ARE WE TRUMP?

LegalDispatch 158

May 22, 2026

Yesterday, I had a meeting with an executive who had blown up a show that, at the time of said blowing up, was employing dozens of artists. To my ear, he was pretty casual about the decision, very “Yeah, it’s not the outcome we wanted but what can you do?” about it. (That’s not a direct quote but it’s close.) I told the exec that perhaps he shouldn’t be so casual about making a decision that put dozens of people out of work in an industry where work is particularly scarce. To be honest, I’m not sure the remark penetrated. For sure, he hadn’t thought about all those jobs he was getting rid of along with the show and I didn’t get the sense that anything I said would get him to.

Twenty-four hours later, I’m still thinking about that lack of consideration for the impact on other people and I’ve had to realize that this exec is hardly unique when it comes to a lack of empathy or willing to consider the impact our actions have on other people. And as I spiraled, a new thought occurred to me: Are we all becoming — just a little bit — like Donald Trump?

To be clear, I’m not talking about the corrupt, dishonest, incompetent, anti-intellectual, pedophilloic aspects of Trump. No, I’m talking about the selfishness and lack of empathy, the “I got mine so fuck you” part of his ethos.

I’ve written before how, sometimes, the only way to deal with our present moment is to shut out everyone else and “make our world small,” to focus only on ourselves and our families. But what if what started out as a reasonable coping mechanism has — if only a little bit — metastasized to something less benign and more selfish?

What if ten years of Donald Trump in our lives have made us just a little bit like him?

FEEDBACK

Neil Cohen writes:

Hey, Marc, sorry I missed you at NYCC last year, maybe this year.

I’ll be there! Hope to see you!

I'm curious, have you seen HBO's The Comeback this season? It's all about a sitcom written by AI.

Oy vey. No, I haven’t seen The Comeback. I have a confession to make: I tend not to watch comedies. I’m not sure why I don’t. Maybe I just don’t like to laugh.

Kelly J. Crawford asks:

Do you get to handpick your own artists, colourists, letterers and cover artists [for your comic book projects]? Or are they assigned to you by the same people/company that pays all of you for your contribution?

It typically depends on the nature of the project. Generally speaking, if it’s work for hire (say, for Marvel or DC), the editor picks the rest of the creative team. Sometimes they’ll allow me input, sometimes not. But where it’s a creator-owned project, I’ve recruited everyone involved — including, ironically, the editor.

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PERSONA

In the last newsletter of 2025, I mentioned finishing work on a prose short story called Persona. I’m excited to share the news that we’ve sold it as a feature film to 20th Century Studios with the amazing (and lovely) Paul Fieg attached to produce and direct. Deadline had the announcement:

20th Century Studios has won a heated auction for Persona, a novella by Marc Guggenheim, co-creator and EP of Arrow and one of the architects of the Arrow-verse franchise. Paul Feig, the Bridesmaids helmer who is coming off the hit The Housemaid, will direct. Deal is for seven figures.
Studio is keeping the concept under wraps, but Deadline hears this is a Fatal Attraction-style thriller with a modern twist. For Guggenheim, it’s his second seven-figure deal in the past half-year; he co-wrote and is executive producer on An Innocent Girl, a movie filming now and starring Kerry Washington, James Marsden, Chloe East and Colman Domingo.

IF DESTRUCTION BE OUR LOT

Writer Matthew Rosenberg shared with me an advance copy of his new series If Destruction Be Our Lot which came out two weeks ago. It’s a brilliant and brilliantly funny look into the inevitable future where humankind has been replaced by robots... or has it?

Starring a robotic Abraham Lincoln because, well, of course.

Well worth your attention.

SOCIAL MEDIA DUMP

Some posts from the past two weeks: