Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon is the creator of cult favourite TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. He also created the short-lived Western-in-space sci-fi show Firefly and wrote and directed its big-screen incarnation, Serenity. Whedon is currently writing the script for the forthcoming Wonder Woman film. Serenity is out now on DVD.

Why was Firefly cancelled so quickly?

The network disliked the show. They didn’t get what I was trying to do, so they gave it a bad time-slot and didn’t show the pilot. Because we had this sword over our heads, we tried to make each episode as cool, mythic and fun as possible.

What was your inspiration for Firefly?

I’m interested in history and I was reading about the American Civil War. I’m also interested in Westerns, the frontier life of the time and science fiction. I hadn’t seen a combination of those things. Science fiction has become perfectly presented and insanely scrubbed. I wanted to see it dirtied up a bit- like in Alien.

Will there be a sequel to Serenity?

It didn’t do that well at the box office, so it depends on DVD sales. If the sales are huge, I think they’d consider it but I don’t rate our chances highly.

Is it disappointing when something you’ve put so much effort into flops? I carried this project on my shoulders for a long time. We’d have loved more people to see it, or for it to have done better. On the other hand, the people who saw it really enjoyed it. I’m happy with the reception it got.

When you look back at Buffy and Angel, would you change anything about them?

I’m not big on regret, I don’t spend a lot of time on it. Part of making TV is the process-you just have to churn it out. At one point, I was making three shows a week. Even when you think everything’s gone perfectly-you’ve spoken to the actors, rehearsed them, thought how to direct it from every angle-even then you miss the guy standing in the background wearing a funny hat.

I have to be very careful to avoid becoming an old guy who just has one trick

Hardcore Buffy fans seem to believe you had a masterplan. How far ahead did you plan?

Certain major events were planned a year in advance. The first series was planned entirely in advance because it was only 13 episodes and we didn’t know if we’d be getting a second season or not. I’d plan the general arc of the season and the villain, then leave it to the writers. I knew some of the key events- I planned Buffy’s mother’s death two years in advance-but sometimes it’s best not to plan. You don’t want to box yourself in.

Is there any chance of Buffy or Angel coming back?

We’ve been discussing how to do things with a different format-maybe something straight to DVD that wouldn’t be a full series. There are various characters that I’d want to explore further.

You’re working on the Wonder Woman film-will she be another feisty teenager like Buffy?

She’s going to be a little bit older but her age is left unstated. She’s going through an adolescent rite of passage because she’s new to the world. She comes from a civilisation where she’s rather perfect, so she’s the opposite to Buffy in many ways.

How different is writing a character everyone is already familiar with?

Familiar is exactly the right word. She’s an acquaintance. This film will be about introducing you to Wonder Woman. There are benchmarks we need to include, so she’ll be wearing the outfit and there will be the bracelets, a golden lasso and Greek gods-but they’ll all be shown in fresh ways. The challenge with my other projects was to make the viewer believe the story needs to be told. With Wonder Woman, it’s easier because people are familiar with the story already.

Aren’t you in danger of making feisty young heroines a cliché?

I have to be very careful to avoid becoming an old guy who just has one trick. The fact people still talk about me writing these strong female characters suggests there aren’t enough of them around. It’s amazing how many anti-role models there are for young women, so it’s important to have these ones.

You’ve said Firefly was your best experience of working on TV. Why?

Because we knew what the show was about from the first frame. Sometimes when you go back and look at shows, it’s not always clear what’s going on. There was also an extraordinary energy about the cast which made shooting a lot easier. Everyone on set was really happy about the work they were doing and that’s rare.

What’s your inspiration for writing the things you do?

I’m a science fiction geek from birth-that’s just who I am. In this case, I was inspired by reading a book on the Civil War and it all came from there. Science fiction is like a blender-you can put in any historical experience and take influences from everything you see, read or experience.

What scares you?

Standard scary things-zombies, insects, things behind doors. The big thing that scares me though is the knowledge that we are ultimately alone.