Jon Favreau Says Joss Whedon Not Confirmed as The Avengers Director
Posted 04.29.10 by BrentJS
It seems that fanboy fervor has all but replaced journalistic fact-checking as the criteria for running a story these days, considering how many different sites have taken the news that Buffy and Firefly creator Joss Whedon was in "final negotiations" to direct Marvel Studios' The Avengers, meaning that Whedon is already on board. Countless sites are claiming it's a "done deal" or have taken to referring to the movie as "Joss Whedon's The Avengers." Even IMDB has already updated its The Avengers page to include Whedon as director. While it may just be a matter of ironing out some details, Whedon does not have the job yet, according to Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau, who will executive produce the movie.
With Favreau currently in the midst of doing massive amounts of press for the impending release of Iron Man 2, the question of Whedon's involvement with The Avengers has come up more than once. He told the fans in attendance at the recent screening of Iron Man 2 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, that the deal was not "in stone." And, in an interview with the Washington Post, Favreau said that he would "love it to be" Whedon, but that it hasn't "been confirmed yet." Favreau went on to say that he felt that Whedon would be the right man for the job.
I know that he would be a wonderful choice. He's got a good flair for dialogue and a nice sense of humor. He's written comic books, so he understands the Marvel universe very well. And I really liked his film, Serenity. Watched that, watched Firefly. So it's good stuff. I think he would be a good choice.
Marvel seems to be continuing the tradition, with [Thor director]
Kenneth Branagh, of making a real director's medium and allowing each director to bring their personality to their particular franchise.
While this may just seem like a technicality to Whedon fans, it's a ray of hope for comic book fans who were not happy by the Whedon news, which is a sizeable community. The fears expressed by the anti-Whedon camp are that Whedon will fill The Avengers with his characteristic blend of angst-ridden characters and melodrama. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, check out this hilarious comic strip from HijinksEnsue that addresses the topic from the anti-Whedon point of view.
Next Showing: The Avengers is slated to open May 4, 2012