Joss Whedon is a man who's become a genre, inspiring a dedicated fanbase through his creations "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," "Firefly," "Dollhouse," and "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog," before directing the blockbuster "Avengers" and its sequel and filming "Much Ado About Nothing" with some friends. So what's next for the acclaimed creator? San Diego's Comic-Con International seems like a good place to find out. Dark Horse editor Scott Allie serves as moderator.

"In the last year we've said we want to bring more 'Serenity' comics out," Allie said, adding that an outline has been approved and Georges Jeanty is on board for art.

And with that, Whedon took the stage.

"I asked for the big room," Whedon joked, referring to the 7000-seat auditorium.

"I don't know if any of you saw, but I made another movie," he said of "Avengers: Age of Ultron." "Those are hard!"

He praised Dark Horse's use of his licensed properties, saying it's "a tightrope" to both stay true to existing characters and at the same time be inventive.

"I feel like five years ago, a tornado ripped up my house and dropped it in the land of Marvel," he said., again praising Dark Horse for taking care of his own properties.

"Some other things have happened - I got very old since the last time I was here," he said. "I thought, I don't know, I should have some wisdom? But that didn't go my way." He spoke about his creative process and thinking about what he had to do next.

"I did kind of want to get back to something I love

He then announced "Joss Whedon's Twist, " a 6 issue series from Dark Horse that "deals with the most personal question that can be put to us, which is why isn'r there a Victorian female Batman."

Returning to "Avengers," he joked, "Everybody's so pleased with how I handled Natasha, you're welcome." To hear fans' appreciation, then, he said, "Let me put it this way -- Comic-Con: The Cure for Twitter."

"I am grateful that something I needed to see more of in popular culture has been embraced," Whedon said. As to how it works with actors, he said, "You want Zoe, you hire Gina Torres."

Asked about his favorite character, Whedon said, "it changes daily," but teased the fan that, "you failed to cry." Finally, he answered, "how can I not say Buffy?"

"She's everything that I am not, and everything I want to be around."

Asked about "a perfect world" in which "Firefly" could continue, Whedon said, "We do not live in a perfect world - I know this because I do not have a flying car." As to his plans, he just said, "You just put those nine people on a ship," and anything could happen. "I don't even need anybody else."

On "Dr. Horrible 2," Whedon said "you're going to chase me with pitchforks if I always give you the same answer, which I'm going to do now." But "everybody wants to do it, but everybody is extremely busy. "I talked to Neil [Patrick Harris] right after he did 'Hedwig,' and the first thing out of his mouth was, when are we going to do it?'"

"I'm unemployed, but nobody else is."

Asked about self-censorship, Whedon said "yes," he does. "You know going in with the format what you can get away with," Whedon said. "You're always thinking ... and the things you could never get away with takes up half your time."

"In the end, you just have to say 'mewling quim' and see if it slides!"

A fan asked about other characters "going Dark," like Willow. "I myself am going dark, but you can't tell because I'm so pasty." He added that the character in "Twist" would be somewhat similar to Willow.

Next fan basically asked about the meaning of life. "You think I'm not going to, but I'm going to answer that," he said. "The world is a terrifying and meaningless place, and then - spoiler alert! - we're all gonna die."

"But we're built to transcend that," he added, quoting himself that, "what makes a thing beautiful is that it doesn't last."

"From the very beginning, we're telling a story about ourselves. I hope to be the hero, but mostly I'm the annoying sidekick, like Rosie O'Donnell in that Tarzan movie."

"We come here to celebrate exactly that, storytelling and the strength that it gives us. ... That is how we live peacefully, and with ourselves and with each other."

Asked about including more Latinos, Whedon noted that "i have been knocked a few times for my record on race." His responses when confronted is "Yeah, good call," and said his focus has been on gender. But, he added, "My answer is 'soon.'"

A fan dressed as Lorne from "Angel" asked for stories about the late Andy Hallett who passed away in 2009. Whedon mentioned a karaoke session where Hallett went "full Patty Labelle," continuing to talk about the bonding process of performance and the revelation that "the real LA is much weirder than my show about LA. "He was a force of nature; he was much missed."

Asked about what advice he would have given his younger self working on "Buffy," he said, "Rogaine." He added that he would suggest greater discipline and said he'd likely "destroyed" production folks because of all the things he didn't know. "But I'm not big on regrets," and for the rest, "I wouldn't want to spoil myself."

The panel concluded with Comic-Con's David Glanzer stepping up on stage. He said that while he was first drawn to cons by the movies, Comic-Con represents the fact that, "you don't have to love just one thing, and it's clear Joss loves it all." He presented Whedon with the annual Icon Award.

"Thanks, guys, -- that almost makes up for having to listen to someone talk about how great I am," he joked. "I like how artfully you've scratched off J.J. Abrams." Then, though, Whedon choked up. "I didn't expect to be moved by this, but I am. I'm grateful. Thank you."