The last time Joss Whedon gave us a horror movie… well, according to Noelle’s strongly worded criticism that was actually Avengers: Age of Ultron… But the last time Whedon truly dabbled in the genre, we got the incredible meta-horror flick The Cabin In the Woods. As he proved through years of masterful storytelling on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Whedon has a knack for flipping horror tropes on their heads (Buffy looks like the epitome of a slasher horror victim) and then mashing it together with other genres. And he looks like he’ll be back to doing just that for his next project.
While talking to Complex, Whedon revealed the first details of his next film, which sounds pretty intriguing already.
It’s a historical fiction slash horror movie about a time when the world was going insane, World War II. I got to tell you, I was in Germany and Poland doing research for this movie and I was seeing so many parallels [to the U.S.]. And I know it’s a shopworn thing to compare the orange guy to the little guy with the mustache, but you see things, indelible things in terms of propaganda, the state of the country, and the parallels are eerie as fuck.
For those whose current address is no.1 Mossy Lane, Under-A-Rock, the “orange guy” Whedon is referring to is controversial US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump. As much as he has his supporters, the Republican Party Presidential nominee has drawn the ire and disgust of many more with his sexist and racist comments. And Whedon, seeing how Trump’s popularity was increasing despite these alarming views decided to try and do his bit to curb Trump’s rise to power. The result was his Save the Day voting initiative, in which he pulled on the support of many of his Avengers stars.
I was inspired by terror, and by a certain amount of outrage, and also a certain amount of inspiration because I’ve been a Hillary supporter for a long time and I know that is not actually a popular position, but I generally think that she is a good egg and a good politician. I just thought, I don’t have a job, so I can make this my job.
And after famously walking away from his Marvel efforts after being completely burned out by the stresses of big budget filmmaking, it was this campaign centred aroung the coming US election next month that got his creative fires going again.
I’m in the middle of [this] screenplay that I am extremely passionate about, and I am going to be extremely passionate about it again on November 9.
And it would seem that much like how this US Presidental race has been marred by some very dark moments, Whedon says his movie is not going to be his usual lighthearted fun.
It’s definitely a departure from the things that I’m known for. It’s as dark as anything I’ve ever written… I just said, ‘OK, id, your turn.’ I would write scenes and be like, ‘Oh this is great! I shouldn’t be allowed near people.’
Remembering how completely twisted and insane The Cabin In the Woods got at times, I’m now even more intrigued than before to see what Whedon is cooking up. Overall though, I’m just ecstatic that he’s back to making movies again, as he’s just far too talented to be sidelined by one misstep.
I highly advise you check out the full interview, as Whedon address the backlash to said misstep aka Age of Ultron, his political leanings, what he thinks of DC’s recent movie efforts and how he wants to make a standalone Star Wars movie (I hope you’re listening, Lucasfilm!).
Last Updated: October 26, 2016
