Whedon Turns In AVENGERS 2 Outline - Discusses Success and Frustrations
In case you didn't already know, Joss Whedon is the man. He blew audiences away with The Avengers and he's set to write and direct the sequel. He is also leading the charge on the new S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. The guy is a busy man, and has unsurprisingly been named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s entertainers of the year. To be fair he's always been a hell of a good entertainer, it's just now people are starting to realize it.
It's revealed in a breif EW describption that he's already submitted and outline for The Avengers 2!
We met with him just days after he had submitted an outline for the 2015 sequel The Avengers, and as he was in the midst of preparing to shoot the pilot for what could be his next television series: S.H.I.E.L.D, a spy-fi drama tracking the ongoing adventures of the secret agents and superhero wranglers of Marvel’s movie world. If ABC he picks up the series, Whedon will remain involved as exec producer, and frequent collaborators Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible) and Jeffrey Bell (Angel) will serve as lead showrunners.
It's kind of cool to know that the idea and story for The Avengers sequel is out there. That outline contains everything we want to know about the sequel, and by May of 2015 the story will unfold before our eyes as an epic completed film.
In an interview conducted with Whedon he talks about his sccusses and his frustrations,
Whedon says that his emotional reaction to his most Marvel-ous year also included “a little bit of anger.” He 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.”
In retrospect, Whedon sees his anger — about life in general, not just old Hollywood slights — reflected in The Avengers, and specifically in one of the film’s best-realized characters: The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo. “What was most astonishing to me about making that movie was how personal it was,” he says. “I literally had the I’m-always-angry revelation during production. I had this certain amount of back-burner simmer of rage that I was completely aware of, but apparently I wrote it for Bruce Banner, going (to myself): ‘I think this is what a guy like this might go through!’ Interesting! What guy, Joss? ‘I don’t know! Some guy. I can’t think of anyone in particular, or why this is coming to me…’ Really, Joss? Really?”
To be clear: Whedon thinks going totally Loki is a thing to be avoided. “For the most part, I’m psyched. But you have to be careful that self-righteous umbrage doesn’t determine how you act around people, or how you behave artistically,” he says. “You don’t want to be the guy who’s like: ‘OF COURSE I’M RIGHT! I’VE ALWAYS BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG!” And then suddenly, you’re making your worst stuff, because you’ve lost that checks-and-balances thing you need to manage yourself.”
Whedon just seems like an incredibly likable guy. I dig his attitude, and can't wait to see what he has planned for the sequel!