It came from nowhere. One minute I was eating chocolate porridge, and the next I was thinking “OMFG! What if Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon collaborate to make a movie or something?”
Of course I thought this was a golden idea and that I was the first person in the world to think of Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon in one sentence, but a quick search on the internet told me otherwise. I typed their names in Google and viola! Time Magazine had already done an interview with the two of them at the same time in 2005. See here: Interview: Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon
No mention of any collaborations, though. And I think the only reason they were interviewed together was because movies that theywere a part of (Mirrormask for Neil Gaiman, Serenity for Joss Whedon) were coming out on the same day. So my idea wasn’t all that bad, right? I mean, Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon. Why not, right?
Or, before we get to the why not, let me tell you first my thoughts on the why:
- I’m not saying they should collaborate just because they’re both genre writers. I just think it’s interesting to see what they will come up with, geniuses that they are of the sci-fi/fantasy world.
- So I love Joss Whedon because he’s funny. One of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s best feature was that the dialogue was witty and funny. But Neil Gaiman is really funny, too. (Good Omens, anyone?)
- They’ve both worked with other writers before. I mean, neither of them have ever been known to be the reclusive author that J.D. Salinger was or J.K. Rowling kind of is, so they’ll probably be able to share their ideas well and not, you know, have a pissing contest over who’s more creative (not that I think J.K. Rowling would argue with anyone that she’s more creative than they are, just that, considering how she’s not fond of giving interviews and that she didn’t agree for Harry Potter to become a movie until the producers promised her that the story would not deviate from the mythology of her novels, well, I just don’t think that makes her a great candidate for collaborative works).
- Neil Gaiman has an amazing imagination. I mean, there’s a kid who grows up in a graveyard and he is raised by ghosts. How does he come up with this stuff? But Joss Whedon has a great imagination, too. Who else can think of a demon whose power is to make people burst into song and dance, but too much of it will make them spontaneously combust?
- They both love language, I’m assuming. Because they can both play and manipulate words in the most beautiful ways. Joss changes English words (but in a good way, not in a grammatically incorrect hurts the ears way), using nouns as verbs (“He’s a creature of the night, Buffy. It’s night, so he’s out creaturing.”) and Neil, well he doesn’t make up his own words (at least I haven’t encountered it in his works) but he manipulates them to make them more meaningful (like any great writer should). So, a collaboration between the two of them, I can imagine, would have just the awesomest dialogue ever.
- Oh, and Joss Whedon should visit the Philippines, too and hear all about our aswangs and tiyanaks and manananggals. Because that would just be great.
Convinced you yet? OK, realistically speaking, it’s probably never going to happen. They move in different circles. Although they’re both writers and well-known in the comic book industry, Neil Gaiman is more known in the literary world, and Joss Whedon is more known in the Hollywood world. And Neil Gaiman is in England and Joss Whedon is in America. And you know, it’s probably too expensive to have both of them on the payroll of one single project, since just one of them can already bring an exceeding amount of brilliance to a project anyway. So, yeah, it would be next to impossible for them to work together. Still, wouldn’t it be kinda cool?
