Considering that the Avengers movie isn’t that far from release, it’s kind of distressing to hear Joss Whedon say things like this:

“Right now I’m working on a movie that’s got enormous stipulations and is going to be changing and fluid every second. I’ve come up with dozens of scenes and lines and exchanges and monologues that I adore that are not going to be in it. But while I’m writing them they feed me, excite me and they ultimately inform the character. It all goes in.”

See, I’m not so distressed about Whedon’s distress.  Things like this happen all the time–speaking as a writer myself there are plenty of time where we feel like we’re shouting at an empty room. But what really gets my terror level cranked is “enormous stipulations” and “fluid every second”.  This sounds like the specter of EXECUTIVE MEDDLING.

That, in case you’re not familiar, is what killed Arrested Development. It also almost killed Toy Story.

So take a lesson, producer types…let the writers write.