Joss Whedon has pretty much built his career around strong female characters (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse et al) and now – as he prepares to turn his attention to The Avengers’ Black Widow – the director has given USA Today (via Vulture) a detailed account of how he thinks a showdown between Sarah Michelle Gellar’s vampire slayer and Scarlett Johansson’s super spy would go down:
“Buffy would go easy at first, but as soon as Natasha popped her with a Widow Sting, she’d start bringing some slayer brawn to the fray. Natasha’s fast, but a couple of good connects and she’s wobbling, possibly something broken — she whips out her glock and now Buffy’s dodging — right where Natasha wants her. Natasha shoots the cable holding the steel barrels and they tumble onto Buffy, nearly burying her — Buffy just arcs out of the way, grabbing the splintered cable and swinging directly onto Natasha, a bullet grazing her cheek as her feet land hard on the Russian’s shoulders, sending her back flat — crack! — on the floor, Buffy wrenching the gun away and tossing it, fist ready for the final strike. Natasha, struggling to stay conscious, says the fight’s over. Buffy agrees, but Natasha explains: She poisoned Buffy hours ago. That waitress that brought her salad …? Natasha smiles. The poison is dormant — ’til it’s activated by adrenaline. Buffy’s eyes narrow. “Too bad I didn’t use any.” Wham! Natasha’s out for the count, and Buffy’s heading — slowly — to Willow for a mystical cleanse. That’d be my first guess.”
Whedon certainly is a busy man at the moment; last weekend saw the North American release of Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, while this Friday brings another Whedon-produced offering, The Cabin in the Woods, which is co-written and directed by regular collaborator Drew Goddard. And of course, lest we forget, there’s also the small matter of Marvel’s The Avengers on the horizon…
Originally published April 10, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
