"I have to make sure that I don't overstep," Whedon said of planning the ABC series so that it doesn't interfere with the "The Avengers" movie franchise. "At the same time, it's such a different mandate in terms of where we are in the Marvel universe."
His new series , "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," which premieres Sept. 24 , shines a light on characters from Marvel universe that don't have the advantage of super powers.
"'The Avengers' are the epicenter," he continued. "This is the peripheral. These are the people that don't get the big hammers or the gamma radiation and deal with things on the human scale."
The show resurrects Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and charges him with forming a new S.H.I.E.L.D. team dedicated to smoothing out the ruptures between those with super powers and average citizens.
In bringing back Coulson for the ABC show, Whedon apparently goes against his reputation of killing off beloved characters. In his defense, the writer/producer/director points to one of his earliest jobs as proof that Coulson isn't the only resurrection on his record.
"I have brought people back for a long time. One of my first jobs was bringing Ripley back, but do people remember that?" he said jokingly about writing the fourth installment of the "Alien" franchise, 1997's "Alien Resurection," in which he brought back Sigourney Weaver's iconic character.
Ultimately, he does recognize that he has taken out many characters over his Hollywood career. "It's nice for a change," he said of bringing back Coulson.