As everyone and their mother knows, The Avengers opens in the US this Friday. It's breaking records internationally as we speak, and it is definitely going to be one of the year's biggest films. (Like, so big that in a week, no one will remember The Hunger Games.) Venkman loved the movie, calling it "the best superhero movie that's ever been made", and I also think it's a phenomenal piece of work that finally gives writer/director Joss Whedon a playground big enough to show his abilities to the world.

GQ Magazine just wrote a fantastic profile piece that describes Whedon's career, and it's one of the first true must-read pieces I've come across in 2012. In it, they mention not only Whedon's well-publicized attempt to get a Wonder Woman movie off the ground, but also a lesser-known effort to revitalize Batman after Joel Schumacher's sequels and before Nolan took a crack at the franchise. Whedon spoke a bit about his young Bruce Wayne that could have been, and describes a scene where a young Bruce saves a little girl in an alley similar to the one his parents died in:

"And he's like this tiny 12-year-old who's about to get the shit kicked out of him. And then it cuts to Wayne Manor, and Alfred is running like something terrible has happened, and he finds Bruce, and he's back from the fight, and he's completely fine. And Bruce is like, 'I stopped them. I can stop them.' That was the moment for me. When he goes 'Oh, wait a minute; I can actually do something about this.' The moment he gets that purpose, instead of just sort of being overwhelmed by the grief of his parents' death."

As with most things Whedon-related, that sounds excellent. I'm glad Nolan got a chance to make his Batman films, but I think everyone will agree after seeing The Avengers that Whedon has earned the right to direct whatever movie he wants in Hollywood. Let's hope he's still interested in Wonder Woman...or, as Blastr suggests, perhaps he could provide a new take on the Batman series after Nolan finishes up with The Dark Knight Rises.

What do you think off Whedon's Batman sequence, and what would you like to see him direct next?