When I was recently out on the town and killing time before a midnight screening of The Neverending Story with two of my future writers for this blog, we were killing time in a Best Buy when we passed a guy who was wearing a “Joss Whedon is my Master Now” T-shirt. He was duly fist-bumped as we turned for the double-take, and my geek heart grew one size larger.
Now, I fear that my Whedon-loving heart is exploding—and not entirely from boundless excitement. While I was toiling away in the trenches yesterday, Variety confirmed an April Fool’s Day IESB.net exclusive report that the Serenity director and Wonder Woman screenwriter would be directing The Avengers for Marvel Studios.
Marc Graser at the paper trade noted that part of the negotiations included Whedon taking a pass at the script which was previously written by Zak Penn. The core cast is set with Chris Evans taking on the Captain America role, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Chris Hemsworth as Thor.
There’s no word yet on who will be taking on the Hulk role or if any of the many women who have been Avengers over the years will be in the movie, but considering that Whedon’s muses have mostly been female, I’d be surprised if the Scarlet Witch didn’t at least make the cut.
I will be perfectly honest and say that my love for Whedon’s work peaked with “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” and foundered with “Dollhouse.” Like the guys at Penny Arcade, I only found bits and pieces of the TV series fascinating but didn’t like it enough to continue watching after the sixth episode.
Just as most newly announced these days, I’m being cautiously optimistic that it will be good—and bracing myself for a reality where a Whedon-helmed Avengers won’t be good.
Filming will begin in early 2011.
transient says:
I'm a Dollhouse fan. And honestly think it just got better as it went along, past that 6th episode and very much into the second season. Despite some rushing and budget issues with the last couple. (Forgiveable as he was trying to cram in a lot in a small space so at least we'd have some conclusions vs. the brick wall of questions that Firefly left with.) It was by no means his best work. But his worst is still pretty good.
In other words, my hopes are high for Avengers.
PauricTheLodger says:
I'm with transient, Dollhouse was very slow at the start but greatly improved towards the end of the first season. Just watched through both seasons for the first time last week.
Looking forward to Avengers though.
Anyone know why Joss and Tim Minear keep agreeing to do shows for Fox? Surely they would have learned over the last few years…
Transient says:
Tim Minear is definitely an unsung talent. I found him via his Whedon connection, but the guys got a decent resume on his own. Wonderfalls, The Inside (still my favorite show of it's ilk), and I even thought Drive was off to a great start.