yay! I saw The Kids Are All Right last weekend, and he's really good in it, and generally, I am pleased!

dottikin | July 23, 10:18 CET

I really don't get this. If Joss hasn't even written 'The Avengers' yet (he mentions producing an outline on the Joss/JJ Abrams panel) then why are they casting it ?

Not sure about the writing part of it, it seems ambiguous. Hopefully the upcoming Joss Whedon Experience will furnish us with more concrete info.

Saje | July 23, 10:49 CET

I think they're only casting the major roles for the presumed Comic-Con moment of, "Annnnd here are the Avengers!" Since they know that all these characters are gonna end up in the film, y'know?

sumogrip | July 23, 11:06 CET

OK, but if you were an actor being cast in a role wouldn't you want to have even a vague idea of how big it is ? Like is it 3 lines or half the film ? And how does Joss know that if he's still outlining it, nevermind rewrites, studio notes etc. ?

Agreeing to play a part without seeing anything of the script is very unusual AFAIK which leads me to wonder if the "Joss is writing the whole thing" aspect hasn't become mangled in the telling somehow.

Saje | July 23, 14:45 CET

This makes me mad! Why haven't they even considered offering the part to Bill Bixby? He was the first, and BEST HULK! He would be great, why haven't they even brought up his name? GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY!

The Great Gonzo | July 23, 15:21 CET

Not excited by the (to me) odd casting, but he's not my favourite character anyway. As long as RDJ is Tony, and Joss is in charge, I'm sure I'll like it.

redeem147 | July 23, 15:30 CET

Saje, well Joss did say in one of his comments lost amidst the avalanche of links, that he liked knowing who was playing Iron Man and...someone else... (sorry, brain fry) because it helped him to write the characters' voices.

I guess this film is seen as a big enough deal that agreeing to be in it is still a good career move. I mean, Judy Dench's Role in "Shakespeare in Love" was pretty microscopic, but she still took over the screen and got an Oscar out of it. If Joss is writing it, I imagine the part will be whatever the actor can make of it.

BreathesStory | July 23, 16:36 CET

I'm pretty sure Iron Man (and maybe Nick Fury was the other one you heard BreathesStory ?) are already signed up whatever the script is like (that's part of Downey Jnr. and Samuel L Jackson's existing deals), same's probably true of Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Just seems odd for an actor to do it if they don't need to.

I guess if i'm honest though i'm wondering partly because i'm actually in two minds about Joss writing it from scratch. Not because I don't want him to write it, I really do, but more because that means that the project is further back in the development cycle than i'd previously thought which means there's a lot more time for things to go wrong, as they did with 'Wonder Woman'. In Hollywood there's always many a slip between cup and lip but when the cup is sat on the other side of the room the possibility for slips multiplies.

(previously i'd thought there was a script everyone was happy with, casting was taking place and Joss would be directing it imminently, like, principal photography starting this year or early next. Now it sounds like if they have a finished script by early next year they'll be lucky, nevermind one that all parties are happy with)

Saje | July 23, 16:49 CET

I think he said Captain America.Chris Evans has a six film deal which includes The Avengers.Sam Jackson has a nine pic deal.Chris Hemsworth is also signed for several more movies as well.All the actors who sign on now for Marvel films are signing long term deals.

Buffyfantic | July 23, 17:10 CET

From a marketing standpoint, Marvel is going to want to have whomever the intended featured characters they plan to focus on in terms of marketing and franchise spin-off-ing locked down as early in the process as possible. As far as joss writing/re-writing stuff they probably couldn't care less about what actually happens in the film so long as they can claim to their audience that xyz actors appear as xyz characters and that the course of events isn't going to threaten potential future franchise instalments/spin-offs (ie. Joss Whedon will probably have to control himself a little more than usual.)

I'd have to say, though - that regardless of whether you happen to find the Avengers particularly gripping (case in point: I probably couldn't care less) - it should be worth checking out just because it is likely to be the closest example of joss having complete semi-complete, on the ground creative control over a project to date.

ETA: Also, consider his record for expertly handling loads of often disparaging characters in bizarre, fantastical situations. Seems to me this is an example of the studio basically saying "Joss, we're going to give you these specific characters and let you play with them for the enjoyment of others as long as you a) use all of them and b) don't break any of them before giving them back." As far as creative restrictions go, I can't think of many more which would seem less likely to interfere with joss's usual creative genius (restrictions on killing key, interesting people aside.)

[ edited by brinderwalt on 2010-07-23 18:15 ]

brinderwalt | July 23, 17:38 CET

Complete creative control? I don't think so. Not with the Disney/Marvel machines and their vested interests at stake. Hopefully though, it will be a little bit of a different experience for Joss than the one he had with DC.

BreathesStory | July 23, 17:55 CET

Heh. Yeah - I should probably re-word that.

brinderwalt | July 23, 18:13 CET

More on the attempted to sign Mark Ruffalo.

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/exclusive-ruffalo-hulk-deal-expected-tomorrow-comic-con-launch-19504

Buffyfantic | July 23, 21:50 CET