During a press conference at San Diego Comic-Con, author James Dashner talked about his love for the Maze Runner film.

The press conference was held with director Wes Ball, author James Dashner, and stars Will Poulter (Gally), Kaya Scodelario (Teresa), and Dylan O’Brien (Thomas).

When asked what parts of the movie he didn’t like, Dashner was adamant about how much he loved the entire film. “I feel like I’m the luckiest author in the industry of authors because contractually I didn’t really have any power in this film because we sold the rights at the very beginning and I was just an up-and-coming author,” he says.

Luckily, Dashner continued to be a large part of making the movie: “Fox has treated me like an important part of this process from the very beginning. The producers called me. We had a long talk about how excited they were and they said, ‘Look, you’re the creator. It can only help us if you are involved in this.’ You know, from the very beginning I consulted on the script, and Wes and I spoke a lot about questions, especially regarding the fans and reactions to certain scenes, and things like that.”

And Dashner wasn’t just helping from afar. He says, “I went to the set a couple times. I went there when they recorded the music. Just all kinds of cool stuff. So I felt very involved, and I felt like they respected my input. I knew they were the experts at making films, but I was thrilled to give even any advice. And I can honestly say the only part of the movie I hated was when it ended.”

That’s high praise coming from the author of The Maze Runner!

Another highlight of the panel was Ball’s commentary on what makes The Maze Runner different from other YA films. The director made a point to say that it sometimes felt like there was a target on his back with this being a YA film, but that he tried to just treat it like a regular movie.

“Ultimately, the concept itself stands out from the others,” Ball says of the film. He also says they get a lot of comparisons to The Hunger Games, but that this is quite a different movie. “It’s almost a shipwreck movie,” he intones, but makes sure to say it’s “balls to the wall action.”