There’s no doubting the fact that Joss Whedon is pretty much on top of the world right now. After years of having varying degrees of success in television, once Whedon got his hands on “The Avengers” and helped it become the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, he’s suddenly become a very hot commodity, and a guru-like figure down at Marvel. He had enough success in the past to develop a cult-like following for himself, but now it’s a whole different ballgame. Now he’s got some serious responsibilities. He’s returned to television to help develop, and direct the pilot for, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and he’s got “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” on his plate as well. He’s booked solid for the next year or two.
So what does the world look like for Joss Whedon after he’s finished “Avengers 2”? Entertainment Weekly recently sat down for a lengthy interview with the filmmaker and there’s one part of the interview that’s particularly telling…
Post-Avengers, you can probably pick the next property that you want to play with. What’s one you’ve always wanted to do?
There’s probably a dozen. It’s very important I don’t do that. It’s very important that we start creating new content again. We can only build on nostalgia so much before we have nothing left to build on. Before we’re rebooting Spider-Man—again. It’s dangerous to the culture, and it’s boring to me. I squeezed in between my Avengers movies a 400-year-old play. So I really need to create some new worlds.
So if Disney said, “Here’s the Boba Fett movie,” you’d say no?
I can’t say for sure, because that’s a tasty morsel. But right now my heart doesn’t go that way.
But one wonders how easy it will be for Whedon to walk away after finishing ‘Ultron,’ and on to a completely original property. We all know how in-depth Marvel’s plans for the future are, and they likely realize how crucial Whedon has been in their success. Undoubtedly, one can imagine they’ll make him an offer they hope he can’t refuse, and other studios will likely be ready to throw millions of dollars his way to play with their franchises.
Certainly, the man could have the wherewithal so simply say “no,” but as we most recently discussed here on The Playlist, it does not seem Hollywood is likely to move away from this current “franchise culture” anytime soon. Could he make his own “Inception” and prove that his own original ideas can be hugely successful? It’s exciting to think of what Whedon could do if Hollywood gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him a $100 million blank check, but is that really a feasible possibility at this point? Considering his own feelings on the matter, we hope so.
For more of Joss Whedon’s insights, be sure to read the rest of Entertainment Weekly article here, and share your thoughts below.