Joss Whedon to Direct Avengers, But Dr. Horrible Sequel "In Turnaround"
JJ Abrams, Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon giveth, and Joss Whedon taketh away.
Good news first: After months of speculation that he would direct the movie about Marvel superteam The Avengers, he confirmed it at a Comic-Con panel hosted by Entertainment Weekly Thursday alongside J.J. Abrams.
"But it's just a gig, you know," Whedon dead-panned.
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"I'm still writing an outline," he added. But how's this for a tease?
"The thing I love about it is how completely counterintuitive it is," he said. "These people should not be on the same team let alone the same room together, and that to me is the very definition of family."
And now for the letdown, at least for those who know and love Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the made-for-web musical starring Neil Patrick Harris as a lovelorn villain. It was recently nominated for an Emmy, and according to Whedon, turned a significant profit.
The series ended with Harris' Dr. Horrible getting inducted into the Evil League of Evil after it cost him the love of his life, Penny, who was accidentally killed in his pursuit of ultimate villainy. Alas, plans to continue the story are on hold.
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"It's in turnaround," Whedon said. And you can thank The Avengers for that. But the sequel still could happen. "If we had the time, we really feel like we know what the movie is... We want to do it on our terms but our terms right now are interminable."
Abrams had less to unveil, but he did say that his collaboration with Steven Spielberg, Super 8, begins production in September. The movie pays tribute to movies that Abrams loved as a teenager.
One fan in the audience wasted no time asking Abrams what he thought of the Lost finale. Abrams talked at length about how executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse did a bang-up job in being both dogmatic about their story and flexible in its telling over the six seasons.
But to sum up: "I personally believe that [they] kicked incredible ass," Abrams said.