Joss Whedon: ‘The Avengers’ Was ‘Haphazard’
The Avengers may be one of the most successful movies ever, but the film hasn’t been without criticism from a very surprising source: writer and director Joss Whedon.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Whedon explained that The Avengers was a “great time” but not a great movie.
“When I think of a great film, I think of something that’s either structured so perfectly like The Matrix or made so lovingly like The Godfather Part II,” he said. “There was haphazardness in the way it comes together—not just the people, but the scenes. I don’t think you’d look at it and go, ‘This is a model of perfect structure.’ You’d go, ‘This is working.’ I like it.”
He added, “I’m proud of it and I like its imperfections. The thing I cared most about—making a summer movie like the ones from my childhood—is the thing that I pulled off.”
Whedon also said that he decided to take a different approach with The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
“I want to be clearer about how I engage the audience, and where I take them. I want more control visually, more time to prep it,” he said. “Not that I didn’t dictate every shot—I did. But there’s only so much you can do when you’re making a summer film when the ball is already rolling as fast as it was when I got in. Why do it again if you can’t do it better?”
The Avengers not only had the biggest opening weekend in North America when it was released last May, but it was also the fastest film to gross $1 billion (19 days). The Avengers earned $1.51 billion worldwide, making it the third-highest grossing film (Avatar and Titanic, both directed and produced by James Cameron, come in first and second place, respectively).
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is scheduled for a May 1, 2015 release. Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jeremy Renner reprise their roles from the original film, and James Spader joins as the titular villain. Joss Whedon said Spader was his “first and only choice” for the role because of his “hypnotic voice that can be eerily calm and compelling.”
