Joss Whedon has been making the rounds lately since, you know, he’s out hyping a film that might be another historic juggernaut at the box office. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s called Avengers: Age of Ultron, and it’s going to be in theaters on May 1st. One thing that fans are likely remiss to acknowledge, though, is that when Ultron comes out it will mark the end of an era- The Joss Whedon Era for Marvel.

While he’s likely to be involved in some capacity (like as a creative consultant, for example) if Marvel Studios ever needed him, Whedon has gone on record to say that Avengers: Age of Ultron will be his final Marvel outing for the foreseeable future as he’s itching to create and explore his own creations for a while. While he’s only technically directed two films for Marvel, he’s had creative input across the board. Thor: The Dark World directed Alan Taylor has famously shared a story where Whedon was airlifted directly to the set of the film to help rewrite a troublesome scene on-the-spot and then, just like that, he was lifted away.

So now that he’s stepping away from Marvel to explore new things, how does he feel about the fact that Marvel Studios has now secured the ability bring Spider-Man back into the fold? In a chat with Yahoo! Movies, it sounds like the writer-director has given thought to what a great opportunity that would’ve been.

“Yeah [I’d like to have worked on Spider-Man], he’s the poster child. He’s the first book I read, and I think that’s true for a lot of people. There are so many things I would want to do, even with these characters [The Avengers], even with just one of these characters. But the fact of the matter is: they’re doing fine, and I’ve probably got to move on.”

It would’ve been, eh? For Whedon, such an avowed fanboy with such a love for these characters. If he could’ve had Spider-Man to play with, who knows what kind of a success it would’ve been? I’d venture to say it would’ve been huge.

For now, the Russo brothers are taking over the reins of the Avengers films and Drew Goddard is the man tasked with relaunching Spider-Man when he gets a new solo film in 2017. 

SOURCE: Yahoo!