Well, that's interesting. Not content with throwing the internet into nerd war with the news that he's in "final negotiations" to direct Marvel's Avengers movie, rumors are now surfacing that Joss Whedon will also be reworking the script as well... and the script of the Captain America movie, as well.

Pajiba.com has the skinny:

Apparently Whedon’s role in the Marvel film universe may expand even further [than Avengers], as he’s also likely to be tasked with doing a polish on the Captain America script. At this point, we know the general news about Captain America — Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) undergoes a secret super soldier experiment during WWII and becomes Captain America. During a battle with The Red Skull (played by Hugo Weaving), he ends up frozen in ice, only to re-emerge during the modern era (where, presumably, he’ll eventually meet up with Tony Stark, Nick Fury, Thor, and the rest of the gang). The nature of Whedon’s script polish (on a screenplay originally written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely) is unknown, but it makes me rest a little easier, since this project has seemed like more of an x-factor than the others.

Color me entirely confused by how to react to this news. On the one hand, Whedon is a fine writer and one with experience script doctoring, and his work on both Astonishing X-Men and the first X-Men movie show that he can work with superheroes. But on the other, I can't be the only one who is not only disappointed that he's working on someone else's characters and in such a strongly-controlled environment, surely...? Not to mention the concern - already voiced by many online - that Whedon re-writing the scripts would lend the characters the distinctive dialogue and attitude that he's become famous for but which wouldn't necessarily suit the already established Marvel heroes.

The more I think about it, the more bizarre Whedon's involvement with the Marvel movies seems. Going from years of creating his own worlds to immersing himself in an already existing franchise feels like a step down, in a way, and also reinforcing a belief that Whedon is "only" a geek-friendly creator - A step backwards towards a core audience in a way that his upcoming The Cabin In The Woods horror movie felt like he was trying to reach a new one, or Dr. Horrible was building one in a new medium. Creatively, reworking existing scripts and working within the superhero genre may be comfort food after the failure of the more ambitious Dollhouse (not to mention, it's nice to be able to pay the bills), but I can't help but wonder what happened to the man who walked away from Marvel's comic universe because he would rather create his own characters than work within a world filled with crossovers and stories he couldn't tell without interference.

(Never one to miss a promotional opportunity, Dark Horse Comics has asked a simple question on their Facebook page: Given the choice, would fans rather Joss Whedon worked on a new series of the Buffy comic or, as rumored, direct Marvel's Avengers movie? Given the source, it's particularly unsurprising that Buffy is winning.)

From Marvel's point of view, it's just as strange a choice: Whedon isn't a director with a lot of experience for the kind of movie that Avengers will have to be to please fans and studio (ie, action-packed, CGI-filled summer blockbuster) - In fact, outside of his own series, his directorial experience is limited to episodes of The Office and Glee. His one movie as director, Serenity, may be a fan favorite, but it wasn't a box office success. Outside of courting the nerd faithful who were already excited about the possibility of an Avengers movie, there doesn't seem to be more to Whedon than a high-profile risk - which, in itself, has become a Marvel Studios staple (Jon Favreau seemed a risk for Iron Man, as do both Kenneth Branagh and Joe Johnston for Thor and Captain America, respectively, let's be honest).

Don't get me wrong; I'm not assuming that Whedon's Avengers will fail - Far from it, it stands every chance of being wonderful. But I am slightly disappointed that this is what he wants to work on, instead of something new, and I am slightly fearful that it's not as good a pairing as some devout Whedon worshippers are claiming. Sometimes, two great tastes don't taste great together. We'll just have to wait and see if this is one of those cases.