“He’s a bad person!” The first Avengers screenwriter pays Joss Whedon

“I think he’s an asshole,” says Zak Penn in a new book behind the scenes of the MCU, recounting how he was ousted from the project.

Before Joss WhedonIt is Zak Penn who was in charge of Avengers for Marvel Studios. Screenwriter of the project for many years, he was ousted when the father of Buffy was hired in 2012 to direct the superhero film. Today he recounts how violently his replacement sidelined him.

In the recently published book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards, Zak Penn explains how Joss Whedon took over the project without even calling him and how he made him understand, after a while, that he just didn’t intend to work with him.

“He told me he didn’t mind ousting me at all and rewriting everything I had done! It was immediately clear that he had no interest in keeping me involved in the movie.”

Zek Pennwho already knew Joss Whedonwas very surprised by this behavior and the lack of empathy from his colleague.

“When I told him that my children grew up while I was writing this script, that they had already told their friends about it, that they would look stupid seeing that their father was no longer credited in the credits d‘Avengers, Whedon replied: what about my children? What will they think when they see that you wrote half the story?”

Clearly still bitter, ten years later, Zek Penn don’t mince your words and immediately say: “I think he’s an asshole. I think he’s a bad person, and it was really surprising to find that out at the time.”

And the screenwriter emphasizes that his financial bonus “was based on my credit to the film. So literally, he lost me millions and millions of dollars. Which is not the problem here, but it is true that it came out of my pocket for go straight into Joss’s pocket.”

Ultimately, Penn is entitled to a “Story by” mention in the film’s credits, alongside Joss Whedonwho is credited as the sole screenwriter ofAvengers. Zak Penn has since co-written Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg and Free Guy by Shawn Levy.