Landing on the pages of Entertainment Weekly’s “Entertainers of the Year” issue, which is currently on the stands, director/writer Joss Whedon waxed emotional about his success this year with Marvel’s “The Avengers.” He relayed that a year of overwhelming success has left him feeling extremely grateful, a little tired, and more busy than ever. Now to every fan’s excitement, he has submitted the outline to the ‘powers that be’ for the 2015 sequel to “The Avengers.”
Whedon elaborates:
“I’ve had a wonderful career, and I’m grateful for it. But like every writer in Hollywood, there have been many times where I’ve said, ‘I swear to God, if you just me do this the way I’m thinking of doing it, it’ll work out!’ and I’ve been thwarted.” The success of The Avengers, then, felt like validation, but also exposed his need for validation… as well as a deep, dark want to avenge old grievances with black magic necromancy. “Once you get to this place, where people will listen to you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and will get out of your way, all of the stuff you’ve learned to live with and tamped down, you don’t need to live with it anymore” – and here, he goes spooky voice to evoke an image of summoning ancient demons – “and so the basement door opens … and you go down into there … and read from the diary that raises the dead.” (He laughs.) “It’s a weird little counter-intuitive thing.”
It could hardly be said that Whedon is resting on his laurels. He is also preparing to direct the pilot to the highly anticipated television series “S.H.I.E.L.D.” for ABC, which he co-wrote alongside his brother Jed Whedon, and his wife, Maurissa Tancharoen. Production on the live-action project will begin immediately, with Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen executive producing alongside Jeffrey Bell and Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb.
“The Avengers 2” is scheduled for a May 1, 2015 release. Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson are expected to return. Joss Whedon will write the screenplay and direct.
“S.H.I.E.L.D.” is expected to debut on ABC’s 2013 fall lineup. Actors Clark Gregg, Ming-Na, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, and Brett Dalton have been cast for the pilot.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, IMDb