Joss Whedon Verbalizes the Freedom Marvel Studios Granted for THE AVENGERS

Joss Whedon Verbalizes the Freedom Marvel Studios Granted for THE AVENGERS

Essentially discussing his "unmeddlesome" relationship with Marvel Studios, and how much freedom they gave him as writer and director of The Avengers, check out what Whedon says!

By DCMarvelFreshman - Mar 09, 2012 11:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Avengers
Source: Den Of Geek



Chatting with the press about the praised Cabin in the Woods horror film, in which he produced and co-wrote, Joss Whedon detailed with Den Of Geek his relationship with Marvel Studios. Essentially discussing how much freedom he was given on the much-anticipated superhero spectacle The Avengers, here's what he says!

"They really did let me make my own film. They said, ‘here are the things we need; here is the villain, we want this to happen; we need the conflict here; here’s the third act, it will involve the following’. Which I’m fine with. That’s great, give me the parameters, because then I know where I’m going, and it does some of the legwork for me. And I know what their agenda is in terms of style, and what we’re delivering, in terms of thrills and the adherence to the Marvel universe, with which I’m very familiar."

"But it was like comics, because they didn’t interfere. I told them ‘this is the kind of movie I want to make’, and they said ‘all right, make that movie’. And that is what happened. And they were as unmeddlesome as any studio I’ve ever worked with, even though they had the very strict touchstones that had to happen. So it was a weirdly free experience."



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.


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TheGambitFreak
TheGambitFreak - 3/10/2012, 12:09 AM
Does someone perhaps know where I might can find the full interview, seems he talks alot about the Avengers in it, and I wouldn't mind listening in on Cabin in the Woods.
TheGambitFreak
TheGambitFreak - 3/10/2012, 12:11 AM
May 4th, Man! Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, SHIELD, Loki, Leviathan, etc. 10 years ago, I would've never dreamed of this. Marvel, you never fail to astonish me, and Joss, you are my Master now.
DCMarvelFreshman
DCMarvelFreshman - 3/10/2012, 12:13 AM
@TheGambitFreak Den of Geek says they'll have their full interview up shortly.
Vital
Vital - 3/10/2012, 12:19 AM
Where are all the anti-Marvel studio exec casting/directing comments? Just waiting for a Jon Fav. and Edward Norton comment... *looks at you*
SageMode
SageMode - 3/10/2012, 12:32 AM
Just you wait, this will be the best CBM ever.
JDUKE25
JDUKE25 - 3/10/2012, 12:34 AM
;)




Glad they weren't pressuring him to do anything he didn't want. The story better be good..
THRILLHO
THRILLHO - 3/10/2012, 12:34 AM
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 3/10/2012, 12:35 AM
wait a minute, if they are giving joss wheadon all this freedom, why didnt they give mickey rourke or john faverau that freedom?
Ghostfire
Ghostfire - 3/10/2012, 12:41 AM
@TheSpiderAssassin
Disney is only financing Marvel Studios. If I remember correctly, part of the contract with Disney, was that they wouldn't interfere with any live actions adaptations.
PartyHard
PartyHard - 3/10/2012, 12:43 AM
Just look at the size of that forehead.
Rowsdower
Rowsdower - 3/10/2012, 12:44 AM
He's a puppet. Marvel Studios movies are the epitome of committee made superhero mediocrity.
JDUKE25
JDUKE25 - 3/10/2012, 12:48 AM
@PartyHard Check out this pic of him walking around on set :P

AdmiralCrunchy
AdmiralCrunchy - 3/10/2012, 12:53 AM
@Mrcool210 lack of faith in the director and actor I guess, to be fair Whedon did work on a successful run of the Astonishing X-Men (correct me if I'm wrong) and knows how and what the studio likes and wants.
EarOne
EarOne - 3/10/2012, 1:39 AM
i LOVE his Astonishing X-Men run. and if that gives any idea of what he does with this Avengers movie...we'll all be in for a GREAT TREAT at the cinemas, this summer.
batfan175
batfan175 - 3/10/2012, 1:48 AM
This doesn't sound like a lot of freedom to me when the big outlines are already dictated by the studio. Everything else is just filling the space and that's not the same as directing the film that the director envisions and really has total control over because you then cannot go into a direction that you would like to take during the climax of the film. if someone says that you get to direct a superhero film you should be able to choose the characters involved and what the story's going to be without restrictions. Sounds to me like he still did not have absolute freedom over his project. Plus, what he tells us is the version the studio approves because there is no outrage over this kind of talk than there was about Patty Jenkins and John Favreau and we did not get the full details of the fall-outs back then. Obviously the studio learned from that because it seems like they're preemptively doing damage-control in case the film is a disaster (which I don't think is likely, at least financially) so that they can then turn around and say "we barely interfered and he f**ed it up, so don't blame us but him". What I mean is, I don't think we know for sure that the studio influence stopped there because we've constantly seen how Marvel makes "commericals" in their other projects for the Avengers and suddenly now they stand aside and let Whedon take over the reins, a director who's had no experience in making a comicbook film yet, especially is they're planning to make another ironman film, Thor 2, and Avengers 2? I find this hard to believe but maybe I'm wrong about this. If the film's great noone will care about corporate influence in moviemaking anyway, right? Doesn't matter if small independent films are not approved because they're financially risky, right? well guess what, films like Scott Pilgrim ar maybe not a financial success but they have a life outside of the balance sheet of a big corporation.
JudgeDeath
JudgeDeath - 3/10/2012, 2:08 AM
I don't get it! He says he had a lot of freedom, but then says the studio told him 'The things they need', 'the villain', 'the characters', what they want to happen', 'that they need a conflict here (thor must fight ironman - cap must fight hulk), and.... 'here's the third act!'

Doesn't sound like he had much control at all. I bloody hope this movie is great, I've been waiting to see it my whole life, but the more I see the more worried I get. I didn't like the choice of director because he doesn't have a good track record, then i heard the quote of him saying he was writing bits of it as he was filming, and now this.
I dunno, it's looking like an excuse to make money form merchandise rather than an attempt at delivering a legendary comic book movie.

please prove me wrong!!
ralfinader
ralfinader - 3/10/2012, 2:17 AM
From a writing stand point, it was actually probably helpful for Joss to have bulletpoints he had to hit. As far as directing, sounds like it was interferance free once they saw the script included everything they wanted it to be.
Niuhll
Niuhll - 3/10/2012, 2:20 AM
There is freedom in that, they told him the things they need, possibly for future films etc and this where the film has to end but allowed to build what he wanted. Besides, I imagine he agreed with the requests, if it actually is Thor vs Cap etc etc
batfan175
batfan175 - 3/10/2012, 2:52 AM
I mean Whedon even admits that he had to look at their directives for style. So in what way, shape or form is this his film? I don't want all films to become subservient to big business demands but it looks like this is just another example of corpations dictating to us what the American culture should look like.

@ralfinader: how do you know the points he had to hit were winning points? because it's Marvel studios and they know how to write comics? Comics are not films so why would that be reassuring?

@Niuhll: he agreed because otherwhise he wouldn't get a big, fat paycheck that's why. and even if it's not that reason it does not change the fact that he caved in to corporate pressure and that the film is not his movie he's making but the studio's.

@RossBentley: Remember Tron Legacy? Remember John carter? Those films did not get a lot of critical praise but since Disney owned these properties they marketed the hell out of them so it does look like the Avengers is just another Disney marketing tool to sell toys. i hope I'm wrong but it doesn't look like it.
goldenavenger77
goldenavenger77 - 3/10/2012, 3:28 AM
@batfan175

Believe what you want bro I'm just happy there's an avenger film coming out to watch.
goldenavenger77
goldenavenger77 - 3/10/2012, 3:33 AM
@itbegins2005

Well said.
GUNSMITH
GUNSMITH - 3/10/2012, 3:41 AM
HE WORKED WITH MARVEL, HIS TRACK RECORD WITH COLLABORATION PIECES IS NUMEROUS, HE DID BUFFY, "WANNA MAKE AVENGERS YOUR WAY, NO BRAINER, OF COURSE."
113
113 - 3/10/2012, 4:28 AM
Maybe they learned from the Iron Man 2 situation. Favreau was not happy with them at all and it showed in that subpar movie.
NeoBaggins
NeoBaggins - 3/10/2012, 4:46 AM
@knossis Very good points on big business and the general consensus that large companies are evil. The company will want things their way, even if they don't know what the hell they're doing. Just like a record company. You walk in there with your songs, name and image, then they sign you and butcher your creative works into whatever they want it to be.

But yeah, I agree with everything you said up until the part where you tell the guy to be as harsh on himself as he is on Whedon and MARVEL. I didn't get that part.
DaDuke
DaDuke - 3/10/2012, 4:49 AM
Can't wait!
Fenlion
Fenlion - 3/10/2012, 5:10 AM
I'm glad Marvel dictated the exact story they wanted. It's their comic. They made it popular, not Joss. They know what story works. When a comic company gives a director free rein, you get...
Superman Returns
Green Lantern
Hulk 1
Spiderman 3
Batman and Robin

'nuff said
batfan175
batfan175 - 3/10/2012, 5:28 AM
@knossis: of course I am critical of myself but I can't lie about the facts: with Kubrick you got maybe not as many films as you do with people like Whedon but at least you knew you were in for something very special, very personal and groundbreaking because he worked outside of the hollywood machine and i know that when you are developing a property you have to make certain concessions but remember that films made by people like Terry Gilliam are always better when there is zero studio interference.

Studios should say "here's the brand called the Avengers and now do your interpretation of it using any characters you want, as long as you don't spend more than what we allow you to spend." But since their only incentive is profit they'll never take a chance like this. They must control it because they say what constitutes a success for them and at the same time they need to preserve an image of free enterprise and fairness.

So corporations employ people. Wow, so does the public sector. also, what about self-employed people working independently? I thought that's what independent filmmaking was. I could say (were i a corporate mogul): "I'll pay you 2 dollar/hour to scrubb toilets in the building and we'll call you an employee". Doesn't mean I'll leave you enough money to survive on your salary, though, despite me employing you. Corporations are not evil, they are psychotic legal entities (I don't consider them people), because they'll advocate contradictory policies, whenever it suits them best (which makes them unpredictable ad therefore unreliable) and as long as Marvel and DC can share the market between themselves and noone can enter it they're fine with regulations that keep it that way but as soon as you try to point out that they have a monopoly they start crushing your freedom to speak out about it. there's a difference between big business and SMEs, I know but Marvel is a major player with big influence. So they're fine with artsistic freedom as long as they are sure that they'll make a profit off a good director and they're interfereing whenever profits are in danger. so there's no consistency. i'd like this film to have a life on its own years after it comes out but with studio products you often get consumption and not much more and before you know it they'll reboot everything.

Just because something is part of a system does not mean you have to blindly accept it without questioning it.

@Neobaggins: how is them butchering your song for a quick buck not evil?
Gary8264
Gary8264 - 3/10/2012, 5:30 AM
From what it sounds like, he had all the freedom he needed. Marvel is puttin' in a lot of time with the previous movies to put together a Marvel Movie Universe, so yeah, they are gonna tell Joss what needs to be in the movie in order to keep the Avengers coexistin' with the other movies and future movies.
If they hadn't let him know what they needed from the Avengers it could've ended up like a certain Bat hero, with Whedon decidin' he didn't want to do a "comicbook movie" but go more realistic with it.
Can't wait til May 4th..... Make Mine Marvel!!

jaewest215
jaewest215 - 3/10/2012, 5:37 AM
Alot of people have good points on this movie.

We only seen previews. Lets wait and see then judge. Alot of you are making emotional decisions whether the film is going to be good or bad because your either a Marvel or DC fan. Let's slow down.
batfan175
batfan175 - 3/10/2012, 5:38 AM
ELgUaSoN: it would be good, were it not all directed at one goal: getting more money than the other guy. And if accumulating consumer goods ad infinitum is your personal goal then you basically have no goal because there always is "more" so you're constantly spending your money for stuff and eventually you move on to other stuff and when that gets "old" you'll buy even more. That's what some people call enslaving themselves to a consumer culture that is empty in every sense of the word except material. I don't see why we should praise Marvel or DC for representing that mentality?
N4cers
N4cers - 3/10/2012, 6:02 AM
I honestly don't understand all the whining and complaints about Marvel's limited control of the movie??? Isn't it their characters that they created??? If YOU were having a movie made about a property that YOU created and made a part of American culture, you can be damned sure YOU'D stipulate that certain points of the movie should go the way YOU want them to! Would you really give 100% total control to a single person with no input whatsoever?? PLEASE!!!
StrangerX
StrangerX - 3/10/2012, 6:03 AM
Something tells me I'm gonna cry when the movies over, just because I don't want it to end.
Spidey91
Spidey91 - 3/10/2012, 6:13 AM
"oh,he haz no fre3dom de"

seriously guys,do you expected Whedon to CHANGE everything MARVEL has been setting up for the past 4 years?

of course MARVEL gave him the basic parameters,like the villain or the characters,it's the interaction between these characters what makes the movie,not the characters themselves.
besides,it's their property! it's not that MARVEL is an EEEEEEVIL corporation or something (btw,what kind of bullsh*t is that? that't the dumbest thing I've read in a while)

@Azazel1
don't bring that sh*t in here,I bet even Nolan has some minor/basic parameters set by the studio,after all he's working with a property that's not his (Nolan doesn't own Batman,WB and DC does)
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