It was revealed a while back that Brian Azzarello will be writing the upcoming Batman/Doc Savage special, which will be the launching platform to a new DCU with a twist. CBR has recently sat down with Azzarello to talk about what's coming up including a Batman with Guns!

“Doc Savage is top of the food chain. He’s the Superman,” Azzarello told CBR News. “And Batman will be Batman. In the book I’m doing with Phil Noto, Batman is just sort of making himself apparent and that catches Doc’s eye. Doc is already established. He’s a war hero and an adventurer. And there’s a nut running around in Gotham City dressed as a Bat.

Azzarello explained this series really tells the story of Batman from the beginning. And Batman will be referred to as The Batman.

“You can’t change Batman’s origin,” said Azzarello. “But this is Batman with guns. He was originally introduced with guns, so we’re picking it up where it started.”

While Batman almost never uses a gun in today’s DCU continuity (he did shoot Darkseid in “Final Crisis”), he was often seen wielding one in the Golden and Silver Age of comics. In fact, in “Detective Comics” #29, the Dark Knight’s third-ever appearance, Batman threatens two thugs with a handgun that falls to the floor during a skirmish.

Azzarello revealed Batman will carry .45s in shoulder holsters under his cape. And it’s not so much the fact Batman brandishes guns that bothers Doc Savage, it’s that he has a cape (and cowl) at all.

“That’s the kind of thing that bothers somebody like Doc Savage, who operates out in the open. Why are you hiding who you are if you’re trying to do good? That’s a fair question. What’s your agenda? If you want to be a crimefighter, why are you hiding who you are?”

Saying he didn’t think the fact his Batman carries a gun would ruffle any feathers with devout DC fans, Azzarello added, “I think this a book people are going to want to pick up, even if they hate it.”

He also said that Gotham is going to be in a different place than where traditional fans of the Batverse would expect.

“We’re moving Gotham. Where do you think Gotham City is? New York? Nah, how would you feel about L.A.?,” laughed Azzarello. “The sun sets in L.A. just like anyplace else. And I’m really kind of focusing on L.A. in the ’40s, when it was a new town in the ‘20s, ‘30s and ’40s. It’s pretty much a new place. There was certainly a bit of lawlessness going on. And there was a huge, huge divide between rich and poor. And I think that really works well for this.