Joss Whedon Doubts He'll Direct Avengers: Infinity War

There had already been speculation that ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ might be Joss Whedon’s last time in the director’s chair for the Marvel super-team - and now he would appear to have all but confirmed this.

Whedon tells Empire Magazine (quotes via Comic Book Movie) that it’s “very doubtful” he’ll return for the back-to-back third and fourth installments in the saga: the two-volume ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’

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"I couldn’t imagine doing this again. It’s enormously hard, and it'd be, by then, a good five years since I created anything that was completely my own. So it’s very doubtful that I would take on the two-part Infinity War movie that would eat up the next four years of my life.

"I obviously still want to be a part of the Marvel Universe - I love these guys - but it ain’t easy. This year has been more like running three shows than any year of my life. It is bonkers."

In case you don’t quite get his meaning there, Whedon has indeed run three shows in one year before - between 2002/2003, when his TV shows ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ ‘Angel’ and ‘Firefly’ were all in production simultaneously - so he clearly doesn’t want any misunderstanding over just how much hard work goes into an ‘Avengers’ film.

Still, it’s hardly a revelation to hear Whedon suggest ‘Age of Ultron’ may be his last Avengers movie, as it’s long been rumoured he was feeling a little burned out on it all, as these comments would seem to confirm - and word is that the Russo Brothers, directors of ‘Captain America: the Winter Soldier’ and its upcoming sequel ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ are the likely candidates to pick up the reins of ‘Infinity War.’

Even so, we might note Whedon also stresses not wanting to sever ties with Marvel - so who’s to say he might not return to direct another property for the superhero movie giants somewhere down the line?

Considering what a large body of work Whedon has behind him, it’s almost surprising to note that ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ will only be his fourth feature film as director, following on from ‘Serenity,’ the original ‘Avengers Assemble’ and his ultra-low budget Shakespeare adaptation ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’

Of course, Whedon also has over 40 TV directorial credits to his name from ‘Buffy,’ ‘Angel,’ ‘Firefly.’ ‘Dollhouse,’ ‘Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ and ‘Agents of SHIELD,’ plus guest spots on ‘The Office’ (US) and ‘Glee’ - not to mention his numerous screenwriting and producing credits.

'Avengers: Age of Ultron' hits UK cinema screens on 22 April 2015.

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Picture Credit: Marvel