With the Avengers' movie coming out, I'm finding that I'm particularly more reserved regarding Joss Whedon compared to the rest of the geek community at large. Please don't misunderstand me here -- I like his stuff. He's got talent, his work is solid, and he's definitely been a hit with the geek crowd. I'm in no position to say he is bad in any capacity. However, it's his notably high popularity in the geek crowd that makes me wonder about his inclusion in The Avengers. I assume the movie will be fine, and that Whedon's style will fit well with the team-based story at work. I just can't shake the feeling that he was included so they could brandish his name around to attract more viewers. Again, this is likely not the case, but it's just that nagging though in the back of my brain.I can understand that someone could say the same of George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, and I'd a agree to an extent -- especially in the former. Whedon and Lucas are both creators of highly popular franchises, so they both carry the associated baggage with their name from other projects. Maybe it's just because of the people I hang out with and the sites I visit, but Whedon's name always snags people's attention, almost instantly getting people to instantly wax nostalgic over Firefly and Buffy. The same applies for Lucas and Star Wars., although there is often a hint of animosity with the Star Wars "purists" (another post? I think so). Spielberg's name, while it gets your attention, isn't associated with any popular franchises* and instead gets you by individual titles, like E.T. and Schindler's List. Franchises just seem to be what sticks to the mainstream, which isn't a bad thing at all -- Firefly, Star Wars, Pokemon, Twilight, Game of Thrones, The Avengers, and Batman are but a few modern examples.
