Well, "The Avengers" is still a little bit away from hitting theaters, but might as well get the sequel talk started already, right? Because since everyone in the Marvel universe has signed their lives and their children's lives away to star in the series forever, if the movie is a big box office hit (and it should be) and pleases the fans (it likely will) you can bet everyone will be getting out their dayplanners to figure out when they can get Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston all back together in the same room. But if Joss Whedon has his way (and he won't), his concept for a sequel to "The Avengers" runs directly opposite the current climate in Hollywood.
Asked by SFX what he would do for a sequel, Whedon said he would change things, "By not trying to. By being smaller. More personal, more painful… By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself."
He says he was drawn to "The Avengers" — which features Hulk smashing stuff out of the sky — by the character details and the dialogue. "I want to know what makes them tick, what makes them flawed, what makes them fight – and ultimately, what makes them awesome," Whedon said. "I go to these movies for those moments when the heroes define themselves, either through action or deliciously overwritten speeches."
While it's admirable he wants to do "The Puffy Chair" version of a superhero tentpole, take any brief look at the Marvel series of the films and you know that with each successive effort they try to raise the bar. By it's very nature, "The Avengers" will always be overstuffed, crammed with heroes who have to face an opponent or cause worthy of getting them all together. We'd love to see a $25 million Sundance version, but it's never gonna happen.
Anyway, "The Avengers" arrives in character-defining 3D on May 4th. Oh, here's some new pics of Cobie Smulders standing around as Maria Hill. [via ComingSoon/Digital Spy; images from Marvel]