Thanks to OMG Squee, here is a transcription of what Joss Whedon said about The Avengers at the recent Melbourne Writersā Festival:
Sue: So ā in terms of coming up to the Avengers though ā because ā thatās not your script originally is it?
Joss: It is now. Yeah. There was a script, but I had a different take on it. And when they showed it to me I said āBut this doesnāt work for me, I would do something different.ā And they said, āWell tell us what you would do,ā and now Iām doing it.
Sue: And theyāre trust you to do that?
Joss: They do! They do, Marvel ā theyāre very trusting at Marvel. Itās kind of like, in the early days of the WB, when you know, I came back to my agent and said, it was really different, really interesting, they respected what I was talking about, they listened to me and they really let me have my own way ā and yeah, they have no idea what Iām doing! Marvel they do actually know, they know exactly what they want to do, but they donāt mind a film maker making his film in the service of what it is they want to do, theyāre not trying to press me into something that isnāt me, which is really gratifying.
Sue: [mentions again theyāll be opening the floor for questions soon and in the process forgets her own question] Along the lines of, this is a great moment ā finally you get to join up your comic book love and the possibility of making a film ā donāt you think itād be a great TV Series though.? ā never mind! But, you get to make the film, so. Clearly thatās joining the dots in a particular kind of way.
Joss: Oh yes. Oh yes. I was reading the Avengers when I was eleven, this isā¦itās a big deal for me. Iāve wanted to make a comic book movie, and I was like, ānobody can make a comic book movieā, and then Spiderman came out and I was like āā¦ok, he can make a comic book movie!ā. And you know, thereās been a couple of hits. But most of them I think havenāt ā and I also feel that we sort of, we went from the really terrible Hollywood executiveās idea of what a comic book movie should be, to a very short moment when we sort of started getting it right, and then went directly to post-modern. Directly to Watchmen, Kick Ass, Dark Knight, where weāre sort of, weāre taking the comic book movie for granted, now we want to see whatās behind it. Iām like āWhoa-whoa-whoa! Wait a minute!ā. First I want to see an awesome movie about superheros that are awesome, that I really care about the whole time, I havenāt seen enough of those. I donāt want to deconstruct it yet! First I want to construct it. So I do feel like thereās still a place for me out there. Even though you know, the genre which I had been desperate to see my whole childhood, and then my adulthood saw it happen while I was busy making TV Shows so I was like, āno Iām notā¦just wait! Just wait! Iāll be there in a minute!ā. And then began to fear, is it over? But ultimately I think itās very much not.
The Avengers is scheduled for a May 4, 2012 release.