Joss Whedon, against all odds, is suddenly a household name, thanks to his work on "Marvel's The Avengers." But he wasn't always the man to bring words to the lips of Captain America, Iron Man and the others. Before Whedon was hired to write and direct the movie, an earlier draft already existed courtesy of longtime superhero movie writer Zak Penn.
Penn's comic book street cred includes scripts for "X2: X-Men United" and "The Incredible Hulk," among others, such as the first draft of "Avengers." Ultimately, it's Whedon's vision that saw the light of day, but even Penn admits that the best movie wound up in theaters.
"I think it turned out better," the writer told Crave Online. "I think he did a fantastic job."
"I mean, look, I think that it’s very similar in terms of what we imagined in our head, what the movie would be like and what characters would be in it," he continued. "Kevin Feige was working on it all the way through so he’s the person to ask the most. He’d tell you this is what we hoped the movie would be, but most of the time you hope the movie’s going to be this good and it turns out very crappy, so it’s really a relief when you hope the movie’s going to turn out well and it’s a great movie."
Penn also weighed in on which elements from his "Avengers" script carried over into Whedon's version, including the inclusion of the Chitauri and the story of Agent Coulson. Check it all out over here.
Tell us what you think of Penn's stance on "Avengers" in the comments below or on Twitter!
