Joss Whedon helped make the Marvel Cinematic Universe the beloved franchise that it is today, but that hasn't stopped the director and sometimes writer from speaking out about some of the issues the studio has.
In a recent interview with the Oxford Union, as posted by ScreenCrush, Whedon talked openly about the fact that Marvel's television ventures are often treated with hand-me-downs and less consideration than the films are.
One of the examples that Whedon gave to the university audience was a proposed arc for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which stars Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. Originally, Marvel wanted to use Loki's scepter for a plot development, but when Whedon pulled executives aside and mentioned that he was going to use the same prop for the Avengers sequel, Age of Ultron, the idea for the show was nixed.
"With a TV show, you just have to — you just have to be careful, which unfortunately just means the TV show gets, you know, leftovers," Whedon said.
Marvel has faced criticism in the past for under developing the show in comparison to the studio's film department, but despite that, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has had a rather successful run on air thus far.
Whedon also spoke briefly about fan favorite character Agent Coulson and his decision to not retire the character after he had been killed off in the original Avengers.
According to Whedon, while he knew that bringing Coulson back into the universe meant that some of the original punch from having him killed in the Avengers would be gone, he knew he wanted to continue working with Clark Gregg and he didn't think it would be detrimental to the universe.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will return to ABC in March, following the sophomore season premiere of Marvel's other hit show, Agent Carter.