Joss Whedon is one of the most famous geeks in all of nerdom — he's the creator of fan-favorite franchises like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and, of course, both Avengers films.
Why, then, does it sound like he's not getting along with Marvel? The answer, in short: the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series.
In a new interview with IGN, Whedon clarified some of the reasoning behind killing off Agent Phil Coulson in the first Avengers film, only to bring him back in the television show. Even though the character is technically alive and well in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Coulson won't appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron in order to avoid confusing moviegoers who haven't watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"As far as I'm concerned in the films, yes, he's dead," Whedon said. "In terms of the narrative of [The Avengers], his loss was very important. When I created the television show, it was sort of on the understanding that this can work and we can do it with integrity, but these Avengers movies are for people to see the Avengers movies and nothing else. And it would neither make sense nor be useful to say ‘Oh and by the way, remember me? I died!'"
Whedon went on to say that the television show has in general ruffled some feathers with the folks at Marvel in charge of the film universe.
"I think, actually, the movie people were a little bit cross about the TV show," he said. "They were sort of like, ‘Well, you can have this but not this. And this but not that.' It's complicated enough as it is without me adding another layer of complication. We also created a TV show called S.H.I.E.L.D. right before they made a movie where they destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. So everybody's having a GREAT time!"
Sarcasm detected. Could these fights over Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. be why Whedon is stepping away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Age of Ultron? It certainly could be a contributing factor. Add in the fact that he's exhausted from directing two of the biggest blockbusters of all time, and it's understandable why Whedon is handing over the reigns to the more-than-capable Russo brothers for Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is in theaters May 1.
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