Chatting recently with The New York Times, Marvel's The Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon offered up a vague rundown of pre-production elements that "didn't work out." Revealing the only disagreement he initially had with Marvel Studios regarding another "big" villain he wanted to add, Whedon also had a "beautiful" piece jotted down with Captain America's Peggy Carter!
Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios president, had told me you essentially won the “Avengers” assignment with a single e-mail.
They – they being Marvel, and most they being Kevin – know exactly what they need, so they really do let you make the decisions. And there was only one point of conflict, in terms of what they needed.
What was that?
It’s about the villains. I kept trying to add one. And they weren’t behind it. I feel like we made it work but that was the only thing we disagreed on.
And that character was –?
[teasingly] A specific figure. I wanted to have another guy in the mix, somebody who was up to their level, because I have all these strong guys! That was trouble. They felt the structure worked without it and it would be too much. But apart from that, everything they wanted, I completely agreed with. It’s like, “We want the Avengers not to settle their differences through talk.” O.K., good. I’m for that, too. It’s a superhero movie. Superheroics must take place.
What would be an example of something you didn’t figure out until later in the process?
One of the best scenes that I wrote was the beautiful and poignant scene between Steve and Peggy [Carter] that takes place in the present. And I was the one who was like, Guys, we need to lose this. It was killing the rhythm of the thing. And we did have a lot of Cap, because he really was the in for me. I really do feel a sense of loss about what’s happening in our culture, loss of the idea of community, loss of health care and welfare and all sorts of things. I was spending a lot of time having him say it, and then I cut that.
There are elements of “The Avengers” – alien invasion force; mysterious artifact – that we’ve just seen in other movies that haven’t fared very well.
Believe me, there are tropes in this movie that will appear as nothing else. I referred to the Tesseract more than a few times as “the MacGufferact.” The invasion at the end, that was stipulated. And all I could think was, Great, I know where I’m going. My whole thing was, make sure that none of this feels like a checkmark. But more than once, we watched the trailer for some movie and went, “Oh, are their aliens better than ours? Are they too similar?” Panic, panic, panic. At the end of the day, it’s like, Was there a story about human beings threaded through all of that? The superhero team movie is going to have a certain structure, but no cars turn into anything else except piles of rubble. Cars magically transform into burning cars. That part I’m happy about.
For the full interview, head over to the
New York Times!
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”--the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble on May 4, 2012. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In addition to "Marvel's The Avengers," Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013!; and “Thor 2” on November 15, 2013.