Whedon To Direct The Avengers

Holy bananas.

Deadline is reporting that Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios are in final negotiations to bring the Nerd God on as the director for upcoming the Avengers flick.

(More on Techland: New Iron Man 2 Clip: Joyrides and Dancing Girls)

Whedon has a ridiculous amount of nerd cred and rightfully so, but is he the right choice for this flick? It’s sort of a big deal considering the fact that the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America films are all preludes to this one. I think Whedon did a fine job with Serenity, which I loved and I was a huge fan of Buffy in its heyday, but this is a big deal for the studio and fans alike. Would it be blasphemous for me to say that he should take the reins on one of the X-Men films before taking on this beast of a project? He had an amazing run with Astonishing. Update: Turns out Whedon is rewriting the script for Avengers, so all is right in the world. Hopefully.

(More on Techland: “Thor” Lineup Loses Stuart Townsend)

The Avengers will be out the first weekend of May, 2012.

Sound off in comments.

richardsrussell

It wouldn’t be blasphemous (blasphemy is a victimless crime), but it WOULD be poor diction. “Reign” is what a monarch does; you apply “reins” to a horse or other potentially unruly creature.

Sorry to “rain” (ahem) on your parade.
jmage71

I love Joss, and I barked out a loud “whooppee” when I read this post a moment ago. I think he can do a great job with the Avengers. I can’t wait!
Rorschach

My first thought, even as a huge Whedon fan, was that this might not be awesome, because I think large cast superhero films kinda suck, because they get too spread out. And if he’s not writing it, there’s less chance for him to make it much better. Then I thought ‘well, it’s still great news because if it goes well Hollywood will trust him to do other projects.’

Then I saw that he is rewriting it, and now I’m just really excited.
mcox567

let the Whedon Character Death Pool begin – which character will be shockingly killed off? Early betting line favors Pepper Potts.
bignumone

Whedon does well with serial TV shows. He can develop a larger plot and a long story arc while maintaining entertaining subplots from show to show. He is a master of the long story.
I thought he really messed up on Serenity. Not because he killed characters but because of how forced the whole story felt. I guess also because the characters stepped outside those he carefully crafted in the two seasons it was on TV (Firefly).
I hope he does well with it, because he just seems so darn creative. But I am not holding my breath. I believe we are going to see a pooch-screw. (Can I say that? Edit it out if it is too offensive)
gminnj

Despite the clarification on his role here, I think many of us initially voted “yes” more because we were afraid of other potential directors, as opposed to loving Whedon for this.

There are many, many choices that would be far worse than Whedon. I would trust him to make a good movie.