Avengers movie

[KnightWing]

Serenity looks and feels like a TV movie. Like Razor does.

Razor?

And to be fair, Serenity kind of was a TV movie. I mean, it was intended to be a sequel to the TV series, and he deliberately limited his budget (he was offered $80 million by the studio, but insisted that he only needed $40 million). With the Avengers, I think he'll have the right idea.

I mean, I'm not saying that it'll definitely absolutely work, but hey, it's definitely got a great chance now.

Look at all the other major superhero directors: Favreau, Raimi, Singer, Nolan, etc. None of them had ever done a superhero film before, and they all did fantastic jobs.

[Molly]

As a huge Whedon fanboy, I'm totally for this.

[Koete]

I'm not as well versed in Whedon fandom, but I assume that Whedon's writing and the way his characters speak is the main draw to his work. Which is why I have trepidations about him directing Avengers because I doubt the Avengers will be talking in Whedon speak.

[KnightWing]

I'm not as well versed in Whedon fandom, but I assume that Whedon's writing and the way his characters speak is the main draw to his work.

That's the surface-level stuff, but it's also the way he manages character development.

His work on Astonishing X-Men is a good example: it's got plenty of Whedon-esque quips, but what everyone remembers it for is the way it greatly developed the characters of Kitty, Scott, and Emma (and even Beast, a little bit) in really deep ways.

[Venneh]

@DRUNKHULK: JOSS WHEDON TO DIRECT AVENGERS MOVIE! OUT OF TRADITION! FOX HOPE FIND WAY TO TAKE MOVIE AWAY FROM HIM!

[Molly]

Whedon didn't write the script, and the look of the film comes from the D.O.P. as much as the director. Whedon is great at making characters real people, and if Marvel lets him do that with the Avengers, this could be really, really, good.

[Aaron Robinson]

I’m sort of with Des on this, but I’ll readily admit I’m not the biggest Whedon fan. Here’s hoping he can prove me wrong.

[MaxPower]

Add me to the skeptical crowd on this one. To those people using the 'ensemble' cast argument, that's pretty flimsy. By that reasoning I could say the guy that directed the Love Boat should have directed Empire Strikes Back. Ok extreme, but you know what I mean.

As for the examples of 'rookie superhero directors' let's have a look at their other directing experience.

Favreau

I'll give you this one, his experience was very limited, he had done Zathura, which isn't saying much. Probably got it more on his cred from Swingers.

Raimi

Evil Dead / Army of Darkness

Darkman

Not big budget movies, but definitely had a track record for hero movies.

Singer

The Usual Suspects

One of the greatest movies of the past 10years when he took the helm of X-Men. He could have been a 1 hit wonder, but at the time the risk was a calculated one for the studio I think.

Nolan

Memento

Insomnia

You could argue he was a risk, Memento was a critical hit, but not big at the box office. You could probably argue that Bale and Nolan tread similar paths to Batman.

[Molly]

Whedon has far, far more hits than misses as a director/comic book writer.

Hits:

Buffy

Angel

Firefly

Serenity

Runaways

Astonishing X-Men

Angel: After the Fall

Misses:

Dollhouse

Buffy: Season 8 Comic

[KnightWing]

Favreau

I'll give you this one, his experience was very limited, he had done Zathura, which isn't saying much. Probably got it more on his cred from Swingers.

I'm guessing he just gave Marvel Studios a hell of a pitch, and showed them what a huge Iron Man fan he is.

Raimi

Evil Dead / Army of Darkness

Darkman

Not big budget movies, but definitely had a track record for hero movies.

I don't think those are quite in the same track as Spider-Man. I mean, horror isn't (always) the same thing as brightly-colored action.

He was a proven director, though. That's true.

Singer

The Usual Suspects

One of the greatest movies of the past 10years when he took the helm of X-Men. He could have been a 1 hit wonder, but at the time the risk was a calculated one for the studio I think.

Sure, but the thing is that having Singer direct an action film about super-powered individuals in costumes was a bit of a leap. I agree that it was a calculated and good choice, though. That's kind of how I look at Whedon on the Avengers.

Nolan

Memento

Insomnia

You could argue he was a risk, Memento was a critical hit, but not big at the box office. You could probably argue that Bale and Nolan tread similar paths to Batman.

Yes, most definitely, but that's exactly what I'm saying about Whedon: his strengths as a storyteller play very well into the Avengers: ensemble character dynamics, balancing humor with great action, and a narrative that can both work well from the previous films while setting up future stories.

[elnino14]

Add me to the skeptical crowd on this one. To those people using the 'ensemble' cast argument, that's pretty flimsy. By that reasoning I could say the guy that directed the Love Boat should have directed Empire Strikes Back. Ok extreme, but you know what I mean.

Don't be ridiculous. You know when people use the ensemble cast argument, they're talking about more than just directing a group of people. By saying ensemble cast, he knows how to handle not just a group of varied stars, but also knows how to invigorate his work with realistic team dynamics, balanced character spotlight, and strong character development of not just the main character but many supporting characters. Whether he can do this in a shortened time frame and whether he can direct action setpieces is the main concern, but in terms of hero team characters, I think he's got a pretty strong grasp given his resume. I mean Buffy and Angel feature basically hero teams.

[NightAngle04]

I hate Joss Whedon. So thumbs down.

Also I have to mention this, since it seems that some people have a selective memory, but Buffy was a great show for the first 3 seasons, and then proceeded to fall off a cliff.

[slothian]

I HATE Sebastian Coe....

Anyway, I'm intrigued by the prospect of Whedon directing this. He has a grasp of the Marvel Universe in print and if he hasn't been watching the movies that will lead to the Avengers film, he wouldn't have got the job in the first place. It's definitely a big task to bring all these franchises together, but Whedon seemingly doesn't have to contribute on the writing side and will instead just be directing. I reckon he can do it, although the project is a big ask of any director.

[KnightWing]

Also I have to mention this, since it seems that some people have a selective memory, but Buffy was a great show for the first 3 seasons, and then proceeded to fall off a cliff.

The story was crap, but it was well-directed enough that it was still enjoyable.

I'm with elnino on this one. Buffy and Angel (especially the latter) were basically hero team shows. And they rocked.

[elnino14]

The story was crap, but it was well-directed enough that it was still enjoyable.

I'm with elnino on this one. Buffy and Angel (especially the latter) were basically hero team shows. And they rocked.

Taking this a step further, if you look at the ones the Joss himself directed, especially in Buffy, you'll see that many of the BEST episodes came from him behind the camera. Even during the so-called "crap" era of Buffy (I personally really like season 5 and 7, but didn't care that much for season 6 or 4), he directed Hush in season 4, he directed The Body in Season 5, and Once More With Feeling in Season 6, as well as the Finale in season 7 So even though one may not like his concepts or writing, it's hard to deny his ability as a director, at least for episodic television.

[KnightWing]

...he directed Hush in season 4, he directed The Body in Season 5...

Oh man, those are absolutely two of the best episodes of any TV series I've ever seen (they compliment each other very well in a sense, actually). Totally original, jaw-dropping amazing stuff.

[NightAngle04]

The story was crap, but it was well-directed enough that it was still enjoyable.

I'm with elnino on this one. Buffy and Angel (especially the latter) were basically hero team shows. And they rocked.

Taking this a step further, if you look at the ones the Joss himself directed, especially in Buffy, you'll see that many of the BEST episodes came from him behind the camera. Even during the so-called "crap" era of Buffy (I personally really like season 5 and 7, but didn't care that much for season 6 or 4), he directed Hush in season 4, he directed The Body in Season 5, and Once More With Feeling in Season 6, as well as the Finale in season 7 So even though one may not like his concepts or writing, it's hard to deny his ability as a director, at least for episodic television.

Well thank goodness he gets a pass as a writer then.

[Koete]

Joss Whedon is apparently rewriting the script for Marvel's Avengers movie.

It was reported yesterday that the Dollhouse creator is in final talks to direct the picture. Variety now claims that he is also penning a new draft of Zak Penn's screenplay.

Penn has written a number of Marvel movies, including X-Men: The Last Stand, Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk.

Whedon has written for the Marvel comic books Runaways and Astonishing X-Men.

Source

Hmm...

[Venneh]

Well, if he's rewriting the script from the guy who gave us X-Men: The Last Stand, I can't really object.

[Molly]

Hurm, Penn wrote some crap, but he also wrote X-2. Dunno how I feel about this.

[Venneh]

Yeah, but X2 was a combination of Penn and Hayter's ideas, and even then Hayter and Singer ended up writing another draft, and then another group of screenwriters rewrote that, and then there was another rewrite that produced the final draft of X2. (@.@) Something similarly convoluted happened with X3.

Penn also worked on Elektra.

[slothian]

Yeah, but X2 was a combination of Penn and Hayter's ideas, and even then Hayter and Singer ended up writing another draft, and then another group of screenwriters rewrote that, and then there was another rewrite that produced the final draft of X2. (@.@) Something similarly convoluted happened with X3.

Penn also worked on Elektra.

Hannah ftw - Zak Penn's an awful, awful hack of a writer.

[NightAngle04]

I don't know much about the Avengers, is there a female character that can get almost raped and then in the next scene she goes to the would be rapist's home and asks for help?

[slothian]

I don't know much about the Avengers, is there a female character that can get almost raped and then in the next scene she goes to the would be rapist's home and asks for help?

[Dread]

I think it's a Buffy/Angel slam.

I approve.