Just in case you've been living under a pop culture rock, Joss Whedon is the mastermind behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Firefly", "Dollhouse", "Doctor Horrible" and the director of the new "Avengers" movie.
Reddit is a user generated social news website with a subreddit, or sub-forum, for questions called Ask Me Anything or "AMA".
You can read the whole AMA here.
Q: Hi there! How was working with Avengers team like?
A: Like herding adorable kittens.
Q: I was hella pissed at Comiccon during the Iron Man 2 panel when every single male cast member was asked questions, and Scarlet Johansson was only mentioned in passing "you're hot". Anyone with eyeballs knows she's hot, but she worked her ass off to get that role, and she took the time out of her busy schedule and faced nerd musk to support her movie. What are your feelings on this? Have you dealt with the hypersexualization of women in Avengers? Also, you're the shit.
A: All I can say is that Scarlett gets to do a lot more than be hot in "Avengers". It's definitely dispiriting to have a woman play an heroic role and then be reduced to body parts by fan commentary, but that can only change slowly. And is.
Q: I'm sure that killing off a character you've invested a lot of time in can be tough. Have you ever found that doing this to a particular character has had a profound emotional affect on you? Who was the toughest kill?
A: I actually find it refreshing... delightful.... vaguely arousing....
Actually, I'm, no offense, very tired of being labelled as "the guy who kills people". Shakespeare (he's this hot new writer) does it way more than me, and everyone's all excited about how he, as it were, holds a mirror up to nature, while I'm like the Jason Voorhees of the writing community. Unfair.
Also, probably Buffy's Mom.
Q: I'm SO excited to see your version of Much Ado About Nothing. What made you want to tackle Shakespeare?
A: I wanted to drag Shakespeare from obscurity. I've been a fan my whole life, and it's time other people started noticing him!
Q: How would you describe the experiences working with both Robert Downey Jr. and Neil Patrick Harris? Are they as awesome and witty off-screen as they are on the big screen?
A: Robert and Neil are both even funnier off-screen than on. Funnier, in fact, than me. I hate Robert and Neil.
Q: Would you have brought Fred back if Angel hadn't ended with season 5?
Any regrets as far as stories, character developments that you were unable to do with any of the Buffy/Angel characters?
A: Season six of Angel would have kicked all manner of ass. And Illyria would have manifested as Fred often enough to become very confused about her identity.
And now I'm sad again.
Q: So Joss, if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?
A: Do the astronauts have weapons?
Q: You've been said to encourage fanfiction. How do you feel about scholarship about your work and the fact that academics tend to delve quite deeply into it, perhaps to the point of publishing interpretations you did not intend?
A: All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Q: Just an idea. Put Firefly season 2 up as a project on Kickstarter and see how much money you can get to buy the rights and make it happen.
A: Step 2: Cancel Castle. Step 3: Cancel Homeland. Step 4: Generally destroy everybody's careers. Step 5: Avoid Step 2.
