Hoping to raise himself out of the indie-film ghetto, Joss Whedon secretly used his downtime between shepherding the naturalistic conversations and quiet, studied car-flippings of his upcoming ensemble piece The Avengers to really go all out and film a version of Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare’s epic war of words revolving around a Hero’s battle for redemption. The project was revealed through various tweets from its cast members—including such regular Whedon company as Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Sean Maher, Alexis Denisof, and Fran Kanz—who provided a link to its official website, which says only that it has completed principal photography and that it is “based on a play.” No word on when or where Much Ado About Nothing will premiere, but clearly they’re hoping to build viral anticipation through the many rabid Shakespeare fan sites arguing over Whedon’s take on character design, costuming, and the like. For example, Fillion's Dogberry will obviously be wielding his organic malapropism shooters, but will he have his traditional ridiculous hat, or will he follow the more controversial, hat-less revamp as seen in the Michael Keaton film version? Or has Whedon, like so many contemporary directors, gone for one of those modernized molded-rubber-and leather bodysuits? Feel free to wildly speculate.
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