Whedon as a filmmaker is relative new in the business with only 3 movies. It's not to late for him to develop a signature style. It took Kubrick a lot of 'journeyman' movies to get to that point.
I was thinking the other day how he can be seen as sort of an old school Tin Pan Alley type guy, like if he was a songwriter. more like a craftsman, or like you're saying "journeyman". but a good old fashioned working class writer.
like i could imagine him as a songwriter working in the Brill Building, cutting teeth and learning everything. paying dues. and it shows in his work. that's why he can do comic books, and that's why he gets along so well with Marvel, I think. he kinda has one foot in both worlds.
I think these days, that model is just seen as hackwork. and it's kinda looked down upon. and kinda for good reason. but people will also come up thru that system, learn it's lessons, and actually have something that they can really use to their advantage. like Whedon does.
Avengers really feels like a movie that took a lot of self control and constant kinda ugly self criticism to get as tight as it was. it worked so well becuz it just kept people along on the ride with it. there was nothing really that stopped and swamped up anywhere. and those moments are ones that could've maybe been interesting ones. but it just seems pretty merciless how well done that movie was.
i don't know about films and editing or anything like that. but it just feels really crazy tight.
Lou Reed started off in jobs like that, writing about doing the ostrich and stupid stuff like that. but look at the Velvets, first record, it's basically the same structures and songwriting stylisms as ostrich dance songs but in the context of New York avant garde art scene of the time. so it served him well, for sure.
