The last time I attended San Diego Comic-Con was two years ago. Sons of Anarchy was picking up steam but it wasn’t the worldwide hit it is today. I also recall Kurt Sutter discussing his dislike for crowds as if he dreaded having to go to Comic-Con.
Flash forward to 2012: Sons of Anarchy is the most successful show in FX Network’s history and Sutter seemed almost –strong emphasis there– excited to be at Comic-Con. One thing is for sure, he was a busy man during the popular San Diego convention. Although Sutter has been demonized at times for making controversial comments – which he’s clearly made an effort to temper within the last year – one constant remains: Sutter’s interest in connecting with the show’s audience. Indeed, he’s one of the few show creators who communicates regularly with his fans via social media. This year, he has remained even more connected with SOA’s fans during the off season via Twitter, his Sutterink blog, and video segments that include the popular WTFSutter series and the more recent Before the Anarchy. The fans’ response is intense and they regularly cause Sutter’s tweets, photos and videos to go viral.
Kurt Sutter confirms the show will get seven seasons.
Sutter had a big smile on his face when he joined us, and I couldn’t believe how much ground we covered in our roundtable interview in a fairly short period of time. Here’s a summary of the main highlights he discussed:
The expansion the Sons of Anarchy universe.
“There are 30 some other charters of Sons of Anarchy. We deal with the primary charter and the mother charter but there are these other charters out there. It will be cool to start maybe creating other mythologies out there. We will probably begin that through the novelization process initially.”
Can we really expect a prequel to the show?
“I don’t know if I want to jump right on to another Sons project right after this. I don’t know if it’s the best thing creatively for me to do. Perhaps it’s the kind of thing we let it breathe for a couple of few seasons and then we come back and do it.”
Will the mystery surrounding John Teller’s death ever be solved?
“Maybe it will be more specific as time rolls around towards the end. I like the idea that it’s left up in the air. To a certain extent, we kind of know Clay is responsible but we’re not quite sure. There have been a lot of theories. Gemma threw out the theory in season two or three about how she feels that John killed himself. There are a lot of different theories out there and at this stage; it’s much more interesting than to say definitely X and Y happened.”
Sutter tells us we’ll find out what type of leader Jax Teller is in season five.
Season Five – The many questions about Jax’s Presidency.
“We continue this season with Jax at the head of that table, the ramifications of that, and seeing Jax as a leader. I always wanted to get him at that place, at the head of that table so we can play out a few seasons of what happens when the prince becomes king. Can you become the leader of an outlaw organization and not become Clay? Is that even possible? And if you don’t become Clay, are you then perceived as weak, and are you the subject of the faith of John Teller?
We’ve been filling Jax’s plate with all this shit for four seasons, all this experience, all these lessons and now he’s got all this stuff to his avail. What does he pick and choose? When he’s faced with these highly dramatic circumstances that we create from season to season, what choices does he make? Does he make the wise, calm, rational decision? Does he make the impulsive, vengeful decision? All those things will have him forced to take action on this season to see ultimately what leader he’ll become.”
Season Five – Will any actors write or direct episodes?
“I think my actors are very happy with what they are doing in front of the camera and I think that’s really how I like to keep it.
David Labrava* has been a writer for a long time. We had conversations when he was a technical consulting on the show so we’ve had conversation about him writing all along but that is really the only conversation that has happened.”
*David Labrava wrote the intense Season 4, episode 10, “Hands.
Is the Sons of Anarchy game happening?
Sutter says that unlike last season, none of his actors will be writing or directing episodes anytime soon.
“We’ve had conversations. I get excited, I sit down with some people in the industry and they seem excited and then I don’t fucking hear anything. I’m sure a lot is going on behind the scenes that I’m not aware of but I do know that making a game, it’s like making a ten pole movie. It’s just a huge process; it’s incredibly expensive and you really have to align those things to make it happen. That’s why it can take years and years for games to happen. The ones that tend to roll quickly look like they roll out quickly, in my opinion. I hope it’s moving forward. They sort of have been leaving me alone because they know I’m immersed with stuff right now. I do think it will happen but if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen now because it will take a couple of years to do. So I think the plan would be to get the ball rolling out now and really try to roll it out with season seven while the show is at least still on the air.”
The series finale.
“We’ll get seven seasons and I have an ending in mind for that. Whether it will feel like an ending or whether it will feel like a continuation, I think that will be up to the people watching it. I definitely have a sense where I’d like it to end and I try to hold onto that loosely so I don’t lock myself into things but I do have a sense where I’d like it to go.”
It’s good to know there is a vision for the ending and a method to the madness as Sutter confirms there will be two more seasons of Sons of Anarchy after this year. To the fans, I say enjoy them because I have a feeling that with everything Sutter is packing into these storylines, and at the speed they’re unfolding, it’s going to fly by.
Season five of Sons of Anarchy premieres Tuesday, September 11, 2012. For more on the show visit: http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/ and http://www.sutterink.com/. To check out Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy videos, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/sutterinksoa. On Twitter, follow @SonsofAnarchy, @sutterink, @FXNetworks and tweet using the hashtag #SOAFX.
All photos © 2012 Yourentertainmentcorner.com and Elle Lutz. All Rights Reserved.
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