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Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon is no stranger to success. After all, he's the man who made Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse, critically acclaimed TV shows that have inspired large, passionate fan communities that remain active and vibrant. (Should we also mention that he co-wrote the first Toy Story, created Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and writes really awesome comic books in his spare time? Yes. And Done.) Yet 2012 saw Whedon go next level — and then a few levels higher — as the writer/director of Marvel Studios' The Avengers, the year's highest grossing movie, and at $623 million, the third highest grossing movie of all time. Surely this must feel like a different kind of success, yes? ''Not really,'' says Whedon. ''I can't even internalize and make sense of that kind of money. And believe me: I've tried.'' Perhaps he simply doesn't have time to be too impressed with himself. At the moment, Whedon is doing the following, all at once: Preparing the release plan for his low-fi adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which premiered to enthusiastic response at the Toronto Film Festival last fall; overseeing post-production on another indie which he wrote and produced called In Your Eyes, which, like Ado, was made through his Bellwether Films production company; shooting the pilot for Marvel's spy-fi TV series S.H.I.E.L.D, which he'll exec produce should ABC send the show to series, and writing the script for 2015's The Avengers 2. This kind of work life is not unusual for a man who feels like he isn't living if he isn't telling stories. ''My life is actually so much more like it was, which was crazy busy,'' says Whedon. ''I'm not off attending crazy parties — but I intend to be. One day.'' —Jeff Jensen

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Image Credit: JOE PUGLIESE for EW