With Joss Whedon signing on to write and direct the follow-up to his record-breaking movie The Avengers, the filmmaker has confirmed the sequel will be released during the Summer of 2015. The news comes after it was announced that Whedon signed a three-year deal with Marvel Studios, though the details of the deal have yet to be revealed.
Screen Rant is reporting that Marvel has released a statement regarding its exclusive agreement with Whedon for the three years leading up to The Avengers 2 release. It reveals that the filmmaker will be working on both film and television projects for Marvel through the end of June 2015.
Marvel’s statement about its partnership with Whedon reveals that as part of the deal:
Whedon will write and direct The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of marvel’s cinematic universe.
The statement didn’t reveal whether The Avengers 2 will be theatrically released in June 2015 to coincide with the end of Whedon’s deal with Marvel, but The Avengers and the first two “Iron Man” films were all released in May, to kick off the summer blockbuster season. Iron Man 3 will also be released next May.
The timing of the announcement means Whedon likely won’t be heavily involved in the completion of Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, as the second “Iron Man” sequel just finished principal photography and is set to hit theaters on May 3, 2013. But as part of his deal, the filmmaker will help organize and connect the upcoming Marvel Studios films.
As such, Whedon will help guide the story of Thor: The Dark World, which starts production this month (set for release on November 8, 2013). He’ll also be working on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which will be released on April 4, 2014 and Guardians of the Galaxy, hitting theaters on August 1, 2014.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy will potentially introduce new characters and elements to be featured in The Avengers 2, so Whedon will have a nice selection of Marvel superheroes to work with.
With the huge success of The Avengers, Marvel made the right decision exclusively signing Whedon. With the cinematic universe growing, The Avengers 2 has the potential to be just as impressive, if not more so, than the original. And with Whedon at the helm of it all, we have nothing to worry about.