Joss Whedon Patterning Avengers: Age of Ultron After The Godfather Part II

In a newly-released interview with a French movie website (via CBM), Avengers: Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon said that he's got a philosophy that will guide his approach to continuity in the film--and that while he won't contradict any of the Phase II movies in the upcoming mega-team-up, he will take time out to give the viewer context for why things have changed so much for the characters in between installments. "The events of Captain America [The Winter Soldier] will definitely affect the world of Avengers 2," Whedon told AlloCiné in a recent interview. "But at the end of the day, I have to make my movie assuming that people will only have seen the first one, or possibly not even seen the first one. I can't assume that everybody went to see Thor [The Dark World], Captain America, and Iron Man 3 in-between. I have to go from one movie to the next and be true to what's happened [in the previous movies], but not be slavish to it." The director added that he's taking some cues from great cinema in hopes of making his philosophy work. "The model I'm always trying to build from, or my guiding star, is The Godfather: Part II where a ton has happened in-between and it's a very different movie [from Part I], but you don't need any information," Whedon said. "It's there in the film about what's happened since, what's different, and why is this a different film; why is it a different kind of structure, and why is it darker. It's all there, you're in the vernacular of the first movie and you're just ready to pick up in this new place, and hopefully that's what will happen with my movie. Obviously I'm talking about one of the greatest films ever made (The Godfather: Part II)... I hope mine will be good, but that is my guiding star." You can check out the interview below.