Well, this shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone, but Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has officially announced that Joss Whedon will return to write and direct The Avengers 2, the sequel to this year’s mega-grossing superhero ensemble The Avengers. Iger broke the news during a Walt Disney Investors Conference Call this evening, where he also revealed that Whedon will develop a live-action television series for ABC Television, which is set to take place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although a release date is yet to be announced for The Avengers 2, it’s expected that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will reunite in the summer of 2015, following the release of Marvel's Phase Two line-up, which includes Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy and may also incorporate the long-in-development Ant-Man adaptation from director Edgar Wright.
"Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015," said Disney in a statement to HitFix. "As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe."
