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Joss Whedon Rewriting Captain America & Avengers Scripts?

by Alex Billington
April 15, 2010
Source: Pajiba, Variety

This latest "rumor of the day" (although it seems more legitimate than inaccurate) from Pajiba claims that the recently announced director of Marvel's The Avengers movie, geek favorite Joss Whedon, will also be polishing the script for Captain America: The First Avenger. Variety also mentioned ever so briefly that Whedon is rewriting The Avengers script that was originally written by Zak Penn. This is fantastic news for everyone who thinks Whedon is a better writer (for TV, movies, and comics) than he is a director, as Pajiba says Marvel brought on Whedon in order for him to help beyond just directing that one movie.

Obviously none of this is confirmed and Marvel probably won't make any official statements for a while, but I have a feeling this is accurate. I've said time and time again that Marvel Studio's President Kevin Feige is one of the smartest execs working in Hollywood and he knows how to find the smartest filmmakers out there. While Whedon doesn't have a lot of experience in feature films (give or take Serenity), he makes up for it in his experience with and knowledge of comics (and all things geek). Therefore, his input will be very valuable to Marvel. He's also great with ensemble casts and multiple characters, which their movies have.

Screenwriter Zak Penn (Behind Enemy Lines, X2, X3, The Grand, The Incredible Hulk) has been working on The Avengers script for years. We ran an article in May of 2007 with a quote from Penn saying "Avengers is definitely going to happen." He even once talked about possibly going all CG or 3D with The Avengers back in 2008, since I remember that being a big story at the time. That said, I'm glad someone like Joss Whedon is rewriting his Avengers script, because I think it needs a fresh, new take that I'm hoping Whedon will give it. Whatever the case, I'm still extremely excited for everything coming up from Marvel. Same with you?

Related categories: Hype, Movie News, Rumors

People's Champ

Good luck with that.
Ross

Getting more excited about this with every story
newfignewton

this is not going to be the cinematic event they are hyping it up to be...just like JJ "the hack" Abrams had everyone all lubed up for that steaming heap of s**t CLoverfield.... just a huge let-down after all was said and done....same story shaping up here...at least some entertainment was had from the first Ironman...doubtful there will be much more to follow though...
Have Hope

Why oh Why Joss Whedon? Buffy???? Has anyone seen that TV Series? Ha! I just don't get how these people are chosen. HH
My Eyes ... MY EYES !!!

Wow - you guys are a steaming pile of enthusiasm! Personally, if Whedon threw them a pitch for this, I'm picturing it being a ramp up from anything he's done previously, while fully incorporating much of he's done to date. I think Evans speaking his dialogue & even improv'ing off it could be great. Cap as a character could definitely be something more appealing in the hands of a guy like Whedon. I'm not even that big a fan of his, but I recently saw my first episode of Firefly, and had read his first run on Astonishing X-Men. Obviously Toy Story, X-Men (some good lines, some poorly delivered ones). But the one thing that shines above all is his willingness to look at fictional concepts like space cowboys, vampires, etc. - and bring the audience into it by having the characters in on the disbelief. Personally - I think a 'roided up cartoonist from the '50s dressing up as a walking American flag & throwing himself into battle could use a little self awareness. It certainly helped Tony Stark some. At the box office, no less!
Xerxex

#3 Cloverfield was awesome. So what happens to Penn? does his original script just get canned?
Rorschach90

Yeah #3, like Abrams directed Cloverfield
DarkRaven18599

Yet more good news concerning Whedon. I'm sure Penn's script will be mostly intact plot-wise. I'm betting that Mr. Whedon will be more "punching up" the actual dialogue than restructuring the plotline. As to the people that are hating on all things Joss, well, you're entitled to your opinion. I disagree, but that's my right too. I guess the best way to find out will be to wait until May 2012 and see for ourselves. Until then, I'm planning to keep an optimistic hope going. It sure beats being a miserable, bitchy grouch.
Xerxex

Agreed in DarkRaven18599, better to be optimistic, then a bitchy pessimist.
Cody w

#3 Cloverfield was sweet your crazy ALSO MATT REEVES DIRECTED IT!....Maybe you should actually know what your talking about before insulting it. All this hate is reminding me of Chris Evans as Cap.....seriously none of you have seen any footage for either and your acting like youve seen the movie already. People just like to hate...buncha haters.
Shige

You idiots need to watch Serenity. Im glad they brought Josh for this.
Zantorian

Cap and The Avengers are looking better than ever from a potential standpoint. Joss Whedon is awesome.
Loser

Optimistic about this.
Voice of Reason

Im just enjoying the idea that with Joss involved, an NPH appearance somewhere within the Marvel Universe could occur.....
Corran Horn

Considering Zak Penn's track record, I had a feeling The Avengers would get a rewrite sooner or later. I wouldn't quite say Whedon is a better writer than a director (Serenity and the Firefly episodes he directed were really good), but he's a damn sight better than Penn. Plus, this saves Marvel from what happened with The Incredible Hulk (the last Marvel film Penn had a hand in). The fact that he's rewriting Cap gives me more confidence in that film as well. Johnston is quite limited as a director, and aside from October Sky, all of his work has been very weak in the writing department. This will remedy that, hopefully.
casting couch

I kinda liked Titan A.E.