Joss Whedon

Joseph Hill Whedon is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: the supernatural drama Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003) and its spinoff Angel (1999–2004), the space Western Firefly (2002), the musical miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), the science fiction drama Dollhouse (2009–2010), the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–2020), and the science fiction drama The Nevers (2021). After beginning his career in sitcoms, Whedon wrote the horror comedy film Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), the Pixar animated film Toy Story (1995), and the science fiction horror film Alien Resurrection (1997). He also wrote and directed the Firefly film continuation Serenity (2005), co-wrote the horror comedy film The Cabin in the Woods (2011), and wrote and directed, and the Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing (2012). For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Whedon wrote and directed the superhero film The Avengers (2012) and its sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). He also co-wrote the DC Extended Universe superhero film Justice League (2017), for which he also served as director for re-shoots, replacing Zack Snyder (who retained directorial credit). Whedon has also worked as a composer (notably for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, with Feeling" and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) and comic book writer, both for comic book continuations of television series he created and for established franchises, such as Astonishing X-Men. Actors Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Charisma Carpenter, Michelle Trachtenberg and Amber Benson have complained publicly about Whedon's abusive behavior towards them or others on set. WarnerMedia investigated Fisher's allegations and announced that they had taken "remedial action" in December 2020.