Joss Whedon to direct "The Avengers"?
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I just posted my piece on this bit of news over at Examiner.com. Go ahead, check it out. I'll wait.
Done? Great. This is very cool news, if true, which I presume it is, since it's making the rounds on all the entertainment sites! No surprise that I feel that way, considering I'm a big Whedonite. However, to be fair, even I have some uncertainty about Joss' ability to handle a project of this scope. Yes, like Buffy and Firefly, it's an ensemble piece -- it IS a team-up movie, after all -- but unlike Buffy and Firefly, this is a project that will be worth millions of dollars in Hollywood. The pressure will be on Whedon to deliver a box-office tentpole flick, a movie with a huge budget and starring at least one A-level, temperamental star in Robert Downey Jr. (If Ed Norton does appear, expect the temperamental factor to quadruple.)
Still, Whedon can pull this off. Serenity is a damn good movie that impresses me more with each viewing; it flopped largely because it was a sequel to a TV series that few people saw, not due to any flaws in the film itself. He handled action, tragedy, and epic scope quite well in Serenity, and those are things he'll presumably need to handle in an Avengers film, as well.
Now, for casting; yes, we all know that he's going to find some way to squeeze in at least a couple of his favorite actors. Which ones? The big roles - Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and (possibly) the Hulk - are already covered. How about Nathan Fillion as Henry Pym, a.k.a. Ant-Man? Alan Tudyk as Hawkeye? Eliza Dushku as the Scarlet Witch? Speak up, True Believers!
P.S. Happy Birthday to Sarah Michelle Gellar, who turns 33 today. I feel old.