***the following interview contains major season finale spoilers as well as a big spoiler for the comic series***

Revival, which is based on the comic series of the same name by Mike Norton and Tim Seeley, aired it’s season one finale last night on Syfy. One day in a small town in Wisconsin, the dead rise from their graves, appearing unchanged. However, as the season progresses, fear and hatred grows for the revivers who are different than everyone else, and they are placed in camps and experimented on. Finally, however, they escape, all except for Em Cypress (Romy Weltman), who is lured away by Tyler (Luca Villacis), one of Blaine (Steven Ogg)’s disciples. Blaine believes the return of revivers is not a miracle, but rather demons rising from their graves who need to be sent back to hell. Can Em’s sister Dana (Melanie Scrofano) not only save Em before she’s killed for good, but figure out who originally murdered her sister?

Earlier in the week, showrunners Luke Boyce and Aaron B. Koontz spoke with SciFi Vision about the season finale and how they changed the original ending, if there is any news on season two, and where the story is headed, as well as answered a bunch of lingering questions, such as, why Em’s passenger is purple, why she didn’t tell Dana she was alive, if pregnancy is part of Em’s story, if we will ever see Brendt’s twin, Brandt (Mark Little), and more.




SCIFI VISION:    Well, hi guys. It's nice to see you again. I absolutely love the finale. So, first I need to ask, and you probably don't yet, but is there any news on season two?

LUKE BOYCE:   Not yet.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Not yet, but if your headline is “we deserve a season two,” I'll take it. You know, that's what we're hoping for.

SCIFI VISION:    Yeah that’s definitely my headline. All right. So, obviously, you guys had to change the ending a lot because if everybody reunited with, you know, their souls, there'd be no story left. So, talk about sort of how you, I guess, pivoted the ending in order to add more story. Whoever wants to answer.

LUKE BOYCE:    Yeah. Yeah. Look, we knew through the adaptation process that we wanted to complete the murder mystery. So, the comic is 47 issues of who killed Em, and we didn't want to spread that out over multiple seasons. We wanted to tell that story in season one. So, that was sort of our first, you know, first thing to tackle. And obviously, if you say who killed Em, you kind of have to say “what caused Revival Day?” because the answer is effectively the same.

So, we started to work towards basically adding more layers to the Revival Day mystery. So, there's a lot there. We say kind of the position of what is Revival Day through the lens of Lester and through that whole situation, but there's more there, and that leaves us open to tell more stories.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Lester could very well be an unreliable narrator. Like, what does he actually know or understand about this? We're taking some of his stuff at face value, but we don't know. Why does he have the mask? Why does he have this thing on his chest? Like, there's a lot of things, like cultish things, that he was doing and playing with. There's this amalgamation of different, you know, cultures and beliefs and things that are all coming together, and some of that isn't necessarily making sense yet, maybe, but there's more. There's a reason for that. And there’re things that he's trying and throwing things at the wall and seeing what's sticking, if you will, and that we'll get to explore. And, yeah, we just wanted to say that there were two central questions, which is, what caused Revival Day and who murdered Em. And even though what caused Revival Day, her murder is a piece of what caused Revival Day, her murder is not what caused Revival Day, if you will. So, that story, that answer still continues to exist, and that's something that we can explore and peel back layers on. And it was part of what caused it, if that makes sense.

SCIFI VISION:    You know, that's what I was going to ask. I mean, obviously, there's still some things you're going to put in from the comics. I assume, like why they wanted the revival body parts, those kind of things that weren't necessarily fleshed out as much. But I mean, I guess, is the main story of season two going to be sort of something completely new or is it more going to revolve, like you said, just kind of more about - I don't know; maybe there's I guess, more than I know.

LUKE BOYCE:    So, yeah, that's the hope. I mean, the hope is that we could do something, you know, fairly original in the world of Revival while also still telling like what we did with season one, which is we can take portions of the comic characters, storylines and tell them, you know, in further seasons, tell them our way.

So, there are elements that we have plans for that will come into play in further seasons, but we also plan to do something that is, you know, it's  the Revival comic sequel that you that you never got. Essentially, that was our intent is to kind of start to tell more stories in this world that haven't been told yet.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah, it's a mix. It's a mix. There're so many stories, side quests and things that happen in the comics that we don't get to touch on that we want to bring in. But infuse that with each season, there will be another big mystery to solve, and there is going to be a new mystery that's going to be a lot of fun that we're excited about and has been set up and teased, but is not fully realized yet, that will, at least to the audience, won't be yet until you get into season two.

So, that's really fun to kind of like lay the groundwork for that. And yeah, also then that mystery will weave within stories that exist in the comic already. So, it's going to be new, but also part of the comic at the same time, if that makes sense.

SCIFI VISION:    Yeah. Now, obviously, you guys are creating the new story, but are the writers of the comics involved at all in the sense, like are you as you go saying, “Does this work for you? Are you okay with this or not?” And if so, how are they reacting, I guess, to all of it?

LUKE BOYCE:    No, there's a Revival family. Mike and Tim are involved.

We talk to them all the time. We've had conversations with Tim both about what we want to do, and about what they thought about doing. I mean, there were times what they thought about putting out more Revival. So, we know what they were going to do. And yeah, there's always a dialogue happening for sure.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah. And we're going to as we're continuing. In fact, we talked about we're going to Luke and myself and possibly them getting together and having so many writers rooms, if you will, going into season two, if we're lucky to have one.

SCIFI VISION:    Now, Em, it seems like, reunited with her soul, which confuses me a lot. And I won't go there, but I want to ask, was there a reason why hers is purple now or is that just sort of an aesthetic thing? Is that something we have to wait to find out? Is there anything you could tell me about that?

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah, this is part of playing with what is in the comic and the expectations of a comic reader and to go a little bit a different direction. You know, what I will posit is a question of did she reunite with her soul at the end like that? I will say, “did that happen?” because there might have been a death that happened at the end. That is not the death that we thought was happening, I will say. So, there could be something there. Yeah.

And then why is hers purple? What's there? You know, we always talked about how of the of the gremlins, she’s the Stripe of the gremlins. But there's definitely something more to what's going on and what that means. Yeah, it's all meant to say, wait, what's different here? Yeah, because something is different about it.

LUKE BOYCE:    Yeah, we saw that throughout this season, right? Like Em can heal. Other revivers can't heal. [She] as a little bit, you know, her strength is a little bit more. They've had to use more serum for her.

There's all these hints along the way that Em is not quite the same as all the other revivers. And this is sort of the big, you know, moment where you really, really see that. Even her passenger is different.

SCIFI VISION:    I don't know if you can answer this; you're probably not going to be able to. But I know, obviously, in the comic book, there is more life, and they do mention she and Rose are capable of giving life. Is that a storyline you're not going to [use], or could that still be connected to all this, or can you not really say anything at all?

AARON B. KOONTZ:    You mean Em?

SCIFI VISION:    Yes, about Em. Yeah.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    I think she’s asking about the pregnancy.

SCIFI VISION:    Yes. I was trying to say it without saying it. [laughs]

LUKE BOYCE:    Yeah, that's fine. No, it's OK. Yeah, make sure.

I mean, look, there are there are elements that we plan to explore. The whole book is open to us.

So, like you saw in season one, we are able to take elements and sort of make them our own. We still use them.

You know, if you really cut it down to the core, our storylines are effectively the same. You know how we get there might be different, how they're framed might be different, but we are we are still, I believe, adapting the comic faithfully.

So, we intend to continue to do that in our own way, in our own creative original way.

SCIFI VISION:    She did not tell Dana that she's alive. I mean, [Dana] kind of assumes that she's not, at least it seems like it, or I assume she wouldn't be going on this investigation now. Can you talk about sort of why, I guess, she's not sharing that, and why she's kind of staying away? Is there anything you can say about that?

AARON B. KOONTZ:    I mean, this is definitely something that will be a part of season two. I mean, what I can say is that when you look at the manifestations of Patty (Lara Jean Chorostecki), of her mother, in both episodes nine and ten, nine is representing her guilt. Ten is representing healing. And Patty in both aspects is a part of her that she's wrestling with, a lot of bad thoughts and things, and she's trying to move on. So, when you think about all the things that have happened in Wasau, all the things everybody's gone through, seeing her, you know, Cooper (Hudson Wurster) with a knife to his throat and the Czech brothers, and people have died, and horrible things have happened.

And she's learning that maybe she is integral to what's there, and someone who already has guilt in her life and has lived this way, maybe that guilt might be a part of what I need to separate myself from. “I'm causing harm,” you know, I think could be a reasonable thought for her to have. And I think especially young people, you know, they will sometimes run, just like Dana wanted to run at one point. She wanted to leave town.

And I think that there's some guilt and some like, “what have I done or not done,” you know, without getting too much into this further, but like, yeah, I think there's a lot on her shoulders, and she feels the weight of that in that moment.

SCIFI VISION:    Fair enough. Is there anything else that you guys have taken out that we don't know about that I guess we would have seen? Like, I know, Luke, you had mentioned about the deer [in our livestream chat] and everything, and that, you know, we didn't get to see the actual deer. Is there any other stories like that of things that you guys had that we didn't get to see that, yeah, kind of like cutting room floor stuff?

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah, where do we start? Goodness. Yeah, there's a lot.

There's a lot. I mean, and there's a lot of things that even though part of that story might be told in season one, we still want to go back and fill layers with in season two, because there is a lot of setup for things that we want to have happen. So, again, just like in you watch the beginning of the pilot, and you see May Tao (Katharine King So) and it's like, okay, she's just here for no reason looking at a body and a John Doe.

But no, then when you get to episode eight, you realize it's an entirely different thing. There's more of that in season one that we have set up that you might not realize has something to pay off in a future season. And then there are things that were on the cutting room floor that we - now there's a couple that I'm actually kind of glad we're on the cutting floor, because now I have some ideas on how to like rework them and do them maybe a little different, since we didn't show it, and we've got ways to do that.

But Luke and I need to, we got to get a season two, and we're going to need to like hash some of that out. But I think there's fun opportunities, but yes, we're not done with season one, if that makes sense. There're things there that are going to be unearthed that will then continue to evolve what's happening in season two and beyond, including stuff that was on the cutting room floor.

SCIFI VISION:    That's fair. And you probably can't answer this either, but are we going to ever see Brandt? Because I know we've been talking about that a lot on our show. You mention a twin, and we expect to see a twin at some point.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Well, so okay, what we'll say is, it was fun for Luke and I, again, knowing the expectations of the audience. If you mention there's a twin of a guy who's not good, everyone is going to assume that this is the killer. And that was deliberate. We knew that was going to be the case, so we wanted people to be like, “I got it I figured it out,” and a lot of people thought that. So, that was just a misdirect; that was a misdirect. But we also are obsessed with Mark Little as an actor, and Luke and I love him, and we think there could be some fun to bringing Mark Little back.

So, there was also that selfish idea too, but I think part of it was the misdirect, you know, and just like have this one little throwaway line let the people who are trying to, you know, dissect this figure it out and just send them to a dead end, which I thought was fun, but also leave the door open to allow wonderful Mark Little the possibility to come back in season two.

SCIFI VISION:    All right, that's fair, but you're driving us nuts that's for sure. So, what has been your reaction…to the fans’ reaction and to everybody, you know, loving this show and everything I mean obviously you went to Comic Con, and it all went really well and everything. So, yeah, talk a minute about that.

LUKE BOYCE:    I mean, words fail me in that it's humbling. It's amazing. I mean, the kind of, it's been so warm, like people just embraced it so much. And that's what you dream about. I mean, you write this stuff, and you think about, you know, Aaron and I are thinking about the audience at all times. And we're really thinking about the fans who are who are looking at everything.

So, seeing that, you know, culminate and happen the way you would hope it would happen, you know, that's as artists’, that's the dream, it's all the dream. So, yeah, I mean, I am humbled and grateful for the way people have completely embraced the show.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah, it's surreal. It's such a surreal, surreal thing, and all you hope is that it's going to connect with someone, you know, and it's like this is working for us, like, oh, I really love this. I hope anyone cares a tenth as much as we care right now about this and finding people that do and then some. And then they're finding their own interpretations of what's there, is really fun. Like, I love seeing the people that kind of dissect things, and “this is what this means to me.”

And like that's really special, and all you ever want to do is - you know, movies and TV were an escape for me my whole life. And whenever things were bad, that was the place that I [would] go; it's still a place that I go.

I need to watch a movie as a palate cleanser, a show as a palate cleanser, to like help me kind of recontextualize whatever shitty thing is happening in the world or my life. And we know that this has been that for a lot of people, and that's unbelievable.

I just don't I don't even, I cannot put it into words, it is unbelievable. Yeah. But now we know that there're expectations that come with that. And now we have people who are invested, and we want to come through for them. So, I have not been nervous about this show until the finale. The first time I was nervous was the finale, just because I care so much about the audience experience. We care so much about the audience experiences, like was saying, and it's like, I hope that you feel that care that's there, because we didn't spoon feed you everything the whole time. We believe that if you're willing to invest the time, that we're going to reward you for it. And then 10 was like, okay, we're trying something here, and it's gonna take a swing, and just hoping that they're along for the ride. And I guess we'll find out, but [we’re] just very grateful to have all of them. It’s surreal and crazy, and we want to just keep growing, keep growing that audience. Yeah.

SCIFI VISION:    Great, well thank you so much and I don't think you have anything to worry about. I mean, I know I loved it. And now I'm going to go read the comic and find out more. Now that it's done, I can go and not be spoiled anymore.

AARON B. KOONTZ:    Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's some good stuff in there.

SCIFI VISION:    All right, well thank you both of you, and thank you Luke for, you know, joining our chat so many times.

LUKE BOYCE:    Yeah, no, I love it.