Joss Whedon Influenced By Godfather Part II For Avengers

by Helen Earnshaw | 25 February 2015

Joss Whedon has revealed that The Godfather Part II has been a huge inspiration for new film Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Joss Whedon

Whedon is back in the director's chair for the second Avengers film - which hit's the big screen in April - and comes three years after the billion dollar success of Avengers Assemble.

And the director reveals that it is the critically acclaim gangster movie that has been a huge 'touchstone' for him while he has been writing, developing, and directing this highly anticipated Age of Ultron.

Speaking to Empire, the director said: "I know I reference Godfather Part II a lot.'Don't reference the greatest movie ever made because that's Icarus, you moron!'

"But at the same time it is a huge touchstone for me because you get everything you got from the first Godfather movie in a very different movie, in a movie that structurally couldn't be more different, and thematically and in intent and in mood, and yet nobody ever goes, 'It wasn't Godfathery enough.'"

Age of Ultron will continue the stories and partnership of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye as Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner reunite.

And Whedon says that Age of Ultron is doing to be a 'deeper' and 'darker' Avengers film compared to the first. He continued: "I need to give people an exciting ride about heroic people, and that's certainly part of why I signed on, but at the same time a richer, deeper, darker movie is not a bad thing."

As well as the familiar faces on the cast list, we are also going to see James Spader, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor Johnson star as Ultron, The Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver.

Avengers Assemble went on to gross over $1.5 billion back in 2012 and went on to become the highest grossing Marvel movie of all time. Age of Ultron is one of the most anticipated films of 2015, and is set to be one of the year's most successful.