Marvel Chooses Joss Whedon to Direct The Avengers!

Jon Favs?  Nope.  Louis Leterrier?  I don't think so.  Joe Johnston?  Was that a serious question?

Forget the in-house talent.  Instead, Mavel has reached into the depths of the Buffyverse for its Avengers leader, opting for what will surely be a fan favorite - Joss Whedon.  I would have gone with Robert Townsend, director of Meteor Man, but that's just me.

Accrording to Deadline Hollywood (and, beforehand IESB), Whedon is set to take the reigns on the mega-crossover film, last heard to be penned by Zak Penn (although Whedon will rewrite the script, says Variety) and set to star (at the least) Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Nick Fury.  It's a gargantuan undertaking, one that may seem too good to be true, but it can't be worse than the Sean Connery Avengers, right?

Whedon has a history with Marvel, recently penning the Astonishing X-Men comic for the company.  His director track record, on the other hand, is a bit spotty.  Other than a few episodes of his many small screen creations and Serenity, the feature version of Firefly, there isn't too much evidence of action expertise.

But with enough guidance from the producers (we'll assume Kevin Feige and Jon Favreau) and an imagination, why couldn't he pull it off?  Remember, Whedon was originally slated to spearhead a live-action version of Wonder Woman for Warner Bros, so Hollywood obviously thinks he's worth something.

Besides, they don't just let anybody direct episodes of Glee.

What do you think, is Joss up for the task of uniting the Marvel universe?  Or are The Avengers destined to implode?  Who would have been a better pick?

Let us know in the comments and don't forget to check out all our coverage on Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers!