AUSTIN, Texas – Joss Whedon may be the new hardest-working man in show business. The director, who's about to unleash The Avengers and is putting the finishing touches on his whirlwind production of Much Ado About Nothing, plans to produce a new installment of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog very soon.

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Whedon said he'd like to begin work on the next installment of the supervillain musical farce this summer.

"We are hard on it. It's been a really tough year – couple of years – partially, I'm happy to say, because of work," Whedon told Wired during an interview at the South by Southwest Film festival, where he was promoting over-the-top horror-comedy The Cabin in the Woods (more from that interview to come).

The original Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was created by Whedon, his brothers Jed and Zack, and Jed's wife, Maurissa Tancharoen, during the 2007-2008 writer's strike. Shot quickly and on a low budget, then released online in three parts, the miniseries racked up awards, spawned comic books and was eventually released on DVD.

Fans have been salivating for a sequel ever since. And although Whedon's been very busy since the strike ended, he said progress is being made on the new Doctor Horrible.

"We do have a number of songs written," he said. "We have a whole outline."

>"Neil has been like, 'How long?' We're all just sort of waiting, but the waiting will stop."

Dr. Horrible, which became an internet sensation when it hit the web, starred Neil Patrick Harris as the eponymous doctor and aspiring supervillian. *Firefly'*s Nathan Fillion played Captain Hammer, the doctor's nemesis, and The Guild star Felicia Day played Penny, the girl of both their dreams.

Whedon, who didn't offer much detail on the plot of the new iteration of the web series, said the biggest roadblock to unleashing a Dr. Horrible sequel – besides his need to get back into songwriting mode – has been aligning everyone's schedules for the next installment of the indie hit.

"We're stuck, basically, at this one part in the process," Whedon said. "All of us are looking at this summer as the time when we can go, 'Hey, you know what? We've got a little free time, let's get unstuck.' Neil has been like, 'How long?' We're all sort of just waiting, but the waiting will stop."

Anyone else as excited about the prospect as we are?