Comic-Con 2013: Joss Whedon Panel Highlights

It’s amazing to think just how far Joss Whedon has come. It’s even more astounding to think of just how influential he is to geek culture. This man gave us a version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that wasn’t a joke, something that spoke truly about early adulthood angst, complicated relationships, confused feelings, and, of course, Hellmouths. He gave us the best one-shot season of Western sci-fi ever with Firefly. He helped give birth to Cabin in the Woods, a flick I still watch every couple of months (thanks Netflix streaming!). And of course he’s got that whole Avengers thing going on.

Given all of this, it’s not real surprise that Whedon got a 2013 Comic-Con panel all to himself over the weekend. Uniquely, it was an old-fashioned Q&A session between him and the 5,000 people in attendance. Rather than breaking any news on the Avengers sequel (that would come through other panels, as you’ve seen here at Renegade — hello Age of Ultron), he chose to answer queries about works past, present and future from those lucky enough to be selected from the crowd.

Some highlights:

Asked to describe the next Avengers movie, Whedon answered with two syllables: “Movie.”

Would he ever go Broadway? Yes, but with everything going on, he won’t be tacking stage action, drama or musicals for a long time.

What about entering the world animation? Whedon has always found the genre interesting, and has contemplated doing something in it,  but ultimately feels it’s better to leave that kind of work to others. He specifically mentioned the enjoyment of Hayao Miyazaki’s work.

On Cobie Smulders’ cameo appearance in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and if she would return in future installments, perhaps even as a series regular once How I Met Your Mother concludes it primetime run: “We don’t have anything planned, but we do hope to see her again, that much I can say. I don’t know that she’d want to tie herself down to another series, but hopefully she will grace us with her presence again at some point.”

If legal issues didn’t exist, what other Marvel characters that he currently doesn’t have access to would be included in the Avengers? All of them: Spidey, Wolvie, even Luke Cage. Whedon also feigned some angst at the prospect of having to write for all the added characters.

When will the Dr.Horrible sequel happen? Maybe 2015, if all this Marvel business doesn’t kill him first.

Given an unlimited budget, what property would he choose to work on? “We should get the crew of Serenity back together.” I’m sure this elicited the largest cheers from the folks in attendance. Sounds like spending some time with Whedon was a fun and informative experience!

Source: IGN