It's so weird because I went to read the Whedon entry on Wikipedia right before the third installment went live, to give myself a refresher on what he's worked on (not a big Whedon fan, and all). I read that bit you quoted, and it didn't even occur to me that he'd try to kill anyone off in a 40 minute mini-serial. But then when he did, I was like, "I guess the man has his formula."
But yeah, I do agree with his stance on killing off characters. Except, I dunno... I was half hoping that Penny would turn out to be some secret agent for the Evil League of Evil, sent to destroy Capt. Hammer, and at the last second she'd reveal who she was, fight like a badass and then die a glorious, evil death in Horrible's arms. Given Whedon's usual formula involves seriously badass female characters and all, it was kind of a shock to see a female character that was pretty much an empty vessel.
Still, I like how her death worked to make Horrible more of an anti-hero villain than just a regular villain. I have a huge weakness for anti-heros and I will say, Joss Whedon always delivers some good ones.
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But yeah, I do agree with his stance on killing off characters. Except, I dunno... I was half hoping that Penny would turn out to be some secret agent for the Evil League of Evil, sent to destroy Capt. Hammer, and at the last second she'd reveal who she was, fight like a badass and then die a glorious, evil death in Horrible's arms. Given Whedon's usual formula involves seriously badass female characters and all, it was kind of a shock to see a female character that was pretty much an empty vessel.
Still, I like how her death worked to make Horrible more of an anti-hero villain than just a regular villain. I have a huge weakness for anti-heros and I will say, Joss Whedon always delivers some good ones.