Marvel is on quite the high at the moment with Guardians of the Galaxy being the number one movie around the world and Joss Whedon just two weeks away from starting post-production on the much-anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is set for release next year.
In a video interview with Nerd HQ, Whedon gave his thoughts on the battle between Marvel and DC as Warner Bros. are set to kick start their connected universe with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. When asked if DC need to step up their game to catch up he said, “I don’t think I would say that. I think that would be a little presumptuous of me.”
“I think that both studios have kind of different agendas, different ways of approaching the superhero genre, and the ethos of the thing, and the aesthetic,” he added. “They go very dark and serious and sometimes it works amazingly, and Marvel tends to be a little lighter. Both have movies that I adore, and both have movies that I’m like… [pulls a face], including bits of my own. I would not want them to do what Marvel does. I like what they do when they get it right.”
In terms of the DC movies he does like he, unsurprisingly, mentioned Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Other highlights from the interview included Whedon talking about where Guardians of the Galaxy fits into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Kevin [Feige] has a big plan and every now and then, he’ll tell me part of it if he thinks it’s going to affect what I’m doing or if he thinks what I’m doing is going to affect his”, he said. “But as much as possible, I try to live in my own bubble. Guardians is very much its own thing. They’re not the Guardians of this galaxy; it’s a different one. So, I can sort of keep them at arm’s length, long enough to do my thing and then I’m sure everything is going to get mixed together because it’s Marvel.”
Given that the Infinity Stones connect Guardians of the Galaxy to the rest of the Marvel universe, it seems like an odd statement to make.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for release in the UK on April 24th 2015 and North America on May 1st 2015, with Joss Whedon directing a cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Paul Bettany (JARVIS / The Vision), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), James Spader (Ultron), Thomas Kretschmann (Baron Strucker) and Josh Brolin (Thanos).
Originally published August 6, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
