Tag: Joss Whedon

This story contains spoilers about “The Avengers.” “The Avengers” passed the $1-billion mark in worldwide ticket sales this weekend, and a sequel is already in the works. Does that mean writer-director Joss Whedon will be back at the helm of the franchise that unites Marvel’s box-office heavyweights, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the Hulk? “You know, I’m very torn,” Whedon said in a sit-down interview in Beverly Hills before the film’s U.S. opening. “It’s an enormous amount of work telling what is ultimately somebody else’s story, even though I feel like I did get to put myself into it. But at the same time, I have a bunch of ideas, and they all seem really cool.” Whether he gets his hands on the sequel, Whedon’s fingerprints are all over “The Avengers,” which echoes some tropes found in his ...

It’s almost here — we’re just one week from the start of the 2012 Hero Complex Film Festival and with the franchise in its third year we’ve moved to a sweet new home (Regal Cinemas at LA Live, where in September we brought you a 30th anniversary screening of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with Steven Spielberg and surprise guest Harrison Ford) and expanded the program (four days now with more than a dozen guests, including three that haven’t been announced). To get a bead on the festival, peruse the photo gallery above — be sure to click the “CAPTIONS ON” option if you don’t see text across the bottom of each image – and you’ll get a snapshot description of all of eight of our separately ticketed screenings. The box here on the right leads to the ticketing page. And how about those fun images in the gallery? ...

Surrounded by a Norse god, a super soldier, a deadly spy, a brilliant scientist who can become an 8-foot-tall rage monster, and, well, Tony Stark, it might have been easy for Cobie Smulders to get lost in the muscle-clad crowd. But the 30-year-old Canadian actress who plays S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Maria Hill in the record-breaking blockbuster “The Avengers” made it her mission to create a space for her character among Marvel’s A-listers, which, of course, include Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. “I feel like I was able to hold my own quite well,” Smulders said, sitting down for an interview on a recent morning. “That was really important to me, because I was quite intimidated…. Not only is it a different genre for me, but it’s with some of the most talented actors ...

Turns out Hulk isn’t the only one who can deliver a big green smash. Joss Whedon just scored a Galactus-sized success with “The Avengers,” which not only topped the “Harry Potter” single-weekend record, it made the once magical Hogwarts crowd seem like, well, schoolchildren waving sticks in the air. The sixth Marvel Studios release just completed the best opening weekend in movie history, earning $200.3 million at the domestic box office, an especially staggering number when you consider that previous mark by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ was $169.2-million. More than that, with all the sparkling reviews, director and co-writer Whedon has a genuine summer cinema supernova — Tony Stark is still at the center of the Marvel Studios universe, but now he’s not the only one standing there in the warm glow of cascading cosmic rays. The numbers are bigger the deeper you look. The North ...

“The Avengers” will fill the sky with Marvel icons – that is, if the summer’s most crowded film doesn’t remain earthbound under the great weight of its teeming ensemble. That challenge is why Joss Whedon was brought in as the director and screenwriter. He’s a true savant when it comes to snappy dialogue and scenes that become sly symphonies of angst, bravado, love, lust, doubt and deceit. With all of that in mind, we asked Whedon to talk about the major characters and what each brings to the group dynamic. Today: Thor. There’s a scene in “Thor” in which the title hero, played by Chris Hemsworth, is working the crowd in the majestic hall of Asgard’s royal family. As a disdainful Odin looks on, his cocky son grins, struts and swaggers like a vainglorious varsity quarterback in some sort of celestial homecoming parade. You won’t be ...

The news is grim — a team member has gone down, the worst is feared — and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) exchange pensive looks while, all around them, the agents of a super-spy agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. tend to their duties as an off-planet enemy force threatens the entire planet. The scene, being filmed on an elevated set, was watched from a safe — and ironic — distance by Joss Whedon. “You know, you shouldn’t worry too much,” the director and co-writer of “The Avengers” reassured a visitor to the New Mexico set. “This kind of stuff happens here almost every day in the Marvel universe.” It does feel sometimes like Hollywood has become a digital factory dedicated to cosmic dangers, costumed heroes and CG magic but “The Avengers” is a special case even in this summer ...

Joss Whedon is a fan of Fran Kranz – he must be, considering he cast the actor in “Dollhouse” as well as the upcoming “Much Ado about Nothing.” The latest visit by Kranz to Planet Whedon is the subversive and sly “Cabin the Woods” (Whedon produced and co-wrote the movie with another old pal, Drew Goddard, who makes his directorial debut with “Cabin”). Kranz is on Broadway in “Death of a Salesman,” which costars Andrew Garfield of “The Amazing Spider-Man,” but we caught up with him by phone to hear about Joss as a boss. HC: We should assume that you didn’t do too much research for your role as Marty, the paranoid pothead in “Cabin in the Woods” right? FK: Everyone would like to think that, right? Like they just went out on the street and found me that way. ...

“The Avengers” will fill the sky with Marvel icons – that is, if the summer’s most crowded film doesn’t remain earthbound under the great weight of its teeming ensemble. That challenge is why Joss Whedon was brought in as the director and screenwriter. He’s a true savant when it comes to snappy dialogue and scenes that become sly symphonies of angst, bravado, love, lust, doubt and deceit. With all of that in mind, we asked Whedon to talk about the major characters and what each brings to the group dynamic. Today: Hawkeye. Jeremy Renner portrays Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, who has trained his body and mind to become a world-class marksman. In the process, he also became a world-class loner. “I love him because he really could not be less of a team player,” Whedon said. “He’s a sniper. That’s ...

“The Avengers” stars will assemble on the red carpet Wednesday night for the film’s Hollywood premiere. Didn’t get the call from Nick Fury? You can watch the event live right here. Beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific, Marvel will stream red carpet arrivals and interviews from the world premiere of “The Avengers” at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders, Tom Hiddleston and director Joss Whedon are scheduled to appear. “The Avengers,” which hits theaters May 4, unites Marvel’s disparate superheroes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury against “Thor” villain Loki and what appears from the teaser trailer to be an army of airborne alien invaders. Will the alpha-male (and -female) heroes of S.H.I.E.L.D. be able pull together, fend off their ...

In last year’s ”Captain America: The First Avenger,” the title hero not only proved himself on the battlefields of World War II he also showed enough at the box office to earn a sequel, which will reach theaters April 4, 2014, and will feature a modern-day setting, according to Marvel and Walt Disney Studios. Chris Evans is expected to return as the star-spangled avenger in that sequel, but first he’s doing a tour of duty in “The Avengers,”  the May 4 release that represents an all-star squad of Marvel Studios heroes. That movie, directed by Joss Whedon, will put the patriotic character together with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and spy-master Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). “Captain America: The First Avenger” made $369 million in worldwide box office, a solid total considering some observers ...