If you've been paying attention to the press tour for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" then you have probably picked up on director Joss Whedon's relief about no longer being involved with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Throughout several interviews, Whedon has expressed his frustration and displeasure about working with Marvel with varying degrees of seriousness. The latest controversial sound byte occurred in a recent podcast with Empire.
Whedon revealed that he wanted to include Captain Marvel and Spider-Man in "Age of Ultron." This was before the studio had decided that it was going to do a solo Captain Marvel film or come to an agreement with Sony about sharing the on-screen rights for Spidey. The timing of all these decision clearly frustrated Whedon.
"So I would have put both of them in, but neither of the deals were made," he said. "And then they were like, 'We're making a Captian Marvel movie and we've got 'Spider-Man' as a property,' and I'm like, 'I've already locked my film you f---ers! Thanks for nothing."
It's important to keep in mind that Whedon is a notorious jokester with a propensity for bad language and that this quote was said in a light tone. However, he's definitely promoted an attitude of satisfaction regarding the conclusion of his partnership with Marvel over the last few weeks.
It's no secret that producer Kevin Feige and the studio like to be heavily involved in the creative process when it comes to their movies. Fitting each film into the larger MCU has proven to be a tricky task to navigate. Just ask Edgar Wright, who left production on "Ant-Man" after developing it for eight years due to his frustration with Marvel's requirements. What would make all of this even more interesting is if Whedon struck a deal with DC/Warner Bros. to join their expanding shared movie universe.
What do you think of Whedon's recent comments? Is he a disgruntled filmmaker or just a tad too excited about his new found freedom? Should we all just give him a break? Let us know.
