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

[Ace of Knaves]

I can't recall the cast of Astonishing X-Men suddenly acting out of character and behaving like high school students in Sunnydale, all speaking in the same Whedony voice. Instead, each felt like a rounded, nuanced character in their own right, with Whedon boiling right down to the core appeal of each of them and giving them their own distinct voice. He knows how to respect a source material and do tenured superheroes justice. And given the reverence with which he built off Grant Morrison's concepts while simultaneously doing his own thing with them, I wouldn't say there's too much concern about him not respecting what Favreau, Letterier, Branagh and Johnston did before him.

Yea but Avengers is his BIG commercial break. You don't think he'll take that opportunity to imprint some of his "Whedonisms" into the public eye?

I'm not saying he will. But i'm not too confident that he won't.

 

[Son of Coul]

It's The Avengers. You could put a goddamn monkey behind the camera and it'll make 800 million dollars.

 

[chamber-music]

I think Keyser Soze and Ace of Knaves should meet on neutral like the midlands and have a dance off. The winner wins the arguement and then afterwards we all have tea and scones.

 

[kendo]

But that's the problem i have with this choice.

I just KNOW Whedon will try to cram some of his own sensibilities and ideas into the movie. Even if it means stomping over the work Favs and Branagh and Johnston have done before him. It's inevitable. And it's unnacceptable.

Any director we get is going to use their own sensibilities. If they didn't we would just get a bland action film featuring characters from other movies. Whedon has demonstrated the ability to mesh sci-fi with fantasy, work with ensembles and focus on a few central characters while giving supporting characters time as well. He also directed one of the finest sci-fi films of the last decade.

You say you want Avengers, not Joss Whedon's Avengers. Well that won't happen. We got Favreau's Iron Man, LL's Hulk and will get Brannagh's Thor, JJ's Cap. Just like in the comics we're getting Bendis' Avengers, soon we will see Bru's, and a decade ago we got Busiek's. Anyone who works on these stories will bring their own sensibilities regardless of the medium.

 

[TheFuture]

I think he was comparing them in the fact that the Twi-fans cant understand why people dont like the books....
...just like the Whedon fans disbelieve someone watched his stuff and disliked it. Everytime someone says they didnt like Buffy or Angel or Firefly we get "Oh you probably seen only a few episodes or you didnt see this or didnt see that". Why is it I am not allowed to just not like something????

It's not that, I mean if you really have a dislike for someone's work we can only assume you haven't seen much of it. Otherwise why would you sit through someone's work week after week if you don't like it?

There are plenty of shows that I think are **** and that opinion wasn't formed on watching them week after week, they were formed after watching just a few episodes. No way would I sit through something I hate just so I can say my criticism is "informed".

 

[Spider-Fan]

a critivally acclaimed sci-fi movie that didnt make back its budget

Despite critical acclaim and Internet buzz, Serenity performed poorly at the box office. Although several pundits predicted a #1 opening, the film opened at #2 in the United States, taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and closed on November 17, 2005 with a domestic box office gross of $25.5 million. Movie industry analyst Brandon Gray described Serenity's box office performance as "like a below average genre picture".

Serenity's international box office results were mixed, with strong openings in the UK, Portugal and Russia, but poor results in Spain, Australia, France and Italy. United International Pictures canceled the film's theatrical release in at least seven countries, planning to release it directly to DVD instead. The box office income outside the United States was $13.3 million, with a worldwide total of $38.8 million, slightly less than the film's $39 million budget, which does not include the promotion and advertising costs.

now let me ask you if I made a movie that didnt make its budget back should i be considered for another big budget film????

Why does this matter? Zathura was the last movie Favs made prior to IM, should he have been cast aside? Branagh has made bombs, should he have not been given Thor? What about The Wolfman? That bombed, should JJ be booted off Cap?

The Avengers will make $$$. The fact Serenity bombed is meaningless to why Whedon should or should not make this film. History shows Marvel doesn't care about that. They care about quality and ideas over previous BO history in your filmography.

 

[roach]

The GA isn't going to give a **** who's directing this thing in the slightest.

"Oh man Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Hulk are all crossing over, this is cool! ...wait, the guy who did Buffy is directing? Well, what has he done lately? Screw this movie."

You people act like the man is universally known like Martin Scorsese or something, I hadn't even heard of the ****in guy until I read he was on the shortlist for Avengers a couple weeks ago.

really??? the GA doesnt care about directors. Why were so many people ready to see Avatar before the trailers even came out?????
Think there will be so much buzz on Batman 3 if Nolan walked away and Joel Schumacher came back to direct it????

 

[Kanon]

Both Pitt & Cruise were adults when they played those roles and they played them as adults. And they took lives like nobody's business. Sure, Pitt's character had to gradually progress to that point but it was all very graphic and adult with no sappy commonplace teeny romance to be seen. It was a gothic period piece for the most part and it was awesome...and a huge BO hit. Then Buffy came along and teen and vampires became almost inseparable. Much to the chagrin of vampire fans of yesteryear. But we're getting off topic here.

I meant teen idols as idols of teens (wich is, I believe, the accepted definition), not as Cruise and Pitt being teens... I don't think vampires and teens were linked after Buffy, it was just that Vampires were always linked to romance and seduction, and as with a lot of genres, are nowadays portrayed as teens, for "relatable" reasons... And after Buffy, pre-Twilight, I can't remember any teen vampires... I haven't watched Underworld to say if it qualifies as "teen" but it doesn't look like it, and neither does 30 Days of Night I Am Legend or Night Watch.

And yeah, this is way off topic t:

 

[Keyser Soze]

a critivally acclaimed sci-fi movie that didnt make back its budget

Despite critical acclaim and Internet buzz, Serenity performed poorly at the box office. Although several pundits predicted a #1 opening, the film opened at #2 in the United States, taking in $10.1 million its first weekend, spending two weeks in the top ten, and closed on November 17, 2005 with a domestic box office gross of $25.5 million. Movie industry analyst Brandon Gray described Serenity's box office performance as "like a below average genre picture".

Serenity's international box office results were mixed, with strong openings in the UK, Portugal and Russia, but poor results in Spain, Australia, France and Italy. United International Pictures canceled the film's theatrical release in at least seven countries, planning to release it directly to DVD instead. The box office income outside the United States was $13.3 million, with a worldwide total of $38.8 million, slightly less than the film's $39 million budget, which does not include the promotion and advertising costs.

now let me ask you if I made a movie that didnt make its budget back should i be considered for another big budget film????

Personally speaking, with a property like this, I'd take the director of a great film that did poorly at the box office over a moneyspinning stinker any day of the week. And maybe that's just me. But maybe, just maybe, Marvel thinks the same way. It would have been disastrous if they thought "Robert Downey Jr may have gotten lots of critical praise for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Zodiac, but how much money did THEY make?" and didn't cast him.

Perhaps Marvel are of the opinion that it's the brand and the characters that will sell the tickets and put the butts in seats, so they just need to focus on filling the films with the most talented people possible rather than worrying about their box office clout. And Whedon is a highly talented and respected professional, in the realm of comics as well as in film and TV.

 

[Spider-Fan]

really??? the GA doesnt care about directors. Why were so many people ready to see Avatar before the trailers even came out?????
Think there will be so much buzz on Batman 3 if Nolan walked away and Joel Schumacher came back to direct it????

Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Steven Speilberg, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Bay (sadly), and only a few others are selling points for a film in trailers. You don't see NOES trying to sell you on the director, or any other film not made by an iconic director. The Hurt Locker didn't advertise Kathryn Bigelow in selling the movie, though they will now sell her since she won the Oscar.

IM didn't name Favs, TIH didn't name LL, and Thor and Cap won't name their directors. Cause the GA doesn't know who they are. That is not a bad thing, it is just how the GA thinks. They only know big names.

 

[roach]

It's not that, I mean if you really have a dislike for someone's work we can only assume you haven't seen much of it. Otherwise why would you sit through someone's work week after week if you don't like it?

There are plenty of shows that I think are **** and that opinion wasn't formed on watching them week after week, they were formed after watching just a few episodes. No way would I sit through something I hate just so I can say my criticism is "informed".

I gave it a chance because my ex wife was a big fan...i tried to watch it with her but it did nothing for me...did the same with Firefly...went to see Serenity...again nothing...just wasnt my cup of tea

 

[Chris B]

I've never seen any of his previous work. But I trust Marvel, so I'll give Whedon a chance.

 

[roach]

Personally speaking, with a property like this, I'd take the director of a great film that did poorly at the box office over a moneyspinning stinker any day of the week. And maybe that's just me. But maybe, just maybe, Marvel thinks the same way. It would have been disastrous if they thought "Robert Downey Jr may have gotten lots of critical praise for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Zodiac, but how much money did THEY make?" and didn't cast him.

Perhaps Marvel are of the opinion that it's the brand and the characters that will sell the tickets and put the butts in seats, so they just need to focus on filling the films with the most talented people possible rather than worrying about their box office clout. And Whedon is a highly talented and respected professional, in the realm of comics as well as in film and TV.

and according to the making of Favs had to sell them on the idea of RDJ as Tony...they had concerns with him

 

[Keyser Soze]

and according to the making of Favs had to sell them on the idea of RDJ as Tony...they had conserns with him

And it paid off, as I'm sure you will agree. But Marvel have approached Whedon, he's evidently not a "hard sell" to them.

 

[dsfjr1190]

I hope Whedon doesn't make all of the male characters effeminate like in everything else he's ever done. Angel, Spike, Wesley, Xander, Wash, Andrew? All act so effeminate that I sometimes wonder if they are supposed to be men or not.

The last thing I want is for Steve, Tony, and the rest of the guys to get this same treatment..

 

[conan69]

Whedon being announced for this makes me more annoyed Hank Pym and Wasp arent in it. They seem to be the type of characters hes good at telling a story with.

While I know Penn wrote the script Im sure Whedon will have some real say in the story and I might feel a bit better since he at least has some real knowledge of these characters.

Whedon does well in ensemble pieces, but many seem to be concerned whether he can handle such a large production.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Favs said it best in an interview I saw years ago, in regard to handling a large production. He said that many people can help you make Iron Man fighting a robot look cool, but not everyone can give a film a solid story or structure. I think Whedon has shown he knows structure and storytelling, which I feel is more vital to a production like this cause you can hire people to help you make the fights and such cool, which is how you handle a production of this magnitude.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Wow, I'm surprised at all the *****ing going on here.

I like the choice and I'm just thankful this thing has a director and is moving forward. I thought he did great with Serenity and handeled the whole team aspect well which is one of the most important things about this. Now I can't tell you anything else about him, but how is his writing style in comics? He's good at writing dialogue, so I'm not worried about that aspect, other than pop culture references...

 

[mclay18]

Well **** Abrams too (even though i'd prefer him to Whedon)

Vaughn should of got the gig.

Such an ardent anti-Whedon guy, and yet you don't know how to use proper grammar.

Pity.

 

[roach]

personal attack now?????
c'mon what would Buffy do?

 

[mclay18]

She'd make a sarcastic quip and do a roundhouse kick.

 

[Son of Coul]

Such an ardent anti-Whedon guy, and yet you don't know how to use proper grammar.

Pity.

Such an ardent pro-Whedon guy, and yet you take cheap shots just because the other guy has a different opinion.

Petty!

 

[roach]

She'd make a sarcastic quip and do a roundhouse kick.

if i respond to your post...i do it as a man

 

[SpiderByte]

She'd make a sarcastic quip and do a roundhouse kick.

That is the single best retort I have ever seen.

 

[mclay18]

Plus I hope we see a couple Whedon mainstays in here. I'd love to see Fillion as Hank Pym.

I think Marvel is going to keep a tight grip on the casting. Whedon would probably have to fight to get a role for someone he knows.