Joss Whedon Wants To Make 'A Star Wars Story'

There are lots of Star Wars fans who'd love to see Joss Whedon take a crack at the franchise, and now you can count Joss Whedon among them. The Avengers director admitted he wants to make a Star Wars movie — but not just any Star Wars movie. He would like to direct one of the Star Wars Story spinoffs, like Rogue One. Read the Joss Whedon Star Wars quote below to find out why. 

Star Wars came up when Complex asked Whedon if he'd like to make another franchise movie after Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Here's his response:

I mean, it's a fun thing to do, to put yourself in the service of something if you think you can add an interpretation. It's no different than any other storytelling. There are some times when you get micro-managed to death but with Marvel, they let me make two movies that were very much mine. So do I want to make James Bond movie? Yeah. Anne Hathaway does Catwoman again? Sure, I'm in. Do I want to make a Star Wars movie? Yeah. I was like, "I don't want to make a Star Wars movie. Like, god dammit, why?" But I saw the trailer for Rogue awhile ago and I was like, "I want to do that." To make a Star Wars movie and not be wed to the bigger picture.

Whedon has previously revealed he was interested in the Episode VII job until he realized he'd be too busy making Avengers: Age of Ultron, so his interest in the franchise isn't really new. And just to be clear, we've heard no credible reports that Whedon is actually planning to direct a Star Wars film — it seems like he's more just talking theoretically.

Still, it's a fun possibility to consider, and it doesn't seem totally out of the question. Disney plans to keep churning out a new Star Wars film every year until the franchise stops being profitable or the world ends, whichever comes first, so they'll be hiring many more directors in the next several years. Plus, between Whedon's geek cred and his past experience with Disney, who owns both Marvel and Lucasfilm, he seems like he could be a natural fit for the Star Wars franchise.

It's also interesting that Whedon seems more into the idea of directing one of the spinoffs rather than one of the central Skywalker Saga films. The Star Wars Story spinoffs are billed as one-off, standalone features (though I wouldn't be surprised if the more successful ones eventually yielded sequels of their own). They're less beholden to the larger narrative and therefore have more freedom to experiment with tone or introduce new elements. In other words, they would probably require less of the complicated character- and plot-wrangling that nearly "broke" Whedon on Age of Ultron.

In the meantime, though, Whedon seems quite busy with other non-Star Wars, non-Marvel projects. In the same interview, he teased a new movie he has in the works. "I'm in the middle of a screenplay that I am extremely passionate about," he revealed. "It's definitely a departure from the things that I'm known for. It's as dark as anything I've ever written." And he might even want to create his own original cinematic universe someday. "[T]he biggest thing for me is that I need to do something that I create myself," he said last year. "It's been way too long since I created a universe."