What next for Joss Whedon?

darkspook

darkspook

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So I was thinking the other day and wondering what might be next for Joss Whedon if manages to find work in Hollywood what might that be?

Joss as a brand and an individual is now damaged goods. The weight of bad press whether all true or untrue has tarnished his name and reputation, also it could be argued his refusal to comment on any of it hasn't help him as he hasn't been saying things like 'I will seek help' or 'I am sorry for the damage I have caused' etc. It has led many to reexamine his work and his writing which has lead to criticism and devaluing it in some quarters. But all of this does not mean it is the end for him. Actors, directors and such have come back from the brink with similar bad press. Robert Downey Jr was in the weeds in the late 90s and look at him now, James Gunn was fired then later rehired by Disney over tweets and John Lasseter left Disney after it was reported he had a history of alleged sexual misconduct towards employees only to find work less than a year later running another animated studio. Point is if you are creative enough you get hired. So what that mean for Joss?

I think major studios are out like Disney and Warner Bros are out clearly and I think in this current climate most studios are protective over their brands so it is unlikely he will get work there. However I think Star Trek could do with some improvement so maybe Paramount might consider it, Universal is home to classic horror characters and we know Joss can work in horror so they might take a look at him if he has a good pitch. But these kind of projects need actors and will folk be happy working with Whedon?

He loves television so could he find work there? Maybe he could find work guest directing his own show The Nevers but he might hate having to guest director his own creation (Whedon is rarely humble something he will have to work on if he wants to come back). Would a studio let him be showrunner given all the bad press from the Buffy cast and crew? Unlikely. He also mentioned he prefers working on orginial work rather other people's so I can't see him jumping into a show mid run and becoming show runner.

Most likely his come back comeback vehicle will be an small indie film. Budgets are small so he has creative freedom, less pressure to perform at the box office and his bad press may even work to his advantage as it will generate headlines for his little indie film getting it noticed. Sheer curiousity at what Whedon makes may draw in the numbers. So I think an indie film might be his best bet... that is all dependent on his next move of course.
 
I think Whedon is also a victim of his own Ego ,when you have years of people telling you you are wonderful and you are , how you are always right it must be easy to let your EGO get out of hand and abuse your power
To me SMG walks on water , he used S6 of Buffy to punish SMG for not giving him enough praise for what he had done for her career , from then onwards I have thought he was a Arse , what has come out recently from his wife's letter onwards just proves that , would not watch anything he was mixed up with knowingly , so don't give a about Joss Whedon
 
I would try to lay low, if I was him. If I was Disney, I would try to snag him for the proper Buffy HD conversation, and to consult on the X-Men films, and maybe to write a comic or two. Those seem to be low profile activities where you can use him, and then ease him back into more important duties.
 
Dora said:
I think Whedon is also a victim of his own Ego ,when you have years of people telling you you are wonderful and you are , how you are always right it must be easy to let your EGO get out of hand and abuse your power
To me SMG walks on water , he used S6 of Buffy to punish SMG for not giving him enough praise for what he had done for her career , from then onwards I have thought he was a Arse , what has come out recently from his wife's letter onwards just proves that , would not watch anything he was mixed up with knowingly , so don't give a about Joss Whedon
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I agree he is a total prick, but if he did a good show I would still watch.

Personally I think he'll probably be the most humble man to work with from now on LOL. My god look at the beatings his ego must have taken over the last few years. Josstice League, the Snyder cut, his wife's letter, his cast all turning on him. Even he must surely be re-evaluating how he has treated people and acted after all this.

I personally hope he does a Fray tv series. That might be a way in. It is after all connected to Buffy yet would be more indie and small time. Might help him claw his way back. To be honest though we wouldn't need him to do a Fray tv show. Someone else could do it, but that could be a way back for him.
 
burrunjor said:
I agree he is a total prick, but if he did a good show I would still watch.

Personally I think he'll probably be the most humble man to work with from now on LOL. My god look at the beatings his ego must have taken over the last few years. Josstice League, the Snyder cut, his wife's letter, his cast all turning on him. Even he must surely be re-evaluating how he has treated people and acted after all this.

I personally hope he does a Fray tv series. That might be a way in. It is after all connected to Buffy yet would be more indie and small time. Might help him claw his way back. To be honest though we wouldn't need him to do a Fray tv show. Someone else could do it, but that could be a way back for him.
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NO he won't, he knows perfectly well he's a prick he just never cared. If you ever listen to the Harvest DVD commentary, the scene where Cordelia insults Willow "because your boring" was something he did and he admits that he wasn't the good guy. Plus you have other writers saying how pleased he was to make another writer cry twice in one meeting and you've got him as a guy who managed up with Executives. It all adds up to a bully who enjoyed his power.

If he behaved it wouldn't be because he's had a crisis of conscience or turned over a new leaf but because he'd know he'd have no choice.
 
Btvs fan said:
NO he won't, he knows perfectly well he's a prick he just never cared. If you ever listen to the Harvest DVD commentary, the scene where Cordelia insults Willow "because your boring" was something he did and he admits that he wasn't the good guy. Plus you have other writers saying how pleased he was to make another writer cry twice in one meeting and you've got him as a guy who managed up with Executives. It all adds up to a bully who enjoyed his power.

If he behaved it wouldn't be because he's had a crisis of conscience or turned over a new leaf but because he'd know he'd have no choice.
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That's kind of what I meant though. Sorry if it wasn't clear. I meant that the fact that his game has been rumbled has surely put the fear of god in him and given his ego of being this big untouchable guy a much needed thrashing.
 
Dora said:
To me SMG walks on water
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...so you and Spike have something in common then? 😉
darkspook said:
so he has creative freedom
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I should emphasise that this is the reason I think he's better suited to indies. I still think he's a dick - but a fairly clever one.
burrunjor said:
My god look at the beatings his ego must have taken over the last few years...
Even he must surely be re-evaluating how he has treated people and acted after all this.
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I wouldn't put money on it. If the ego's big enough it's easy to displace the blame on to others. @Dora has a point.
Btvs fan said:
If he behaved it wouldn't be because he's had a crisis of conscience or turned over a new leaf but because he'd know he'd have no choice.
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Agree. He'll rein his ego in but it'll be a strategic choice not a moral one.
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
I conflated on myself earlier when I thought it was just gas.
D
Dora
Perhaps the James Masters of today thinks SMG walks on water , not the James Masters of Buffy time who also had EGO problems and certainly not Spike
TriBel said:
...so you and Spike have something in common then? 😉
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I don't think Spike would much care for SMG at all. But that did make me think of Spike in something like Craven's New Nightmare where Spike finds himself in the real world and starts stalking SMG because he thinks she's Buffy.
 
TriBel
TriBel
True...I was knowingly conflating SMG and Buffy.
Yeah over time I think his career can be revived. Its tougher now, because cultually things have changed and people are more aware of these things a more critically than they once were. I don't think he will ever have such a level of success again. Given the mixed reviews of The Nevers its maybe fair to say he has peaked artistically. But he has a knack for adding a fresh coat of paint onto something. So I could see him maybe knocking out a solid movie or TV show here and there.
 
Honestly? I hope nothing is next for him. While it's true that people in Hollywood rarely face long term consequences for their actions, I like to believe we're finally moving away from that, and I'm hopinh he'll be out of a job for a long time.
 
Mr Trick said:
Given the mixed reviews of The Nevers its maybe fair to say he has peaked artistically. But he has a knack for adding a fresh coat of paint onto something. So I could see him maybe knocking out a solid movie or TV show here and there.
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I think The Nevers received such mixed reviews because of his reputation. If it weren't for the controversy around him, I bet it would have received better. It's actually quite a good show, though the last two episodes were kind of messy. Granted, Joss's tropes of powerful butt-kicking women has been criticised heavily and been called outdated, though I am wondering why people are so hard on him when those action heroines still exist elsewhere and are still a popular trope. Because he called himself a feminist? Because he has been doing butt-kicking women for over 20 years now?

Joss's brand is extremely tarnished though. He always painted himself as the super-feminist, even creating a female-centered show in The Nevers when there were already the allegations by his ex-wife out there. This will not play well with any studio or audience out there, as long as he doesn't comment on the allegations against him in a smart way.

But he is also at an older age, and I am sure he has made enough money that he does not need to work anymore. I could see him returning to the script-doctoring or writing comic book arcs.

As someone who idolised him for my whole childhood/adolescence, I would like to see him redeem himself in some way and show the world that you can grow and make amends.
 
I would say he take a few years off of doing anything high profile. He should maybe go back to his roots as a writer and stay away from actors. If he can prove that he has changed his bad behavior then after a few years he might be able to make a comeback. He'll need some industry people to be in his corner though, like another director, producer or studio head. I'm not a fan of cancel culture, I think that people should be given the opportunity to change and do better. He should be more repentant though.
 
Fuffy Baith said:
If he can prove that he has changed his bad behavior then after a few years he might be able to make a comeback.
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How long will it take to "prove" that though? If the CC stuff happened in 2003 (Angel Season 4) and the Gal Gadot stuff didn't happen until 2017 (plus Fisher's allegations which haven't been proven and lack evidence), then that is 14 years between the two cases of "bad behaviour". That's not exactly a pattern.
 
DeadlyDuo said:
How long will it take to "prove" that though? If the CC stuff happened in 2003 (Angel Season 4) and the Gal Gadot stuff didn't happen until 2017 (plus Fisher's allegations which haven't been proven and lack evidence), then that is 14 years between the two cases of "bad behaviour". That's not exactly a pattern.
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Well clearly he did not change his behavior in those 14 years. So, I'd say it would take at least 5 years of improved behavior, and again someone creditable to vouch for him.
 
Atonement is...

Well, start off with something like Joss Whedon being told, "This won't be easy for any of us, Joss. You're going to have to change your behavior. Engage your co-workers from time to time. Be sensitive to their feelings, their opinions, especially before you take some action one might construe as - oh, let's just call it insane. It goes a long way to show you - appreciate and respect them." DROPS LECTURING TONE A MOMENT: "This is torture for you, isn't it?"

Joss Whedon: "Yes."

Studio exec (or whatever): "Good. - I think that's all for now."

😛
 
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