No, Thank You Joss Whedon

Yesterday, Joss Whedon took to Whedonesque.com to thank his fans for their support. In a heartfelt and humorous letter, Whedon posted, "So this is me, saying thank you. All of you. You've taken as much guff for loving my work as I have for over-writing it, and you deserve, in this our time of streaming into the main, to crow. To glow. To crow and go 'I told you so', to those Joe Blows not in the know." It was a classy move by Whedon, which shows that launching a movie with the biggest box office opening weekend in history hasn't put him out of touch with his fan base. It's that type of attitude that has made Whedon one of the most beloved directors in the business and will ensure his continued success. With that in mind, I wanted to say thank you back to Joss Whedon. Here's my letter. Dear Joss (may I call you that, Mr. Whedon just sounds to formal), Well, it was quite a weekend. After literally years of anticipation, I finally got to see The Avengers on the big screen. I couldn't wait! But my expectations were high based on feedback from those who got to experience the movie early, and there's a few things I'd like to say. Well, type. People had told me that The Avengers was a really good movie, perhaps the best comic book movie ever. They weren't kidding. Too many times I've heard a movie is great only to be disappointed to find out it really didn't live up to the hype. This was not the case with The Avengers. With all the build-up around The Avengers, you probably could have made a movie that was just about the explosions and special effects and still had a huge hit at the box office. But you didn't. You made a movie that had an intriguing plot and was rich with well-developed characters. It wasn't just about showing off the colorful costumes and high-tech gadgets (which were impressive by the way), but it was about showing the characters personalities and how they interacted and ultimately came together for a common cause. You said the movie was imperfect, but you're being overly modest. While I would agree perfect movies seldom if ever occur, The Avengers came as close to perfect as any I've seen. All too often movies are remembered for a couple scenes with filler and boring stuff connecting the dots. But with The Avengers, the movie was rocking from the get-go and it never slowed down. I cheered, I clapped, and I laughed. And speaking of laughing, thanks for giving us back our sense of humor in comic book movies. After the movie whose name shall not be spoken (ok, I'm talking about Batman & Robin), comedy became a dirty word in comic book movies. If a director tried to use comedy, then it was interpreted as not taking the characters seriously. And often with just cause, as over-the-top attempts at getting laughs usually fall flat. In The Avengers, you made the laughter come naturally. The jokes fit within the plot of the movie and stayed true to the characters. It was funny without pandering. After The Dark Knight (an incredible movie as well by the way), it seemed like everyone in Hollywood thought that comic book movies had to be dark to be successful. A lot of people have tried to copy what Nolan did with as about as much success as you would expect someone copying someone else to have. You on the other hand did your own thing. You proved there is more than one way to make a really good comic book movie. Also, last but certainly not least, thanks for giving us the Hulk back. After one disappointing movie and one so-so movie, it was great to see one of my favorite characters done right. P.S. I know you were joking about the "Air Bud" reboot, but I would totally go see it if you were the director.