From the 4 million US viewers who watched Buffy, the Vampire Slayer to a worldwide box office of $1.5 billion for The Avengers is quite a leap. Yet the creator of them both, Josh Whedon, told as personal a tale with six superheroes and over-the-top explosions as he did with a girl trying to make her way through high school. Whedon has always been determined to follow his own path. This definitive biography shows how his years at an elite English public school led to his early successes, which often turned into frustration in both television (Roseanne) and film (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Alien: Resurrection). But when Whedon resurrected his girl hero on a young network, the results enabled him to produce three more television series, several movies, and Marvel comic books, culminating in the blockbuster The Avengers. Then Much Ado About Nothing, a personal project shot in his home and cast with friends, allowed him to step out of Marvel's shadow. Amy Pascale has based this revealing biography on extensive original interviews with Whedon's family, friends, collaborators, and stars—as well as with the man himself. They've shared candid, behind-the-scenes accounts of his work with Pixar, his filmmaking adventures, and the making of his groundbreaking series Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Amy Pascale is a director at MTV. She co-founded and edits the offbeat Web magazine PopGurls.com. She lives in New York. Nathan Fillion starred in the Josh Whedon vehicles Firefly, Serenity, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and Much Ado About Nothing. He plays Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle.