Page 3 Profile: Joss Whedon, film director

The world's biggest comic book geek?

Quite possibly, and certainly one of the richest. Joss Whedon directed Avengers Assemble, the highest-grossing movie so far this year and – with takings of £937m – the biggest superhero film of all time. In contrast to Christopher Nolan's intensely dark Batman series, Avengers was light-hearted fare that was given a bit of weight by a stellar cast including Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. But back in May, Whedon claimed he was "torn" over whether to write the sequel.

But he will, right?

Of course he will. "Torn" is film industry code for "fatten that cheque". Marvel confirmed yesterday he would direct Avengers Assemble 2, develop a new live action series for Marvel Television and lend his hand to more comic book projects in the meantime.

When will it be released?

In 2015. But for anyone hankering for more superhero action before then, Hollywood has you covered. Coming soon are Thor 2, Captain America 2 and Iron Man 3.

Will it be any good?

Whedon's career has fluctuated between success and failure. In 1995, he wrote the script for both Toy Story – which redefined popular film – and Waterworld – classic example of how not to make a film. Let's hope he can make it two in a row this time.