Disney has doubled down on Avengers director Joss Whedon: the company announced that Whedon has been signed to an exclusive contract with Marvel Studios for both film and TV through the end of 2015 in its conference call today, according to Variety.  Whedon will write and direct Avengers 2, and "contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe," Disney CEO Bob Iger said.  Although no release date has been announced for the Avengers sequel, some are interpreting the term of the agreement as meaning that Avengers 2 will be released in the summer of 2015.

Whedon is also developing a live action TV series for ABC, according to Iger.  That series may or may not be the live action Avengers series that’s reportedly in development (see "'Avengers' Live Action on TV?").