Though the Internet has given way to plenty of nasty and terrible things over the years, one of the most fruitful recent trends has been Q&A sessions with writers/directors/actors/etc. on Reddit.  Mr. Joss Whedon (who’s technically royalty here on the internets) participated in a Reddit AMA recently, touching on everything from a Dr. Horrible sequel to season two of Firefly, to Scarlett Johansson’s prevalence as a “sex object” in much of the marketing for The Avengers.

Hit the jump to check out some of the highlights from the conversation.

Big thanks to Heat Vision for compiling some of the key nuggets from the AMA session.  First and foremost, let’s get to the all-important Dr. Horrible sequel:

"We're not shooting right now, we're still in the early stages of writing. But we hope to make a great deal of progress this summer. And you can expect the death of someone you love... Yes, the original cast will be back for Dr H 2, but Penny will be... um... I don't want to say 'decomposing..."

Whedon also took a moment to address the fact that much of Scarlett Johansson’s appearance in the marketing material for The Avengers has been reduced to, “Look at this hot girl!”

"All I can say is that Scarlett gets to do a lot more than be hot in Avengers. It's definitely dispiriting to have a woman play an heroic role and then be reduced to body parts by fan commentary, but that can only change slowly. And is."

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As someone who was also discouraged by much of the reaction to Johansson’s appearance in promos for The Avengers, it’s nice to hear Whedon take issue with that kind of objectification.  There’s recognizing that Johansson is gorgeous, and then there’s just being gross.

Addressing the prospect of starting a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a second season of fan-favorite Firefly, Whedon had some sad/funny words for diehard fans:

"Step 2: Cancel Castle. Step 3: Cancel Homeland. Step 4: Generally destroy everybody's careers. Step 5: Avoid Step 2."

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Image via Lionsgate

If you didn’t catch the joke, resuming Firefly would mean pulling the show’s actors off of their very successful series.  No stranger to musical-themed episodes of his shows, Whedon answered whether he’d ever consider doing a full-scale musical:

"Full scale musical? The biggest non-spaceship-involving dream of my life. But it's a huge life commitment..."

Finally, the writer/director also spoke about which characters have been his favorites to write for over the years:

"Favorite characters? Jeez. Spike, Andrew, Illyria, River, Captain Hammer, Loki, the Cheese Man... hell, I love them all, or I wouldn't write them. But I tend to the left of center… The hardest was always Angel. How to make a decent, handsome, stalwart hero interesting -- tough. Angelus, on the other hand..."

You can read the full Q&A over on Reddit.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of more writers/directors getting in touch with fans through the informative and fun AMA format, because it’s a blast to read Whedon’s responses.  You can catch The Cabin in the Woods (which Whedon co-wrote and produced) in theaters on April 13th, and The Avengers opens in 3D on May 4th.

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Image via Marvel