Joss Whedon Explains His Major Problem With 'The Empire Strikes Back'

Before you assume that everyone's favorite Star Wars movie is The Empire Strikes Back, talk to Joss Whedon. The writer/director has long been on the record as saying that, while he likes and respects Empire, he thinks A New Hope is the superior film. "I still believe that even though The Empire Strikes Back is better in innumerable ways than Star Wars, Star Wars wins because you can't end a movie with Han frozen in Carbonite," Whedon said in the past. "That's not a movie, it's an episode."

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Avengers: Age of Ultron director explained a bit more of his disappointment in what most people agree is the best Star Wars movie.

Here's the conversation between Whedon and EW about Empire which, to be fair, he does cite as one of the best sequels ever along with The Godfather Part II:

Whedon: Empire committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending. Which at the time I was appalled by and I still think it was a terrible idea.

EW: You think Empire had a bad ending?

Whedon: Well, it's not an ending. It's a Come Back Next Week, or in three years. And that upsets me. I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn't end I'll go to a French movie. That's a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself, it can't just build off the first one or play variations.

That pretty much guarantees Avengers: Age of Ultron won't end with Tony Stark blasted into space looking for the Guardians of the Galaxy or something like that, does it not?

In the EW piece, which is an excerpt from a 10 page interview that'll be out this week, Whedon also lashes out at Twilight for having a passive heroine, unlike his Buffy. Check it out. But first, do you agree with Whedon that movies shouldn't end on cliffhangers?