Creator/directors Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams revealed a few details about their upcoming projects – The Avengers and Super 8, respectively – at the San Diego Comic-Con today.
Joss Whedon ‘officially’ made it official that he is indeed helming The Avengers for Marvel Studios to attendees. Not a well-kept secret, Whedon said he remains in the outline phase for the movie and continues to rework the story that will bring together some of Marvel’s top properties.
“The thing I love about it is how completely counter-intuitive it is,” confessed Whedon. “These people should not be in the same room, much less the same team. The very definition of family.”
He added that the The Avengers were some of his first comic books as a kid, adding that he first got the comic bug after his father, who was a writer for children’s show “The Electric Company” – who did episodes involving Spider-Man stories – brought home Spider-Man art.
“It was like ‘Sure, give your son Meth!,'” he joked.
Whedon also remarked that the writing process for The Avengers was unique due to the fact he knows many of the actors that will play the leads already, but challenging due to the mix and tone of existing movies (Iron Man, Hulk, etc…) that will be worked in.
“The first job I had outside of TV was a script doctor,” said Whedon. “You have to blend in. I think it is easy to fall into the aesthetic of something you love. I will be respectful of the established tone… or seven!”
J.J. Abrams dropped fewer hints about his upcoming collaboration with Steven Speilberg – Super 8. According to Abrams, the film begins shooting in September and will not be 3D.
“To me, the glasses make things dim,” he said. “You adjust to it, but in the beginning it always seems less. I’m not totally onboard (with 3D).”
Abrams did not talk plot details about the movie, but he did tell the story of his first interaction with the famed director. When he was in college, Abrams and a friend were hired to repair a pair of Speilberg’s old 8mm films – Firelight and Escape to Nowhere. They repaired the movies and were paid $300.
“I pitched the ‘Super 8’ movie to him a while back,” said Abrams. “It is early to talk. The movie is in the spirit of the Amblin films he made years ago. It is personal and hyper-real.”
