To the surprise of absolutely no one, it was announced today during the Walt Disney Investors Conference Call that Joss Whedon will return to write and direct The Avengers 2, which is currently expected to arrive Summer 2015, though that is hardly a locked date.
Disney also confirmed Whedon will be involved in the development of the previously-mentioned “Avengers” television series on ABC. The connection to the theatrical franchise is expected to be light, but it was the show would carry over the “themes and feel” of the franchise and feature lesser-known Marvel characters.
The Avengers 2 will arrive after a long line of Marvel films add to the ongoing franchise of Avengers-related features already slated to hit theaters over the next few years.
The second wave of Avengers franchise films will begin with Iron Man 3 on May 3 with Shane Black directing as Robert Downey Jr. dons the suit for the fourth time in only five years. After that, Chris Hemsworth will pick up Thor’s hammer yet again for Thor: The Dark World slated to hit theaters on November 8, 2013.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier puts Chris Evans back in action as the star-spangled action hero with Joe and Anthony Russo directing for an April 14, 2014 release. That same year, on August 1, 2014, the newest addition to the Marvel cinematic universe, Guardians of the Galaxy, arrives, which will reportedly be set in the future and feature the titular team made up of Drax The Destroyer, a human resurrected as a green warrior with the sole purpose of killing Thanos (the villain in The Avengers final scene tease which you can watch below); Groot, a giant tree-man; Star-Lord, a gun-toting half-human/half-alien inter-galactic vigilante; Rocket Raccoon, a genetically engineered animal with a knack for guns and explosives; and Gamora, the last survivor of her species who was saved by Thanos to be his assassin but now battles him.
Rumor has it Guardians of the Galaxy will feature the team fighting an evil race called the Badoom, and in the process they would supposedly travel back in time and cross paths with some of the Avengers team. Guardians of the Galaxy is expected to serve as a precursor to The Avengers 2.
The Avengers was released in May of this year and has so far made over $1.46 billion worldwide as it teamed Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America. The sequel will obviously do the same.
As far as a reaction to this news is concerned, I don’t really have one. It’s no surprise Whedon would want to come back and it’s no surprise Marvel and Disney would want him back. Last I checked $1.46 billion is a lot and I expect a sequel would probably make even more and as a result Whedon would make even more. It’s a money game after all. However, as someone that has grown increasingly tired of the superhero genre, it is nice to see someone I have confidence in maintaining creative control over one franchise as most superhero films offer very little to get excited about. [via Slashfilm]
