Ever since The Avengers came out to unprecedented box office revenues, there’s been stories all over the ‘Net about how Joss Whedon needs to come back for the Avengers sequel.
You know, Disney better bring him back if they know what’s good for ’em, that kind of thing. This left me scratching my head. You figure it’s a given that Whedon’s gonna be back for the sequel, right?
Whedon told the L.A. Times, “I’m very torn. It’s an enormous amount of work telling what is ultimately somebody else’s story, even though I feel like I did get to put myself into it. But at the same time, I have a bunch of ideas, and they all seem really cool.”
At the same time, when the Times brought up trademark Whedonisms that made its way into the Avengers, he said it wasn’t intentional. “I’m not going to do the same thing on purpose,” he said. “I’m going to do the same thing because I’m creatively bereft, and I’ve run out of ideas.” (Sarcasm mode turned off).
Whedon is also indeed a major comic book nut, and his passion played a big hand in making The Avengers a huge smash. It’s tough to see the director that made a franchise work leave, and a lot of directors won’t want to try and stand in that shadow. And while Whedon is indeed brimming with ideas for all kinds of stories in the future, there’s also something to be said for if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
It’s a pretty safe guess that the powers that be will do everything they can to bring Whedon back for more Avengers, although it’s odd to think he hasn’t been signed to a multi-picture deal, which they usually do for the stars of a potential superhero franchise.
As Collider put it, “Why would you jeopardize a formula that delivered such a resounding commercial and critical success? After proving [Whedon’s] skill at writing and directing the biggest superhero movie of all-time, it’s only logical to re-hire the guy who crafted it. Unfortunately, Hollywood is an illogical beast.”
