Joss Whedon in final negotiations to direct "The Avengers"

[3D Master]

Worked so well for everyone that EVERY series he's had since Buffy was canceled early. Again, way to go. The guy shot his wad after Buffy season 4 and hasn't had much in the tank since.

Fox shares a good deal of the blame for Firefly and Dollhouse's cancellations. Again, you're simplifying this far too much just to paint Whedon in a certain light. Angel lasted five seasons, and Dollhouse lasted two, but a big reason why Firefly got canceled was attributable to Fox's lackluster marketing campaign. It isn't the work Whedon produces -- it's the inability to properly market his work.

Nope. Firefly and Dollhouse were bad, no amount of marketing would have done a damn thing.

Angel actually got better when he left, IMHO. But, again, another series canceled before its time. Are we seeing a pattern here? The common denominator in all of his failed TV efforts is him.

Angel really strengthened in the final season. Connor, Fred, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, etc., were all more interesting characters because of it.

No, Angel went down the shits in the last season, same season Joss went fulltime back to the show. The season before wasn't so good, and it was the season David Greenwalt left to do Jake 2.0. The three seasons before that, were practically done without him. The three best seasons.

Incidentally Buffy went to bad in S4, worse in S5, even worse in S6, and S7 turned into the worst television I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen some bad television. And the S8 comics... Jesus H. Fing Christ they're bad.

David Greenwalt left in S4 to run Angel. The only times it seems, that Joss Whedon was good, was when David Greenwalt force fed him is anti-psychotic medicine.

Proven by his string of canceled series?

Again, Firefly is the only real example here. Dollhouse managed to stay alive as long as Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Was that a bad show? No.

Yes, Terminator SCC was a bad show, it only got better in the last half of S2, too little too late.

 

[T'Baio]

I love his "and you know it" stuff! Classic.

 

[Admiral_Young]

This is fantastic news! Big Whedon fan myself....to those who aren't happy with this choice does this mean you're not going to bother watching the movie?

 

[Lindley]

Well, I may actually see this movie. I don't usually go in for superhero stuff.

And I'd advise everyone to be careful. Say what you want about Joss' dialog or commercial success, but trying to claim Firefly was anything but creative and fun will lose anyone a whole slew of credibility points.

 

[Turtletrekker]

As bad as the "same thing that happens to everything else" may have been, Wolverine convincing Cyclops that he was who said he was by saying "You're a dick" more than makes up for that.

 

[Skywalker]

This is just great.

Awesome.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Morena Baccarin as Wasp
Either Nathan Fillion or Alan Tudyk as Hank Pym maybe even Neil Patrick Harris OR Will Arnett

 

[StarshipDefiant]

I'm a fan of Joss Whedon, and anyone that doesn't like that can deal with it (Ya see? The people who like him, can be just as big of a dick as those that don't), I don't place him on a pedestal that some might, but the man has created four different shows that I like enough to rewatch many, many times. Say what you want, but Firefly suffered from many things, a lot of which came from network interference (Come on, their broadcast order alone was enough to fuck things up), not just what the creative staff may, or may not have done.

Moving on, I will definitely be interested to see how this comes out, witty dialogue aside, Joss tries to tell a good story, I'd be interested to see what comes out.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

My interest in this increases five hundred percent if Whedon is creatively involved in it - that's experience, not fandom.

 

[Nick Ryder]

Y'know this is actually pretty cool. I like Joss's writing... sure sometimes its too witty for its own good. But think of the actors we already know are going to be in Avengers.

RDJ, Chris Evans - two actors who are kind of known for being smart ass, sarcastic, witty characters. Whedon with them around, they'd have no loss for fun, witty dialogue.

2 you KNOW he'll try to bring in his usual stable of "favorite" actors, no matter what other projects they're doing. Whedon is like that, he's got his favorites that he'll pull and they'll jump and do his stuff. Look at Fillion and Felicia Day. They did Dr. Horrible pretty much on the spot. And now look at Felicia Day, she went from a "Slayer potential" that few really cared about to like... the new Geek Goddess after Dr. Horrible and the Guild. And Nathan Fillion's star continues to rise. To think we first really saw him at length in the "horrible" Season 7 of Buffy. Then we got Firefly, then we got "Captain Hammer"... then he got Desperate Housewives... and now Castle. But us Whedon fans can say "We knew him when..."

Same with Boreanez... first time we met him, he was Angel... now he's Boone and seen at least a half dozen times a night on cable and broadcast TV on Bones.

Say what you will about Whedon, he's had pretty good luck casting good actors, creating interesting, intriguing characters which not only helps make his actors shine, but also gets them picked up all over the place.

Now I can almost sort of see... SMG playing the Wasp if Whedon asked her very nicely... if they had any beef, it should be long over by now... right? Besides, I can see her playing Janet Van Dyne as the flightly, flirty, millionaire fashion designer who just happens to dig a certain scientist... or if they go the Ultimates route... the fellow scientist. I never quite agreed with the idea to make Ultimate Wasp asian. She was always sort of your typical "rich white girl". Besides, you need an actress that can play sort of stuck up.

I could easily see Nathan Fillion as Hank Pym. Although if Nicholas Brandon can dry out and stay off the sauce... he might be an interesting Hank Pym too. Might give the same pathos that RDJr has... being a recovering substance abuser. Hell RDJr might be able to help the guy out, be a sort of sponsor for him.

And y'know what... they need to cast Anthony Stewart Head to play a "real" Jarvis. I mean... JARVIS as a computer is okay... but I want to see the real deal. Just A Really Virtual Interface System is not Jarvis... the same Jarvis that polishes Thor's helmet and makes sure that Cap's shield stays shiny and puts things the Avengers collect into trophy cases.

 

[DigificWriter]

Regardless of people's individual opinions of Joss Whedon and his work, I would like to point out the following things:
1) He's got experience as a director, writer, and Executive Producer
2) He has established cred with Marvel, having worked with them on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways, and having contributed story ideas for the ending of the Civil War storyline
3) He has a stellar track record of working with large ensemble casts

His previous work with Marvel would make him a viable candidate just by itself, but when you factor in the other two things, it's not hard at all to see why they might consider hiring him to direct a movie like The Avengers.

 

[Lindley]

And Nathan Fillion's star continues to rise. To think we first really saw him at length in the "horrible" Season 7 of Buffy. Then we got Firefly, then we got "Captain Hammer"... then he got Desperate Housewives... and now Castle. But us Whedon fans can say "We knew him when..."

Pretty sure Mal came before Caleb. Fillion's role on Buffy (and Torres' role on Angel) came about at least partially as a way for Joss to hang on to his leads while he tried to find Firefly a new home after the plug was pulled.

 

[OdoWanKenobi]

So I guess I should ask the inevitable question: Which Avenger is getting killed off, now?

 

[Broccoli]

Interesting choice. And possibly a smart move as Whedon not only has a strong fan following, but has worked for Marvel Comics before.

I wonder if he will have writing duties. I am very neutral on Whedon, but he does have a tenancy of having an over-use of witty one-liners. I don't mind witty one-liners; just not every single line needs to be one.

Michelle Trachtenberg as someone who beats up Iron Man, Captain America, Nick Fury, Hulk and Thor at the same time single-handedly without breaking a sweat or using weapons?

This is my only other concern about this movie as Whedon has a tenancy to have a 110 lb woman take down a man three times her size in his projects.

Hopefully, some of the other creative minds from the solo character films (such as Jon Favreau) come on board to keep things in check.

 

[Skywalker]

I don't know if Whedon would actually be writing the script, but I'm sure he'd have some influence on it. I can't wait to hear Downey perform some lines from Whedon.

 

[Bad Bishop]

I hope Whedon will enjoy great success as director of The Avengers. But I don't want the film to turn into an affirmative action program for former Buffy and Firefly actors.

BTW, Hank and Janet should be in the movie. Let the casting begin.

 

[Hermiod]

So I guess I should ask the inevitable question: Which Avenger is getting killed off, now?

And when does ScarJo get her scene where she beats up the Hulk on her own ?

 

[the Dagman]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Please Marvel, dump the idea of allowing Whedon anywhere near any of the movie projects.

 

[Hermiod]

Mo Tancheroen seems to think it's true on her Twitter, at least.

 

[Daneel]

Very cool news, if true. I was probably gonna see The Avengers anyway, but at least now I have a reason to be somewhat excited about it.