Joss Whedon: ‘I kept telling my mum reading comics would pay off’

Originally Posted at The Guardian Observer
By Emma John

Joss Whedon found a cult following when he created Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But now he’s directing Hollywood’s biggest superhero movies – and Shakespeare. Emma John meets the fanboy who has turned his obsessions into box-office glory

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  Proof that the geek can inherit the earth: Joss Whedon, photographed at Forbidden Planet in London. Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Observer

  Joss Whedon is standing in the Forbidden Planet comics store in London, surveying a row of plastic action figures. There are Gandalfs and Frodos, Batmen and Ironmen. Whedon points out the few female characters – pert young warrior princesses – all standing in the same pose: shoulders back, cleavage thrust forward. This, he explains, is the reason he resisted a Buffy doll.

  Until last year, Whedon was a writer and director best known for his TV creations. Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel, were cult classics, the just-home-from-school fantasy shows that made vampires sexy long before R-Patz and Kristen mooned at each other in Twilight. Then Marvel handed him the biggest toy set they had: Avengers Assemble, a film that trapped their greatest superheroes in one megalithic, extortionately expensive movie. Thor!… Hulk!… Captain America!… Robert Downey Jr! It came with a price tag of no less than $220m; Whedon turned it into the third highest-grossing movie of all time. “I kept telling my mom that reading comic books would pay off,” he deadpans.
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The Time For Regeneration Has Come Again

Originally posted at SuperHeroHype
BBC made the sad announcement today that actor Matt Smith would be vacating the role of “Doctor Who” after four years playing the character, finishing up after starring in the 50th Anniversary in November and and the Christmas special.

Smith has achieved a lot of great milestones as the 11th Doctor including being the first actor to be nominated for a BAFTA for the role as well as receiving a National Television Award for Most Popular Male Drama Performance in 2012. Smith’s youthful energy helped the show reach the biggest global audience in BBC history with 77 million fans in the US, UK and Australia alone.

Smith leaves the role with a letter thanking the fans:

Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realize all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.

Having Steven Moffat as showrunner write such varied, funny, mind-bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.
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