Why Joss Whedon Should Direct a Remake of Animorphs

Today I could've taken a break from writing/filming about Animorphs but I decided not to take a break. There has been something that has been on my mind for a little bit: an Animorphs Remake.

People who don't read a lot have probably only seen the horrible tv series which didn't do the books justice at all. While there are many things to talk about while discussing a possible Animorphs remake (such as should it be a movie or a tv series, if it's a tv series what channel should air it, ect.) I'll be focusing on who I'd like to direct it.

And the one I'd choose is: Joss Whedon!

 Animorphs, by K.A.Applegate, is a Young Adult series but is extremely dark at times. It has Tobias trying to commit suicide after he makes his first kill as a hawk, David getting trapped in rat morph because he tried to kill the Animorphs, and many other instances besides those. However, it is also light-hearted at times. There are just as many moments that will make you laugh as there are moments that will make you cry.

Whedon is good at finding the right balance between heart-break and humor. He knows how to make you cry (“I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I -”) and laugh ("Yeah, uh, I had to dismember that guy with a trowel. What have you been up to?"). So him finding the happy and sad formula that makes Animorphs awesome should be easy enough for him.

Animorphs has Rachel Berenson who is both a fashionista and a blood hungry warrior. She is an extremely complicated character and I loathe when people only think of her as a warrior. Rachel is a girl who also has a complicated relationship with Tobias and struggles with her own dark side. Hell, everyone in the group is a three-dimensional character.

Joss Whedon can write women well. Buffy Summers (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show) shows that he can do Rachel justice. He can write a girl as a girl as well as a fighter. Letting her fall in love, do normal teenage things, and still being able to kick ass and take names. Whedon has, of course, written other female characters. Willow (also from Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv show) started out as really shy girl but her character grew for better and worse throughout seven seasons. As for relationships...I'd like to use Zoe and Wash (from Firefly and Serenity) as a good example of that. They're total opposites but they truly love and care for each other. When Wash dies Zoe isn't left in a wreck, she continues to kick ass immediately afterwards. Oh, Gina Torres (who plays Zoe) is now on Hannibal and plays the character of Bella Crawford.

My final point is a huge spoiler for the series. So if you haven't read the entire series, thanks for reading this post and come back when  you've completed it.

Anyways:

During the final book of the series, Rachel Berenson dies. This is an emotional moment as this thing isn't usually done in Young Adult fiction. You don't usually see one of the main good guys die. Somehow they always survive. But not in Rachel's case. This went to show that war takes a heavy toll on people and not all of your friends will get out alive.

Joss Whedon is no stranger to killing off beloved characters. In fact, he's sort of infamous for it. You don't ever want to say to him 'I hope this character doesn't die' as I think he'd view that more as a challenge than anything else. He is great at making you care for a character and then killing them, making your heart feel like it was torn out of your chest. So Whedon wouldn't flinch from killing Rachel. He'd probably be like FINALLY I CAN KILL OFF A MAN CHARACTER! However, if there was a remake of Animorphs I'd prefer Rachel not to die so that another Animorph can. I'd want to feel that same shock and awe when I first read Rachel's death.

So do you agree that Joss Whedon should direct a remake of Animorphs? If not, who would you like to direct it?