Joss Whedon set to direct and write ‘Avengers 2,’ may be writer on Hulk TV show
“The Avengers” proved to be the blockbuster hit that was promised and the sequel will return director Joss Whedon to helm the project and write the script. Disney executive Bob Iger confirmed on Tuesday for the sequel and a new TV show for ABC.
Joss Whedon on set of Avengers photo/Marvel Studios
“Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015,” Disney said in a statement, transcribed by Variety. “As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.”
Earning more than $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office, delivering strong sales of merchandise and helping push Disney quarterly profits through the roof, Whedon’s “Avengers” exceeded everyone’s already high expectations.
Next summer begins “Phase 2” of the Marvel films with “Iron Man 3” and then “Thor: The Dark World” later in November. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will arrive in theaters April of 2014 with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” the final cog in the wheel to setup the massive “Avengers” sequel for 2015.
After the incredible opening of “Avengers,” Collider writer Matt Goldberg explained why it was crucial for Disney to lock Whedon up for the sequel.
“Whedon isn’t just a master of writing memorable, quippy dialogue. He understands group dynamics, competing personalities, and bringing them together into a team,” Goldberg wrote.
Now Disney and Marvel will be moving ahead with a Whedon influenced TV show as well. A Hulk TV show has been in the works for a while with Guillermo del Toro (“Hellboy”) attached, so the fans are clamoring that Whedon is being added to creative team.
“We have a writer that we want to bring on board, a very, very concrete name. I can’t reveal it, but we want to wait for that writer. It’s a writer who is otherwise engaged. So right now we are in a holding pattern until that writer becomes free. Then we’re going to do a new draft of the script,” del Toro said on Monday in an interview with Collider.
A film based on “Ant-Man” is also in the works, so the timetable appears to set an “Avengers” sequel is likely to bow in 2015.
