Do you remember those times when Joss Whedon was a big name in Hollywood? He showed his amazing and imaginative writing skills in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Alien Resurrection, and many more movies in his early days. His debut directional project, Serenity, impressed the majority of critics even after suffering from a low budget and poor special effects. But the year 2012 changed everything for him after the grand theatrical success of The Avengers. The movie ended up grossing more than $1.5 billion at the global box office. Its blockbuster triumph served as the foundation for an overstuffed but satisfying Avengers sequel with Ultron as the prime antagonist.
Whedon’s victorious run with Marvel lured Warner Bros to hire him for rewrites for Justice League as the executives ‘hated’ Zack Snyder’s final cut. Apart from making heavy changes in Chris Terrio’s original screenplay, he also helmed several major reshoots and messed up the entire JL project.
However, things got real ugly last year when on-screen Cyborg, Ray Fisher, accused Whedon of “gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable” behaviour towards the cast of Justice League. Soon, Gal Gadot supported Fisher’s claims and revealed that the helmer threatened to kill her career.
Now, Whedon has come out of the closet after dodging the questions related to the controversy for so long. In his defense, the director said, “I don’t threaten people. Who does that? English is not her (Gadot’s) first language, and I tend to be annoyingly flowery in my speech.”
Gadot replied to Whedon’s statement via email to NY Magazine: “I understood perfectly.”
Fisher’s statement forced the WB studio to conduct an investigation that resulted in Whedon’s exit from future DCEU instalments including Batgirl. What’s more interesting about this situation is that it is not the first time the controversial director has found himself amidst the sea of contention. Even Charisma Carpenter from Buffy the Vampire Slayer openly called Whedon a “vampire” due to the latter’s use of abusive powers on the movie’s sets.
More than four years have passed since the financial bombing of Josstice League and Whedon has no big-budget project under his belly. He created and helmed three episodes of The Nevers. The series received lukewarm reviews and responses from the viewers on the HBO Max streaming service. And it seems like the show will soon face cancellation.
Whedon credits his ex-wife and Justice League’s poor reception among the fans for his downfall: “The beginning of the internet raised me up, and the modern internet pulled me down.”