Marvel movie fans’ relationship with Joss Whedon has been a series of ups and downs, to say the least. When he was first announced as the director behind Marvel Studios’ The Avengers, there were plenty who felt it was a bad idea. Whedon’s passion for the material was never in question, but as a filmmaker? Well he hadn’t really proved himself to be very cinematic in nature, so some were wary of seeing him take on Marvel’s biggest movie to date in the wake of directors like Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau. Everyone changed their tune in May 2012, though, as The Avengers turned out to be one of the best Marvel films yet, with Whedon doing an admirable job behind the camera while crafting a delightful, joy-filled screenplay. So when it was announced that Whedon was further signing on to write and direct The Avengers 2 as well as act as a chief creative consultant on Marvel’s entire Phase Two slate, fans were elated.And then came the lowpoint once more. With the release of this past May’s Avengers: Age of Ultron—an undervalued sequel that I found to be a far more ambitious, more interesting film than Whedon’s first Marvel entry—Whedon announced that he was leaving Marvel Studios for good. The experience of developing and making Age of Ultron was a herculean task as Whedon pushed himself to change up his filmmaking style significantly, resulting in a much stranger but also much more difficult film.