Marvel has a very well-oiled, fairly predictable marketing machine. A movie comes out, the directors and cast do the circuit and talk about the enjoyment they had making the movie, while Kevin Feige offers clues about where the franchise will go next. But for “Avengers: Age Of Ultron,” Joss Whedon broke that formula. He was candid about his battles with Marvel over various elements of the movie, dished on the complications of trying to manage the crossover between Marvel TV and movies, opened up about how little he was paid for “The Avengers,” announced his departure from Marvel, and said directing “Avengers: Infinity War” was “a young man’s game.” However, a year later, Whedon has offered an apology for his comments during that time.
Sitting down for a conversation with Mark Ruffalo at the Tribeca Film Festival, the filmmaker acknowledges he was probably wasn’t doing anybody any favors last year during the press rounds for “The Avengers” sequel.
“ ‘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,” he said.
“The things about it that are wrong frustrate me enormously, but I got to make an absurdly personal movie about humanity and what it means in a very esoteric and bizarre way 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,” he added.
I can only imagine how overwhelming it must be to manage the many moving parts in a movie the size of “Avengers: Age Of Ultron,” in a machine as big as Marvel. And it certainly sounds like Whedon could’ve used a breather before doing press last year. But with hindsight, he seems much more objective about everything, and certainly, distance has probably smoothed over some of the rougher feelings he might’ve had at the time.
The next Marvel joint, “Captain America: Civil War,” opens on May 6th. [Deadline]
