The Avengers excitement is building once more in the run-up to the film's launch on Blu-ray and DVD, and Joss Whedon has taken some time out to explain why the many deleted scenes you'll find there were cut from the theatrical release.
We saw an alternate opening to the film in one of the scenes that has been released online, and that was the first point Whedon sought to address when clarifying why certain things were omitted from the finished film.
"Two factors," begins the director. "One: the movie was three hours long. Two: audiences didn’t respond to it as well in the movie as I think they would as a DVD extra. Most of them didn’t know who this character was or what the context was, and they were like, 'Uhhh, I don’t know why I’m supposed to be personally involved in this character I don’t know.'"
"The rollout to the Avengers getting to Loki was so gradual that people were getting restless. I thought Cobie [ Smulders ] nailed it, and the reason I thought it was necessary is because I was trying to make a war movie and I wanted to give context that something bad had happened in the past."
"In a war movie, you don’t know who’s going to live or die, but you do know that this war happened and that [ the characters ] are going to be in a dire circumstance, and I wanted to create that atmosphere. I was able to get what I needed without doing that. It was tough. I hated cutting it."
Whedon also commented upon his new status as Marvel Studios' creative overlord, sharing his excitement surrounding the consulting role he will undertake on all their films through until 2015.
"I loved the idea of being a consigliere," says Whedon. "Every writer loves the idea of being able to go in and fix a problem and then leave without obligation. It’s fun! I also love these characters and the Marvel universe, and I grew up reading the books, and I’ve been going back and reading the old books and realising that they shaped my storytelling way more than I give them credit for."
"Now I’m starting up a TV show, which is something I really wanted to do, but I thought it wasn’t going to be a part of my life for the next several years. It’s like a tapas menus of projects that excite me, in addition to the Avengers sequel, which I’m excited for because I’m incredibly excited about the next story that I’m going to tell. For me, it’s a huge win."
The Avengers will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from 17 September 2012.
