Joss Whedon Talks Deleted Scenes, ‘Avengers 2′ and ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’

Prior to 'The Avengers,' Joss Whedon was a creative talent who was still having a hard time getting a TV series to stay on the air. Now, he's one of the biggest and most important directors in Hollywood as he preps 'Avengers 2' - one of the biggest sequels of all-time - and 'S.H.I.E.L.D' - one of the most highly-anticipated TV shows in history. Whedon talked about both of those projects and gave some updates on the upcoming Marvel universe.

Whedon spoke with Vulture - ostensibly about his upcoming Shakespeare adaptation 'Much Ado About Nothing' (from the director of 'The Avengers'...) - about all things Marvel, now that he has signed a larger, development deal with the studio.

On officially signing on to direct 'Avengers 2' and develop the 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' TV series, Whedon says:

I loved the idea of being a consigliere....I also love these characters and the Marvel universe, and I grew up reading the books, and I've been going back and reading the old books and realizing that they shaped my storytelling way more than I give them credit for. Now I'm starting up a TV show, which is something I really wanted to do, but I thought it wasn't going to be a part of my life for the next several years. It's like a tapas menus of projects that excite me, in addition to the Avengers sequel, which I'm excited for because I'm incredibly excited about the next story that I'm going to tell. For me, it's a huge win....So, it's going to be an insane few years, but I feel ready for that.

Reflecting back on 'The Avengers,' Whedon meets his critics head on by admitting 'The Avengers' isn't even a "great movie" insisting instead that it's a "great time" and that audiences responded to it in a massive way, which he says is "very gratifying."

On the recent deleted scenes and why they were cut, he admits his original edit of the film was three hours long and though he said he loved both of the scenes and the work the actors did in them, "It's about the Avengers. I am less important than the needs of the film."