Joss Whedon says it "isn't obnoxiously 3D", and was planned from the beginning...

Walt Disney Studios has announced that The Avengers will be released in 3D, when previous reports have stated that it would be released in 2D only. However, what would initially seem to be a questionably last-minute bit of mind-changing in fact turns out to have been a deliberate strategy.

As Joblo.com reports, “While it’s only now being formally announced, Whedon knew from the very beginning his film would eventually be converted to 3D saying he thought about the format “every second” while filming…Whedon says he was 100% behind the idea.”

To quote another superheroic movie franchise, “It’s all part of the plan…”

Filming an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing without anyone knowing; secretly having 3D in mind the whole time while filming The Avengers: Joss Whedon’s almost as good at springing surprising plot twists on us in real life as in his stories. Which shouldn’t really be surprising, considering that his interviews are regularly almost as witty and hilarious as his legendary scripted dialogue. The only trouble is, now as a fandom we’ll expect 22 new episodes of Firefly to magically appear next year…

[The next paragraph contains spoilers for How I Met Your Mother Season 7 Episode 3, ‘Ducky Tie’]

It’s like in that episode of How I Met Your Mother, where Barney accepts a bet that he can’t match the feats of a trained sushi chef, and everyone thinks he’s just being Barney and overreaching, but then it turns out he’s secretly been training as a sushi chef for months, specifically in order to win the bet. And Joss Whedon is every bit as awesome and legen…wait for it…dary as Barney Stinson, except without the self-delusion.

Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger were both post-converted to 3D, and while Thor’s use of the format was mediocre, Captain America’s was very good, adding depth and immersiveness to much of the film.

Normally, just over four months would be a tight timeframe to post-convert a film to 3D, but in this case, it’s been carefully thought through; plus Joss is a perfectionist and has creative integrity. He wouldn’t do 3D just for the sake of it, and has said, “there definitely are movies that shouldn’t be in 3D”. Specifically, in this case, he’s promised that, “The Avengers isn’t obnoxiously 3D.”

I love comic book movies, Joss Whedon, and 3D, so if the post-conversion were done badly, then it could cast a pall on all three, when the film should be a shining example of at least the first two, and has the potential to bring in many new fans to the Whedonverse.

But if it’s done right, it would almost be too much awesomeness for one brain to handle. Joss has the habit of making viewers do the Dance of Joy (even in two dimensions), so in three dimensions, it’ll be awesomeness overload, especially considering the amount of heroes and superheroes crammed into the film who could sustain their own film, some of whom already have. Not content with The Avengers being the biggest superhero cross-over movie of all time, nor with giving Joss Whedon by far his biggest budget as a director to date, now Marvel are going to make the blockbuster spectacle even more eye-popping.

In Joss Whedon’s own words: “Yeah, it’s fun!…I’m not a big fan of extreme long lens, talky movies – I like to see the space I’m in and relate to it, so 3D kinda fits my aesthetic anyway. And the technology has advanced so far in the last couple years.”

The Avengers is released in 3D and 2D on May 4, 2012 in the US, and on April 27, 2012 in the UK.

Whedonesque

See also:

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D review

The Dark Knight Rises: Will incomprehensible mumbling prove its Bane?

3D or no 3D? That is the question ...

The Dark Knight Rises trailer hits the web

Peter Jackson easing 3D eyestrain for The Hobbit?

The Avengers trailer is the Best. Trailer. Ever.

Awesome low-budget The Avengers trailer spoof

Top 23 things that Joss Whedon should do post-Avengers

Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America, dies at 98

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