The Avengers Joss Whedon leading on "Avengers" short list of directors

[Gunga Diner]

I don't understand how this is anything but good news.

I wasn't excited for the Avengers because I was worried that it was gonna be 2 meaningless hours of superheroes punching things. Not like I'm against that. But now it'll have a centralized story, internal conflicts, and a real talent with his own sensibilities and voice calling the shots. I finally can safely say that the Avengers will be a movie about interesting characters with a strong story. God knows he's good with ensemble casts.

The Avengers movie officially has a soul.

 

[Sawyer]

An odd choice for Avengers, but I'm good with it.

I love Whedon and though I would rather see him meddle in the X-Men film universe (since it reallllly needs someone good to handle it), I think he'll do a great job.

 

[mclay18]

No doubt he'll vastly improve on Penn's script but Whedon's flaky track record with him losing the Wonder Woman movie because of his delays and his glacier slow release during writing for Runaways, I really wouldn't expect this movie to make the 2012 timetable now.

Um, Whedon wanted to get the ball rolling on WW -- but it was WB execs and Joel Silver who were dragging their feet around. Whedon really wanted to get cracking on the script, and he did two detailed outlines before he bailed out on the project.

And back when Whedon worked as a script doctor and seven years ago, he was frontrunning three shows at once (Firefly, Angel, and Buffy). The guy is used to high-pressure, quick writing on a deadline.

People are forgetting that The Avengers is supposed to come out May 4, 2012. Right now is April 2010 -- there is plenty of time for Whedon to crank out several rewrites for Marvel before diving into pre-production and principal photography.

 

[bunk]

I'm pretty optimistic at this point. I want the guy who cares about characters more than he does explosions. That's what this movie needs. And it doesn't hurt to have somebody who can actually improve the script rather than just change it.

 

[Son of Coul]

This is a big move for Whedon. I hope he can handle the pressure and working on what really should be one of if not the biggest and most important movie of all time.

One of if not the biggest overstatement of all time?

 

[Yellow Cyclone]

 

[KangConquers]

IMO, this is a far more encouraging choice than Letterier, and I'm now about 10x more excited for this movie.

Being a better director than Letterier is like being faster in a foot race than Charles Xavier...it's not a big accomplishment.

 

[Saint]

I'm pretty optimistic at this point. I want the guy who cares about characters more than he does explosions. That's what this movie needs. And it doesn't hurt to have somebody who can actually improve the script rather than just change it.

As usual, Bunk gets it.

 

[Raiden]

IMO, this is a far more encouraging choice than Letterier, and I'm now about 10x more excited for this movie.

I'm also glad it's not Letterier; I know that Letterier tried to lobby for the job but Marvel have come to a smart conclusion that he'd be wrong director for the job. Although I like TIH, I don't think characterization and working on an ensemble are his strengths, and both are needed in a movie like The Avengers. While I have my reservation about Whedon, he should be able to make sure the superheroes are represented accurately and won't be lost in midst of so many characters.

 

[TikkiEXX]

well i liked Buffy, i loved Angel, and i really dug Firefly. i think this could really work.

 

[Figs]

I like that some people are saying that Whedon's AXM was no good; such comments help me easily identify whose opinions to ignore.

What does AXM stand for again?

One of if not the biggest overstatement of all time?

Not sure if this is correct but I think TheVileOne might have meant one of the biggest comic films. If that's the case I have to agree with him. As for biggest film overall, not so much.


FlickChick85, I wasn't meaning to talk **** about Buffy. I also didn't know she was 16, I thought she was in college. From what one of my coworkers told me earlier today, both that show and Angel were pretty good. I was worried at first but I trust my coworker's judgement and opinions so i'll definitely give Whedon a chance.

 

[JP]

People have been overstating The Avengers since day one. Yes, it's a big movie, but it's just a movie and it's really not that different then any other big blockbuster.

 

[Son of Coul]

Not sure if this is correct but I think TheVileOne might have meant one of the biggest comic films. If that's the case I have to agree with him. As for biggest film overall, not so much.

If that's the case I agree. Just thought it was a comically geeky thing to say taking it the other way. I actually think these Marvel Studios movies are kind of like the modern day version of the Universal Monster movies of the 20's-50's. (In fact if Marvel could get Deadpool rights back, he could be the Abbot & Costello installments of these)

 

[Saint]

What does AXM stand for again?

Astonishing X-Men.

FlickChick85, I wasn't meaning to talk **** about Buffy. I also didn't know she was 16, I thought she was in college.

Both true; she's sixteen in the first season; she starts college in the fourth season.

 

[DocHoliday]

She was 16 when it started I believe and 23 when it ended. As far as being a better director than Leterrier, not so sure. Technically I think LL is better. He can movie his camera far better. Not saying I think LL was right for Avengers just that he is taking a beating for his movies that have been messed with a lot.

 

[Compi716]

Whedon's not a bad choice. I've never really watched Firefly or Buffy, but I did love his Astonishing X-Men.

Hopefully he brings the same team-dynamic atmosphere to The Avengers.

 

[KangConquers]

People have been overstating The Avengers since day one. Yes, it's a big movie, but it's just a movie and it's really not that different then any other big blockbuster.

The only thing I could see it being biggest of is biggest budget ever.

That said, I also see it placing the top 20 grossing movies of all time.

 

[echostation]

My pick would've been Matthew Vaughn... He would have been fantastic, Whedon's not bad... I think it'll really depend on how Thor and Captain America go to see how good Branagh and Johnston are with comic book films... if their films are amazing then I think Marvel may have made a mistake, but Whedon's a decent enough choice

 

[DocHoliday]

Although I am unsure of Whedon's film directing ability, I will say that he'll handle the big baddie well. Whether it be Skrulls and Hulk or Loki and Hulk.

 

[Gabe99]

From Deadline:
Whedon To Direct Marvel's 'The Avengers'

From Heat Vision:
Joss Whedon directing 'Avengers'?

From Variety:
Whedon to head 'Avengers'

 

[DocHoliday]

Again I will hope for the best...and hope the effects guys can really shape the action scenes. I have little doubt that he can do something interesting in the writing portion. Hell it might be the intriguing choice Edward Norton needed to commit.

 

[Raiden]

I'm happy that Whedon will rewrite Zak "X3" Penn's script; I think he will do a better job with it.

 

[Nivek]

I don't believe it yet. Probably the best guy out there to take on a group of super powered beings. I would love it, but like the Norton casting as Bruce Banner, I'll wait till it's Official before I start praising Marvel for bringing a good director in to direct the Uber film (and dammit, if Joss is in the Directors seat, awesomeness).

 

[marvelrobbins]

I agree with that the only good films he was Involved with were X2 and The Incredible Hulk.Edward Norton rewrote his Incredible Hulk script and Bryan Singer brough others to work on the X2 script.Remember Joss received an oscar nomination for Toy Story.

 

[SpiderByte]

I'd be happier with Leterrier, but this is awesome too.

And to everyone who's going to ask me why I like Leterrier: He really seems to want to get involved with the character's actions, the way they feel. He let Edward Norton show some ideas about how the Hulk could look, and Leterrier made absolutely sure everything was perfect. TIH was five kinds of badass.

Whedon's good too, but Leterrier would dig deeper.