Joss Whedon admits he felt beaten down during Avengers: Age of Ultron

At this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Joss Whedon took some time with Mark Ruffalo to reflect about his experience writing and directing Avengers: Age of Ultron. To put it bluntly, he states “I was so beaten down by the process. Some of that was conflicting with Marvel, which is inevitable. A lot of it was about my own work, and I was also exhausted.”

It’s no surprise that the success of Avengers that Age of Ultron was a tall order to fill. And with such a big box office at stake, there would be even more pressure from Marvel and fans alike.

“I think that did a disservice to the movie and the studio and to myself,” Whedon said. “It was not the right way to be, because I am very proud of it. The things about it that are wrong frustrate me enormously, and I had probably more of those than I had on the other movies I made. But I also got to make, for the second time, an absurdly personal movie that talked about how I felt about humanity, and what it means, in very esoteric and bizarre ways, for hundreds of billions of dollars. The fact that Marvel gave me that opportunity is so bonkers, and so beautiful, and the fact that I come off of it feeling like a miserable failure, is also bonkers, but not in a cute way.”

Joss, you’re being too hard on yourself! Age of Ultron was a decent film and did its job taking us into the next phase of the MCU. Mark Ruffalo then told the audience how he’s pleaded with Joss to make another Marvel film. “I’ve been begging him, and he said I’ll never do it again,” he said.

It’s incredibly humble for Joss to take such a personal hit for doing the best that he could. Joss is back to work on other projects and we can’t wait to see what he’s got next.

Source: Variety