Question: The X-Men, as a group of stories, are distinguished by this idea that the things that make people look to be outsiders, or mutants, are actually gifts, or things that can be incredibly powerful. David's a bit different, because he suffers from mental illness, and mental illness is something he struggles with because of how it affects his reality. As David's medical condition becomes part of the story, how do you use it in what you think is a respectful way, but also in a way that illuminates what its possibilities might be for David?
Hawley: We had a scene in the pilot that didn't make it into the final cut. It was this moment where he's talking to his psychiatrist, and behind the psychiatrist we see this man levitate up into view outside the window. And it turns out that he's a window-washer, but there's a moment for David where you understand that this is his reality.
He sees things that sometimes aren't there, and then sometimes he sees things that really are there but are just odd. If he were to acknowledge that there was a guy floating outside the window when he wasn't there, he would seem crazy. But if he were to act strangely about looking away from a guy washing the window, he also seems a little nuts.
I think the dynamic of the mental illness obviously he's told for most of his life that he has a mental illness. And then he's rescued from this place and he's told that he doesn't, that actually these are his powers, that he's telepathic, he's telekinetic, et cetera.
And then there's a third possibility maybe it's both, and maybe having this power and having been treated as mentally ill all these years has certainly created a personality that he has. The power and the character dynamic are the same in a way that's really exciting as a writer to explore.
