Avengers Month: 5 Reasons Why We Love Joss Whedon

For those of you who don’t know, the up-and-coming epicness that will be The Avengers (we’re all a little excited about it here at the House, if you haven’t noticed) was written and directed by none other than the wonderful Joss Whedon. If you don’t know who this guy is, then SHAME! SHAME ON YOU!!! He’s only the creator of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Us geeks, we love Joss Whedon. So, when we found out he was involved in The Avengers, we got all excited. This is why.

1. He created Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

How could anyone not love the guy who made these things? Please. And all of them are triumphs in their own ways. Buffy was originally a movie that didn’t do too well at the box office. To then turn that into a hit TV show that ran for seven seasons is a pretty awesome feat. Angel was a spin-off show. In general, spin-offs don’t last. Tell that to Angel’s five seasons. Firefly was a western, set in space. Despite actually asking Joss to come write a show for them, this had the network questioning their own sanity. And if they’d kept their noses out of it, Firefly probably could have run for a lot longer than one season. It was possibly the best single season of a show to have ever been made. And it was through pure fan power that the movie, Serenity, got made. That’s impressive. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was a musical video blog, and it is crazy famous and popular. Who does that? Oh, that’s right. Joss Whedon does.

2. He knows how to write great characters.

Now, I wasn’t a massive fan of Buffy, or even Angel, as characters, but damn, they were surrounded by some of the most epic secondary characters ever. Real, wise-cracking, tear jerking and downright lovable, characters like Cordelia, Giles, Spike, Fred, Wesley, Anya, and even that guy Andew, who just kind of stuck around Buffy towards the end there, they were all just pure epic. All of them. And Firefly really nailed it with a host of characters with interesting backstories and complex relationships. Some of the mysteries of that show were left unsolved for us, but those characters, and the wit and charm that came with them, just grabbed your attention, and didn’t let you go for that whole season.

3. His work is always unique, fresh and quirky.

A blonde girl, cheerleader type, walks down an alleyway on a dark, cold night. A creature of the night appears out of the shadows, bent of killing her. Instead of screaming and running away, she pulls out a weapon, and kills said creature. Yep. No one expects that. Joss Whedon has often said the idea of the blonde teenage girl from your average horror movie fighting back was the inspiration for Buffy and the Buffyverse. All his shows are one of a kind and so unusual in their own way. In one episode of Angel, our ensouled vampire, played by David Boreanaz, gets turned into a puppet. Yeah. A puppet. He then has the stuffing mauled out of him (literally) by a werewolf. That’s just one example of how quirky and cool Joss’ shows are. And please. Can I just say musical video blog one more time? Perfect example.

4. He’s not above a cameo appearance every once in a while.

Oh, man. When you find out some of the characters he’s played and some of the shows he’s been in, you just don’t believe it. Check out this clip from season 2, episode 21 of Angel. Joss Whedon plays Numfar, the guy dancing around in the background. No. I’m actually not joking.

He’s also had cameo appearances in Buffy, Firefly, and Veronica Mars, and he voiced himself in Robot Chicken. What a champion.

5. He’s Joss Whedon.

Enough said. Just… enough said.

So, here’s what I don’t get… why hasn’t the Avengers movie been advertising Joss Whedon’s involvement in the film like crazy? He has a massive fan base. There are people who might hate superhero movies, but would still go see this movie, just because Joss Whedon wrote and directed it. I get that the Marvel superheroes also have a gigantic fan base, and that would probably make the movie worth making several times over, but why would you not want more people to be desperate to see it?

Anyway, here’s the Avengers trailer… with some modifications that are, admittedly, not very well done. But you get the point…

Well, I’m rather positive that there are way more reasons why we love Joss Whedon, but I think he’d get embarrassed if I kept listing them. But, that’s not to say you guys can’t. I know you must love Joss Whedon, so I think you should tell me why…