Joss Whedon Talks The Avengers 2 and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In today's issue of Total Film, fan-favorite director Joss Whedon is one of a handful of Marvel notables (including Brian Michael Bendis) discussing the current state of the company's cinematic universe. Whedon, of course, is "showrunning" the second phase of the MCU, which begins with next month's Iron Man 3 and continues through 2015's The Avengers 2. Along the way, he stopped to direct a pilot for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the new TV series that his brother and sister-in-law will be showrunning for ABC which stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, leading a group of super-spies in a world of super-people. "The S.H.I.E.L.D. show fits into the mythology of The Avengers remarkably well and they both complement each other. So it just seemed like a no-brainer – although it has required a lot of my brain to get it right," Whedon told the magazine. "We have just finished shooting and I am excited. I think Marvel fans will appreciate what we have done." As far as The Avengers 2 itself, the director expressed that he's not feeling any special pressure to follow up on the first film's massive success. "The only pressure is the pressure that is there every time I do a new project. Is it going to be good? It is going to be different? Is there even a reason to make another one? Is there a reason for this to be my next thing? Can I pull it off? I am not going to try and match the box office of the first one because that would be bonkers," Whedon said. "Yes, there is a certain level of safety [knowing there's a huge audience] - because now people know about The Avengers and they like the characters so it probably won't completely crash and burn. But you don't want to just get by and do something that is merely okay. If I am going to dedicate three years of my short life to this then I want to do something that I have never done before. So I think of The Avengers 2 as a glorious challenge. It is a sequel, yes, but how can it be different? Of course, the pressure that I don't feel, my body internalizes. It happens all the time. I was comfortable making the first Avengers, but I didn't sleep during it."