Joss Whedon on Avengers 2: "The things about it that are wrong frustrate me enormously"

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It's well-documented that making Avengers: Age of Ultron took its toll on Joss Whedon. In the press tour for the film, the director talked perhaps a little too openly about his battle with Marvel executives over which scenes to keep in the film, and it was clear that he was frustrated with the results. 

While speaking with Mark Ruffalo on stage at the Tribeca Film Festival (via Deadline), Whedon got reflective on his last Marvel experience: “Ultron, I’m very proud of. There were things that did not meet my expectations of myself and then I was so beaten down by the process. Some of that was conflicting with Marvel, which is inevitable and a lot of that was about my own work and I was also exhausted, and we right away went and did publicity." 

"I created the narrative — wherein I’m not quite accomplished at– and people just ran with (about Ultron) ‘Well it’s OK, it could be better, but it’s not Joss’ fault’ and I think that did a disservice to the movie, and to the studio and to myself. Ultimately, it wasn’t the right way to be because I’m very proud about it.”

“The things about it that are wrong frustrate me enormously", continued Whedon, "but I got to make an absurdly personal movie about humanity and what it means in a very esoteric and bizarre ways for hundreds of millions of dollars. The fact that Marvel gave me that opportunity twice is so bonkers and beautiful and the fact that I come off as a miserable failure is also bonkers, but not in a cute way.”

Don't feel too bad Joss; despite its shortcomings, Age of Ultron is currently my second favourite MCU movie. According to Deadline Whedon hasn't ruled out a return to the MCU, and that's great news for fans of the franchise. On that note, Captain Marvel is still looking for a director...

Images: Marvel

Amon Warmann
Amon Warmann

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.