Marvel Studios and parent Disney have confirmed that Joss Whedon will not only write and direct the sequel to their smash hit The Avengers, but will also develop a live action Marvel TV show (which may or may not be Avengers-related), as well as helping to guide “Phase 2″ of Marvel’s cinematic universe.
Here’s Marvel’s statement:
“Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015. As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.”
While hardly surprising, this is still great news, especially the last part; While the first set of movies did a great job of linking together in the run up to The Avengers, as the cinematic universe expands to include more blatantly outlandish fantasy elements like The Guardians of The Galaxy, Marvel will need a steady, guiding hand to hold it all together.
As for a the TV show, I think this would be a great place to follow the further adventures of SHIELD, adding richness to the Avengers world, without interfering directly with those movies’ continuities. We’ll see…