Joss Whedon
Authors: Macnaughtan Don 
Published: November 2015

Joss Whedon (b. 1964) is primarily a television and movie screenwriter, and he is also a director, producer, comic book writer, composer, activist, and occasional actor. He grew up in a family of television writers, and his feminist sensibilities were strongly influenced by his mother Lee Stearns. His education at Winchester College in the United Kingdom and at Wesleyan University was also a powerful influence. In the early 1990s he developed his skills as a script doctor and writer on a number of movie projects. These were not always successful, but the experience honed his determination and vision. Since 1997 he has become known for a wide range of work encompassing different genres and media and has accumulated a mass following for his innovative and challenging creativity. His projects include five television series (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and eight movies (the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Serenity, The Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing, In Your Eyes, and Avengers: Age of Ultron). He has written comic books in the Marvel and Buffyverse canons, produced an innovative web series (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), and earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing Toy Story. Whedon stands out among contemporary screenwriters and directors in that his work has generated an enormous amount of critical and scholarly attention. By some counts, more scholarship has been produced on Whedon’s work than any other popular culture texts (over 2,000 academic books, essays, journal articles, and dissertations). Although his work is populist and accessible, the rewards are great for anyone interested in diving into the deep wellspring of meaning and emotion beneath the surface of the media texts. Scholars from many disciplines have dissected and analyzed the Whedonverse since 1999, propelled initially by the dense and complex subtexts of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. To many, this work remains the cornerstone of his reputation. The major themes of that show have recurred throughout his subsequent career. Foremost is a sophisticated and subtle exploration of feminism, informed by a deep belief in strong women and a powerful anti-misogynist streak. He is also profoundly humanist and atheist and strongly influenced by existentialism and absurdism. His other creative concerns include the nature of family and community; the distortions of power, privilege, and greed; freedom and constraint; identity and the self; a fascination with words, good writing, and narrative structure; a playful fondness for self-referentiality, metatextuality, and intertextuality; and a longtime interest in composing, musicals, comic book heroes, and Shakespeare. Joss Whedon is an attractive character for both popular and academic study but also a daunting challenge. His output is diverse and prolific, and it spans many genres and formats. Trying to definitively encapsulate his life and work is an ongoing project, especially as his career is still developing. His latest movies, The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, proved to be among the most popular films of all time; his future direction should be an interesting and unexpected journey.