Joss Whedon (Photo credit: perobinson)
He’s at it again, that Joss Whedon fellow. He’s making another ‘masterpiece’ that doesn’t follow any kind of formulaic plan or career path arc. But are we surprised? No is the only obvious answer here. As Nathan Fillion himself says in the gag reel of Serenity, Joss is Boss. And we believe him.
The genius of Joss Whedon should have been made evident with the theatrical release of Buffy the Vampire Slayer film in 1992. Unfortunately the moron (that’s right I said it) of a producer decided that the workings of the then younger Whedon weren’t good enough and re-imaged the film and destroyed it.
Ultimately the woman did Joss a favour. In her wanton destruction of what could have been, she cleared the way for Joss to re-introduce the world to Buffy Summers and her ‘Scooby gang’ cast of regulars. The success of the small screen Buffy led the way for an almost inevitable spin-off series for the vanquished Angel. The rest, as they say, is history.
Both Buffy and Angel ran for several seasons. Buffy continued to enthral fans for seven seasons while Angel only managed five seasons with the fifth and last season being, arguably, the best. Joss then moved on to the fan favourite Firefly.
Unfortunately the sponsoring network’s biorhythms were really out of whack, either that or there was a ‘We hate Joss’ vendetta type thing going on, because the show got axed almost before it got started.
Dollhouse was next in line and it too fell foul of it’s sponsoring network (with a lot of help from said network, it has to be said) and once again Joss was ‘out in the cold.’
But Joss-is-boss Whedon didn’t sit there crying into his bowl of Cheerio’s. He then came up with the ‘fan-backed’ plan for Serenity. The labour of love that gave all the Firefly fans closure for the characters that they had fallen in love with. Then Joss turned to the internet.
Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and it’s small cadre of players was simply too great for words. Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer (“The hammer is my penis.”), Dr Horrible was Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser all grown up and comically evil) and Felicia Day was Penny the mutual love interest that both men wanted. Great webisodes and great fun.
Joss then stepped up to the plate and hit a Babe Ruth type home run with The Avengers Assemble. That Whedon-esque magic garnered an over one billion dollar box office return that will ensure his name conjures up images of platinum success. I won’t mention the other successful film that had Joss’s fingerprints all over it, The Cabin in the Woods, that was released in the same year as Avengers.
Now Joss has made his own ‘homage’ and re-imaging of the Bard’s Much Ado About Nothing into a ‘Bargain Basement Backyard Production’ with Whedon regulars Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, and Tom Lenk (whom I thought was going to be doomed to do Pepsi Max adverts indefinitely) and a whole lot of other very capable actors.
Looking at stills on IMDb it appears that the film will be in black and white. Nothing new there you say, Young Frankenstein and Schindler’s List were both in black and white. No what will be new, will be what Joss brings to the table in his writing and directing skills.
I am looking forward to seeing this last product of Joss’s creative output. I know that I will not be disappointed.
On a completely different note, I read that the idiot producer that ruined the first ‘Buffy’ film has allegedly dropped her plans for a Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie based on Joss’s television program. There is, it seems, a celluloid God after all. Our ‘cheer-leading’ heroine will remained unsullied and forever associated with Sarah Michelle Gellar and her loyal gang of ‘slayerettes.’
I haven’t mention the many other projects that Joss-is-boss Whedon can lay claim to, if you want to see his impressive credit’s list check out the link to IMDb or Wikipedia. Or you could just watch re-runs of his television masterpieces.
Related articles
- First Photos From Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing (tor.com)
- “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” Makes Its Television Debut on Tuesday, October 9, on The CW (geekinvaders.com)
- How the Internet Changed the Way We Watch Television (mikesfilmtalk.com)
- Joss Whedon at Comic-Con: director returns home a god among geeks (guardian.co.uk)
- Much Ado About Whedon (talenin.com)
- ‘Dr. Horrible’ Sequel Coming Soon: Recapturing The Horror Of Joss Whedon (splashpage.mtv.com)
Joss-Is-Boss indeed. I remember reading some time ago, around the time Firefly was televised, that Joss regularly held play reading workshops at his home with various cast members from his shows and their other actor mates – often including Shakespeare’s work. It was inevitable, just a matter of time until these workshops were committed to celluloid.
I’m right there with you Mike – I too am excited to see this latest piece of work from the new Boss.
Snap! I remember the same article! Also read about the same time. I had just forgotten about till you mentioned it. So yeah, it does make a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing that one dude!