Whedon opens up on Avengers: Krees or Skrulls? Ideas for a Sequel?

Joss Whedon was at the SXSW (South By SouthWest) Festival Austin, Texas, USA, and discussed some things about the AVENGERS movie; about his own plan for AVENGERS 2, and clears up Kree-Skrull rumors about the Avengers movie.

First off, Whedon clarifies all the geek rumors to be wrong: no Krees and no Skrulls will be on the Avengers movie. Ever since the announcement of the Avengers movie, there had been much speculation and rumor buzz that the movie will feature either the alien races; the Skrees and/or the Skrulls as alien villains of the movie. Both alien races, especially the Skrulls, are most prominent in the Marvel comics universe, having been a constant universal threat to Marvel heroes en masse. Perhaps many have deduced that if there was something that would make the main characters of the Avengers movie assemble and unite, it's probably because of an alien invasion threat; people immediately thought of these alien races in mind. Joss Whedon answers the questions:

"It’s the Vulcans... I know we’re going to get a lot of emails about that one."

When the laughter died down, he continued:

"I will say only this: It is not the Kree or the Skrulls. Those two aliens are Marvel mainstays and have enormous backstories... They have a big life of their own that just could not be contained in a film where I already had seven movie stars...[The Skrulls] can shape change. That’s a whole thing... I’ve already got Loki. He’s got magic. Once you got magic along with your Iron Man and your Black Widow - it’s a real juggling act."

Whedon also talked about his plans for the sequel (if he does get the chance to direct the new one as well, that is, if this upcoming Avengers movie becomes a success). He revealed that his Avengers sequel would be more character-driven and will have more substance.
Joss Whedon describes how he'll make AVENGERS 2:

"By not trying to [top it]. By being smaller. More personal, more painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself. I want to know what makes them tick, what makes them flawed, what makes them fight — and ultimately, what makes them awesome. I go to these movies for those moments when the heroes define themselves, either through action or deliciously overwritten speeches."

It's not something that might want to turn on other "typical mainstream" producers, but what I think Whedon is trying to point out is the kind of approach that had made movies like "Empire Strikes Back" and Chris Nolan's "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" great. Movies that focuses its weight on great storylines and very rich character development, thereby creating a movie that could be as close to a timeless classical great as possible, and not just an "eye-candy-movie-of-the-week"

Joss Whedon is best known as one of the great mythmakers in cinema and TV by creating the timeless universes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe and the Firefly universe. Two of the biggest, most successful, not to mention, landmarks of geek fiction.

Check out the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe on DVD; With Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series DVD, and its spin-off Angel TV series DVD.
Check out the Firefly universe on DVD; With Firefly TV series on DVD, and its movie "Serenity" on DVD.