Joss Whedon has finally revealed the mystery project he’s been working on since Avengers: Age of Ultron: A horror movie set during World War 2.
“It’s definitely a departure from the things that I’m known for,” Joss Whedon says of his new script, in a lengthy interview with Complex. “It’s as dark as anything I’ve ever written.”
The TV-auteur-turned-Marvel-employee-turned-political-activist admits that he is “inspired by terror,” which also translates to his incredibly important Save The Day voting campaign.
Right now, his focus is on the coming Presidential Election, but come November 9, it’s right back to working on what he terms a “historical fiction slash horror movie.”
Kind of like right now, his movie is “about a time when the world was going insane,” only it’s World War II, not TrumpGate 2016. Explains Whedon, “I was in Germany and Poland doing research for this movie and I was seeing so many parallels [to the U.S.]. And I know it’s a shopworn thing to compare the orange guy to the little guy with the mustache, but you see things, indelible things in terms of propaganda, the state of the country, and the parallels are eerie as fuck.”
Whedon has previously teased that his mystery script — presumably this World War II horror film, since he’s only been working on the one project — would have a female lead, specifically “a girl who goes through some unbelievable sh**.”
Joss Whedon wants to direct a ‘Star Wars’ movie
It’s common knowledge that, after the wildly successful The Avengers, the Ultron sequel nearly drained the life out of Whedon. But his troubled Marvel collaboration hasn’t scared him off franchise properties completely.
Having previously expressed interest in directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Whedon admits that he’s now inspired to take on one of Disney’s coming ‘Star Wars Story’ anthology movies.
Whedon cites Rogue One as his muse, which is not surprising, considering the trailers’ strong Firefly-vibe: “I was like, ‘I don’t want to make a Star Wars movie. Like, God dammit, why?’ But I saw the trailer for Rogue awhile ago and I was like, ‘I want to do that.’ To make a Star Wars movie and not be wed to the bigger picture.”
Related: What Joss Whedon should do next: A superfan’s wishlist
This writer would love to see Joss Whedon — who is, whatever else you want to make of him, one of America’s best and most imaginative storytellers — play in the wonderful sandbox that is the Star Wars universe.
I think a Star Wars anthology film would be perfect for Whedon, as he would be able to take complete ownership of the material without having to fit his vision into an existing narrative framework.
Check out the rest of the interview, where Joss Whedon also weighs in on the eternal Buffy the Vampire Slayer triangle question: Spuffy or Bangel? (Spoiler alert: He picks the right one.)