I think more people would have been on board from the start. That said, Omniverse has been on our screens for a while now and from my own point of view and from what I've seen online and heard directly from the mouths of kids. Omniverse is a well loved edition to the Ben 10 franchise that I hope continues for many years to come.

Are you sure you're Bellicus? You sound like Serena.

But thanks! The whole team is really proud of the work.

Sebastian13 wrote:1. When Ben said "my best friend is an alien" in Ben 23, did he mean Kevin or Rook?
2. Are you enjoying the design and overall feel of the forum?
3. And most importantly (for me at least ), what do you think of the Ben 10-inspired ranks on the forum?

1. He meant Rook.
2. Very much so. Dwayne designed the logo, and that helps keep me in line.
3. I like them, but feel I should have a special rank befitting my contribution--Vulkanus, perhaps.

1. Did Azmuth invent the Proto-Tool?

Matt Wayne wrote:

Yes: Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

It's funny. Last summer I was one of the few that was positive about Omniverse, but now I'm not really enjoying it. I know it's winning over the younger viewers, but me and some other older audience members are starting to feel a bit alienated from the show. I won't bore you with my long list of things I find wrong with Omniverse but I do have a problem with the way villains are being treated. Anything about them that was ever threatening has been removed and seemingly replaced with comedic elements and punchlines. I just don't understand how a pig man attacking Ben for eating a burger makes for an interesting or investable story, but that's just me.

Another thing that makes the show hard to watch for me are characters like Blukic and Driba, who make the Plumbers seem a lot stupider than a peace-keeping galaxy force should be. Oh, and there's Rook too, he just doesn't seem to have a personality. It's like he's only there to serve as an occasional foil to Ben.

Apologies for sounding negative, I know that I'm above the target demographic but the OS and UAF just seemed to do something for me. I guess Omniverse has been made to re-capture the younger audience again so that's why I'm not liking it.

Primus 10 wrote:What are the differences between the original Universe and the Universe who created Ben?
Ben prefers Julie or Ester?
What Malware stole from the Proto-Truk?

1. The Mr. Smoothy sign and the white hoodie are different, and so is the way that berries taste. There's more, but it may take years to work it into the series.

2. Ben is 16. He likes them all.

3. Malware stole something? I hope it's not going to figure into a future episode!

Ben10Fan5 wrote:

richard10 wrote:

Primus 10 wrote:What are the differences between the original Universe and the Universe who created Ben?
Ben prefers Julie or Ester?
What stole it Malware of the Proto-Truk?

Uhm. Could someone say the bolded question in English?

He's asking what Malware stole from the Proto-Truk.

1. If human is lowercase, and all the other names of species are lowercase, why aren't alien species lowercase?
2. How come so far, there are 1 5/6 episodes about 11-year-old Ben, and 18 1/6 episodes are about 16-year-old-Ben?

1. Homo sapiens is capitalized! While we don't care a lot about capitalization in a fairly audiovisual medium like TV, we have discussed this. Often the genus but not the species is capitalized in real-world taxonomy. We take the artistic liberty of capitalizing the species because we don't want to bother classifying stuff that you don't see on-screen.

2. Because he's 16 in the present.

ultraalien wrote:1. Did Azmuth invent the Proto-Tool?

Azmuth doesn't do weapons.

Lukey wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:

Yes: Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

It's funny. Last summer I was one of the few that was positive about Omniverse, but now I'm not really enjoying it. I know it's winning over the younger viewers, but me and some other older audience members are starting to feel a bit alienated from the show. I won't bore you with my long list of things I find wrong with Omniverse but I do have a problem with the way villains are being treated. Anything about them that was ever threatening has been removed and seemingly replaced with comedic elements and punchlines. I just don't understand how a pig man attacking Ben for eating a burger makes for an interesting or investable story, but that's just me.

Another thing that makes the show hard to watch for me are characters like Blukic and Driba, who make the Plumbers seem a lot stupider than a peace-keeping galaxy force should be. Oh, and there's Rook too, he just doesn't seem to have a personality. It's like he's only there to serve as an occasional foil to Ben.

Apologies for sounding negative, I know that I'm above the target demographic but the OS and UAF just seemed to do something for me. I guess Omniverse has been made to re-capture the younger audience again so that's why I'm not liking it.

The OS was much lighter than Omniverse. And Alien Force gave us Argit, Verdona, Paradox, Albedo, the Incurseans and the Vreedles. I don't think you're right that humorous elements spoil an action show, and I don't think that earlier versions were without humor. Dwayne thought that funny moments and jeopardy were both important, and I learned about interleaving the two from him. I'm certain he would have loved the Thunderpig teaser.

Thanks for telling me what you think, though. The next dozen episodes may turn you around.

Lukey wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:

Yes: Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

It's funny. Last summer I was one of the few that was positive about Omniverse, but now I'm not really enjoying it. I know it's winning over the younger viewers, but me and some other older audience members are starting to feel a bit alienated from the show. I won't bore you with my long list of things I find wrong with Omniverse but I do have a problem with the way villains are being treated. Anything about them that was ever threatening has been removed and seemingly replaced with comedic elements and punchlines. I just don't understand how a pig man attacking Ben for eating a burger makes for an interesting or investable story, but that's just me.

Another thing that makes the show hard to watch for me are characters like Blukic and Driba, who make the Plumbers seem a lot stupider than a peace-keeping galaxy force should be. Oh, and there's Rook too, he just doesn't seem to have a personality. It's like he's only there to serve as an occasional foil to Ben.

Apologies for sounding negative, I know that I'm above the target demographic but the OS and UAF just seemed to do something for me. I guess Omniverse has been made to re-capture the younger audience again so that's why I'm not liking it.

1.You're just not into cartoons anymore, me (I'm 17) and my best friend (18) watch it every week. I'd probably watch it with my gf too (she's 19), we did watch anime, Happy Tree Friends and Adventure Time. I might watch Regular Show and Omniverse with her next.

Not to mention I have some classmates with whom we used to watch Generator Rex, Ben 10 and some of the older cartoons on my smartphone during recess.

So yeah, not everything an adult watches should be dark and neither should be Omniverse. Those from the old forum know just how obsessed I am with dark (my favorite seasons of the Ben 10 franchise are season 1 and 2 of AF), but funny with some smart action and morale thrown in is amazing after a hard week at school, it's only stupid that turns me off. Season 3 of AF used to do quite a bit of stupid humor and so did UA. Omniverse is actually funny or at least relaxing most of the time.

2.Yep, Malware killing Ben's favorite alien, Azmuth almost getting killed, Eon's world (which btw, was very creepy) where he tortured Paradox, Malware destroying a whole planet with everyone on it, Ben almost getting killed multiple times because of Khyber and so on are all very funny punchlines.

1. Will some episodes happen at night? I miss the diversity that day/night episodes in UAF used to offer.

What was the first alien used by Ben with the Omnitrix II (Before Lodestar)?
It's true what they told me? There will be more than 85 episodes in Omniverse?
This image is real? http://imm.io/VLgO
Can you tell me at least one alien that will be used in Showdown, Part 2? (Other than Humungosaur).

Primus 10 wrote:What was the first alien used by Ben with the Omnitrix II (Before Lodestar)?
It's true what they told me? There will be more than 85 episodes in Omniverse?
This image is real? http://imm.io/VLgO
Can you tell me at least one alien that will be used in Showdown, Part 2? (Other than Humungosaur).

That Upgrade is a fake, I know the guy who made it.

Matt Wayne wrote:

Bellicus wrote:

Matt Wayne wrote:Is Omniverse winning you over? Last summer many people seemed against the show.

I think the problem was that the first glimpse of Omniverse was a photo of a very large poster of Teen Ben that didn't do the show, or Derrick and his teams wonderful animation any justice at all. What followed was panic and wild speculation (by myself as well). If the first glimpse of Omniverse had been an official trailer, I think more people would have been on board from the start. That said, Omniverse has been on our screens for a while now and from my own point of view and from what I've seen online and heard directly from the mouths of kids. Omniverse is a well loved edition to the Ben 10 franchise that I hope continues for many years to come.

Are you sure you're Bellicus? You sound like Serena.

But thanks! The whole team is really proud of the work.

You're right, that post was far too reasonable to be from our Bellicus. I'm dimension 23 Bellicus, the voice of reason. In this universe, Serena is aggression.

Matt Wayne wrote:
The OS was much lighter than Omniverse. And Alien Force gave us Argit, Verdona, Paradox, Albedo, the Incurseans and the Vreedles. I don't think you're right that humorous elements spoil an action show, and I don't think that earlier versions were without humor. Dwayne thought that funny moments and jeopardy were both important, and I learned about interleaving the two from him. I'm certain he would have loved the Thunderpig teaser.

Thanks for telling me what you think, though. The next dozen episodes may turn you around.

Hmm, I respectfully disagree about the OS being lighter than Omniverse.

I didn't mean to sound like I was saying that humorous elements ruin a show, out of the stuff you've listed above, Paradox, Verdona and Albedo are amongst my favourite characters. I love funny characters. I just meant that I feel like the comedic situations in Omniverse have taken importance over the plot. Maybe I'm remembering the past shows far too fondly but I do feel like, unlike UAF, Omniverse would favour a running gag over an over-arching storyline.

Just to clarify, I'm not saying that I think Omniverse is necessarily bad as it's own show. It's just that I think Omniverse is a lesser entry into the Ben 10 franchise.

Thanks for taking the time to read what I wrote.

Sebastian13 wrote:
1.You're just not into cartoons anymore, me (I'm 17) and my best friend (18) watch it every week. I'd probably watch it with my gf too (she's 19), we did watch anime, Happy Tree Friends and Adventure Time. I might watch Regular Show and Omniverse with her next.

Not to mention I have some classmates with whom we used to watch Generator Rex, Ben 10 and some of the older cartoons on my smartphone during recess.

So yeah, not everything an adult watches should be dark and neither should be Omniverse. Those from the old forum know just how obsessed I am with dark (my favorite seasons of the Ben 10 franchise are season 1 and 2 of AF), but funny with some smart action and morale thrown in is amazing after a hard week at school, it's only stupid that turns me off. Season 3 of AF used to do quite a bit of stupid humor and so did UA. Omniverse is actually funny or at least relaxing most of the time.

2.Yep, Malware killing Ben's favorite alien, Azmuth almost getting killed, Eon's world (which btw, was very creepy) where he tortured Paradox, Malware destroying a whole planet with everyone on it, Ben almost getting killed multiple times because of Khyber and so on are all very funny punchlines.

1.) I don't agree that I've grown past cartoons. I like a wide variety of animated shows; Death Note, Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, South Park, The Regular Show, Family Guy, Phineas and Ferb, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, etc.

I do agree that everything we watch shouldn't be dark, and I agree that Omniverse shouldn't be dark. I just feel like the characters and stories being told in OV are being handled worse than what has come before.

2) All the things you've listed there are elements that I've actually liked about Omniverse

Lukey wrote:Apologies for sounding negative, I know that I'm above the target demographic but the OS and UAF just seemed to do something for me. I guess Omniverse has been made to re-capture the younger audience again so that's why I'm not liking it.

Ben 10 has always been a good mix of humour and action. Of course some episodes/seasons/series use one more than the other, but both are always there. It's a similar formula used by Doctor Who, another show that targets kids, but keeps older viewers in mind. IIRC Dwayne once said as much himself (about Ben 10 being made for kids, but with older viewers in mind!)

Question for Matt:

Will Kevin and Gwen feature more often in future OV episodes?

Thanks!

Lukey wrote:I do feel like, unlike UAF, Omniverse would favour a running gag over an over-arching storyline.

Really?! I disagree with that completely. All Ben 10 series have been a good mix of standalone story episodes and season storyline arc episodes. Omniverse is no different. In fact, I'm really enjoying the Malware/Khyber/Psychobos story arc that's currently running in Omniverse. As I did the DNAlien/Highbreed arc in AF, the Aggregor arc in UA, the Vilgax arc in OS etc...