In J.J. Abrams vs. Joss Whedon, Wendy Sterba compares the parallel careers in film and television of two creative
masterminds—pitting one against the other in a light-hearted competition. The author looks back upon the beginnings of both men’s careers—Whedon’s stint as a writer on Roseanne and Abrams’ early scripts for films like Regarding Henry—and forward to their most recent
blockbusters, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This books
also looks at non-fantasy successes (Abrams series Felicity; Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado
about Nothing), as well as commercial failures. At the heart of this study, however, is a tour of their genre-defining hits: Alias
and Buffy, Lost and Angel, Super 8 and Serenity, along with
Whedon’s Avengers films, and Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek adventures.
