Joss Whedon Says He's a Little Jealous Over 'Avengers: Infinity War'

Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters, giving fans the culmination of ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe storytelling. It's been a long road since those first steps with Iron Man and Incredible Hulk way back in 2008, and few no better about just how far we've come than Joss Whedon, the man who stepped up to direct the very first Avengers movie.

So how does Whedon feel about how far the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come with the release of Avengers: Infinity War? Well according to the filmmaker himself, he's feeling some pangs of envy, right about now.

This is what Whedon told THR, while on the red carpet for the Infinity War premiere:

"I'm less tired, and exicted because I don't know what happens, and, you know, a little jealous."

The follow-up question pushed Whedon to explain exactly what about this third Avengers film had sparked his feelings of jealousy. This was his answer:

"Well, they [The Russo Bros] got the Guardians in there, and every living human being who wasn't in a Harry Potter movie is in this film. I don't envy them the gig - there's a reason I said two and out - but I do wish I had gotten to play with those characters a little bit."

That's a pretty understandable statement from someone in Whedon's position. After all, having to tackle the task of bringing the first Avengers into world was an unprecedented challenge - and the billion-dollar result was an unprecedented success story. Things only got harder when Whedon had to top his own milestone, and Avengers: Age of Ultron unfortunately didn't have the all the story resources to bring characters like The Guardians into the fold.

Regardless, Whedon will always be seen as an icon for his contributions to the MCU (and beyond). It's true that the last few years since breaking with Marvel have been rough on the man: he had an ugly (and very public) falling out with his wife; became a target fan ire after he stepped in to "fix" Zack Snyder's Justice League; dropped out of DC's Batgirl movie; and made some not-so-kind remarks about his MCU experience that had to later be walked back. Meanwhile, there's been no new Joss Whedon project that's made headlines or captured the pop-culture zeitgeist.

At the end of the interview, Whedon reveals that he indeed has some of his own projects in the works.

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Avengers: Infinity War is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.