Joss Whedon is making the usual press rounds for
Much Ado About Nothing which opens wide June 7th. He recently appeared on Entertainment Weekly's new XM radio show 'InsideTV Podcast' to discuss that film but also touched on his upcoming ABC television drama, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. After a bit, the interview dove right in to the question on everyone's mind, how does Coulson survive that spear through the chest from Loki? Whedon answers the question BUT in typical Whedon-fashion, stating, "It's a very interesting explanation, see what happens is you tuned in this Fall and found out. Hashtag #CoulsonLives." There were some chuckles after that one, have to love that Whedon. But Joss did go on to say that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will "earn" Coulson's return, there will be an "explanation" he continued, "That's not something you take lightly."
Specific questions about Coulson return aside, Whedon went on to vocalize his intent for the show. Said Whedon, "It's very important to me that the show stands on its own. The people that never saw any of the movies can tune in and enjoy it. We like being apart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we like having all of the mythos to play off of but if the show was
"You just missed Tony Stark. Wow, he was JUST here" that would be the most unsatisfying show ever. We have an ensemble, a new ensemble- apart from Clark, it's all people I've never worked with before but I'm really excited about them, I'm really proud of them. I think people will want to see them every week."
Sticking to the show, the interviewer is definitely up on his Geek culture as he knew to ask if J. August Richards was portraying Rage, a Marvel Comics character of modest fame from the superhero group, the New Warriors. Many speculate that Richards is playing the character based on a screengrab from the show's Marvel Comics title card shown in the first trailer. Said Joss, "I'm not going to say who he's playing but he's certainly cranky. [J.'s] great, he came in to guest star and he tears it up. He's got that kind of energy, he's so much fun and [a] lovely guy, it's always nice when you get to see your old friends again."
There's much more, the above quotes merely scratch the surface of a pretty interesting chat with Whedon. It's well worth a listen as Joss also talks about whether he prefers working in film, television, comic books or developing online content. He also reflects on his mindset he receives the news that his show was cancelled with typical Whedon wit.