This post is for all those Joss Whedon fans out there. And I’m sure there must be a lot of you (I mean even if you aren’t a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, or Dollhouse, surely you must be a fan of the original Toy Story, right? RIGHT? Well, this man is responsible for the creation and writing of those titles and many more.)

Well, what is Mr. Whedon up to these days, you ask? Oh nothing really, just writing and directing the newest (and probably the biggest, in a long time) comic book franchise: The Avengers, a Marvel Comic/Stan Lee production that brings together all of their biggest heroes–Thor, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Captain America, just to name a few–under one title. Oh, and this latest comic book summer franchise has just began filming–yesterday to be exact. To mark this momentous occasion, Whedon released a letter on his blog, WhedonEsque, on Sunday, April 24, 2011 to all his waiting fans basically saying that the film starts shooting the following day and that there is nothing else he can legally say about it. He does end his letter sweetly with, “I’ve been looking forward to this. For about 64 years.”

The Marvel Comic title itself has garnered enough of a fan base to last the film a life time; but combined with Joss Whedon’s writing and direction, the film’s expectant fan base keeps growing and growing. If Joss Whedon’s name as writer and director doesn’t get you, maybe the film’s cast will: Robert Downey, Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Chris Helmworth are just some of the big names cast in Whedon’s latest endeavor.

As the movie has just started filming, its release date has been set for May 4, 2012, so you’ll just have to wait with baited breath until then. I know I will. To read Whedon’s full letter to his fans, click here.