Avengers director Joss Whedon raised eyebrows last year when he spoke of his "difficult" relationship with Marvel, but he's now explained the refreshingly honest, albeit somewhat controversial, comments
During promotion for Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon admitted that the enormous pressure of making such an epic - and everything that came with it - had left him understandably pretty knackered and feeling rather downtrodden.
"It broke me a bit," he said.
During a Q&A with Mark Ruffalo at Tribeca Film Festival this week, the director addressed his statement, professing love for his passion project and explaining both the advantages and challenges of working with a conglomerate as huge as Marvel.
"Ultron I'm very proud of," he said (via IndieWire).
"There were things that did not meet my expectations of myself and then I was so beaten down by the process.
What to Read Next
"Some of that was conflicting with Marvel, which is inevitable and a lot of that was about my own work and I was also exhausted, and we right away went and did publicity.
"I created the narrative - wherein I'm not quite accomplished at - and people just ran with, 'Well [ Ultron's] okay, it could be better, but it's not Joss's fault', and I think that did a disservice to the movie, and to the studio and to myself.
"Ultimately, it wasn't the right way to be because I'm very proud about it."
Whedon went on to praise the studio for allowing him to make an "absurdly personal movie about humanity and what it means in a very esoteric and bizarre way for hundreds of millions of dollars".
He added: "The fact that Marvel gave me that opportunity twice is so bonkers and beautiful and the fact that I come off as a miserable failure is also bonkers, but not in a cute way."
We know you meant well, Joss!
