WeylandYutani

A movie with a decades-long name and commercial property attached that millions of people and children everywhere already knew for ages





Who the hell knows about Han Solo-wannabe Mal and his ragtag crew besides us internet geeks? No one.

DaveyJoe

I don't think so. I'm a movie geek and I've been following the production of Nolan's films since I saw Batman Begins, and this is nothing but a rumor. Nolan didn't make TDKR because WB funded Inception. He made it once Jonathon Nolan and David Goyer came up with a good enough story to follow-up TDK with. Inception was more of a thank you rather than a dangling carrot. Chris had just made them a billion dollars with TDK. Nolan always plays coy and claims he never plans sequels, but that's most likely for better bargaining. The man just keeps things close to his chest.

Obi-Wanma

He didn't direct the movie for Paramount, he directed it for Disney. Paramount had next to zero involvment in Avengers other than a deal to keep their logo on it.

Matthew Chmiel

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Disney & Marvel need Whedon a lot more than Whedon needs Disney & Marvel.

I'm sure the specifics of the deal will make itself known sooner rather than later. Whedon has a whole year or two before fully jumping into the deep end on The Avengers 2.

My Other Self

I thought it was common knowledge that WB fully backed Inception after TDK blew up. I didn't think there was some catch-22 that he wouldn't do TDKR without Inception being produced.

Matthew Chmiel

Warner gave Nolan carte blanche for Inception in agreement to do The Dark Knight Rises. Warner and Nolan made the deal in February 2009, seven months after the release of The Dark Knight.

Inception wouldn't exist if Nolan didn't agree to do a third Batman.

Dragon Tattoo

The best thing Disney/Marvel could do for this series is replace Whedon with a director who knows what a movie should look like.

But they'll probably keep him because he's cheap.

pinata242

Yeah, he clearly failed them. I'm sure your $9 will be sorely missed from the $800M domestic run they have with the sequel and Whedon's terrible eye.

Matthew Chmiel

My wife and I MoviePass gave Disney and Marvel $100 during its theatrical run. I'll give it another $20 for the 3D Blu-ray.

If Dragon Tattoo doesn't see The Avengers 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'll MoviePass will contribute a minimum of $200 to its theatrical run.

SuckaMC

Whedon's return is great news.

Dragon Tattoo

Prepare to pay up, then.

Draven

It's one thing to hate a movie. That's fine. I hate plenty of movies.

It's another to claim that the director behind one of the most successful movies of all time doesn't know what a movie should look like. All I can say is thank god Dragon Tattoo isn't in charge of anything, because I'm sure the result would be a whole lot worse than, again, one of the most successful movies of all time.

So glad Whedon is back because his influence is all over the movie and I couldn't have been happier with the result. This news gets a big thumbs up from me.

Hokeyboy

I was never much of a Whedon fan (mostly because of rabidly inane Whedonites) but you'd have to be insanely myopic to think he didn't totally knock it out of the park with Avengers, commercially or critically -- even if you didn't like the movie, the glowing reviews and hugely commercial success speak for themselves.

Me, I loved the movie. Bringing Whedon back was the smartest move Disney could have done.

Dragon Tattoo

Just about anyone could've directed The Avengers and it would've made money. To say that Whedon's directorial abilities were in any way responsible for the success of that movie is ridiculous at best. One of the main complaints pointed out in reviews was that this movie was shot like a TV show, but suddenly you all take offense when I say it, as if it's a shocking new criticism that hasn't been pointed out numerous times before.

But yes, Draven, I'm sure I would be worse, considering the fact that I am neither a writer nor a director. Thanks for pointing out that completely superfluous and ad hominem piece of information. If those are your standards, then yes, Whedon is your guy.

Is it any surprise that Whedon is back for this, though? Marvel prides itself on hiring the cheapest directors they can find. Whedon returning just means more money in their pocket. It's not exactly a groundbreaking turn of events.

Blah Blah, I'm a troll, Avengers is the best movie ever made (It should be in the Criterion collection!), Joss Whedon is an uncriticizable God. Blah Blah.

Hokeyboy

^Yes, The Avengers would have made money with anyone directing it. That's no question. With all the hype and the string of hit movies leading up to it, it was a foregon conclusion that the movie would be a blockbuster. Even if it was terrible, it would have coasted to several hundred million when all was said and done.

But it never would have made $1.4B worldwide if it wasn't a great movie. No other Marvel Studios film has even come close. The international grosses of Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man 2 combined don't reach that figure.

Dragon Tattoo

At no point did I criticize the quality of the movie. It's probably the best Marvel movie made, and the script is pretty much perfect for a comic book movie. I've even praised Whedon's writing many times before. I just think the movie was shot like a big budget TV show.

And this is a complaint that's been leveled against it many times by a multitude of different critics, so I don't see why everyone loses their minds whenever it's mentioned.

The best thing Marvel could do would be to keep Whedon on script duties and get an actual director to shoot this thing. But that would cost more.

Hokeyboy

I disagree, but I get where you're coming from.

If anything, Avengers needed some tightening up of its midsection and some more meat on the narrative (the plot was enjoyable but largely simplistic), but I had no problem with the overall direction.

Artman

I've never been a big Whedon fan regarding his own creations...but he certainly added a spark to the dialogue and fun factor to The Avengers...which certainly helped it's longevity at the BO. Glad to see him sign on for the sequel (and overseeing other things Marvel). Best of both worlds imo... if they were to hire a more old school, classic type of director...he/she wouldn't necessarily be able to add anything to the dialogue and character interactions. Whedon has the fan factor as well as credentials to at least make a good looking, big budget film.

resinrats

I don't know the financial side of Avengers 2 but I think its pretty safe to say Whedon will get paid more then he did for Avengers 1. So if Disney does go for cheap directors, they sure screwed up getting Whedon back. Or they see that Whedon delivered an enormously popular film and they want to see it repeated with the next movie. So they figure Whedon had something to do with it and went with him again.

I just don't see the 'shot like a TV episode' complaint. If so, please point me to the TV series that is just like Avengers.

MasterofDVD

I almost would say that until the teasers and trailers came out for the first film I wasn't even sure that Whedon could pull off this film...and I'm a huge fan of his. ( My son is named after a Buffy character and a Marvel hero As much as I disliked the standalone Thor and Captain America movies it took a few jokes and remakes from those characters in The Avengers and I was back on board with them in no time.

With that said I am excited about his return but I'm not too sure about the TV show idea. I'm all for a show that isn't a reality show so I hope it does better than stuff like Dollhouse. *shudder*

Supermallet

Yeah, I'd watch the hell out of a TV show made like The Avengers. With this Whedon-supervised Marvel universe TV show I might get my wish on that.

gmanca

I bet Whedon is the writer that Del Toro mentioned for the Hulk tv series.

TGM

Congratulations. You've just posted the most retarded thing ever written on the interwebs.

Draven

I never said you should write or direct - I just said I was glad you weren't in charge of anything to do with this movie, since you obviously don't know what you're talking about. You do know there are more than writers and directors involved in movie production, right?

I'm sure if I walked into the TKDR thread and said that the movie would have been better if they'd gotten someone besides Nolan to do it, you'd probably have a reaction to that.

No one said The Avengers was the best movie ever made. It's my favorite movie of all time but even I realize it's not the best movie ever made. No one said it should be in the Criterion. No one said Whedon was an uncriticizable God. You've called out a bigger fake reaction than what actually happened.

You came in and made a sweeping and negative statement about the movie that is clearly in the minority, then act like people shouldn't respond to it.

And no one "lost their minds" when you said what you said. Many of us just think you are wrong.

B.A.

The Lizzy Caplan pic caught my eye - first I have ever heard about these short films. Interesting.