Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' film stars Nathan Fillion, Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker

Just kidding about the second thing. And yet it seems that as far as Joss Whedon is concerned, writing and directing the massive comic book tentpole blockbuster The Avengers; writing and overseeing the Buffy Season 9 and Angel & Faith comics for Dark Horse; readying the long-in-limbo The Cabin in the Woods (which he co-wrote and produced) for an April 13, 2012 release by Lionsgate; and developing a post-apocalyptic web series with Warren Ellis is just not busy enough. Earlier today, actor Nathan Fillion, among others, tweeted out a link to muchadothemovie.com, announcing that Whedon had finished principal photography on a film presumably based on William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

The cast includes a host of Whedonverse alums, including Fillion (Firefly, Buffy, and Dr. Horrible) as Dogberry, Amy Acker (Angel and Dollhouse) as Beatrice, Alexis Denisof (Buffy, Angel, and Dollhouse) as Benedick, Sean Maher (Firefly) as Don John, Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) as Don Pedro, Tom Lenk (Buffy) as Verges, and Fran Kranz (Dollhouse and The Cabin in the Woods) as Claudio, as well as Clark Gregg, a.k.a. Agent Coulson from Iron Man, Thor, and The Avengers as Leonarto.

Also in the cast is Spencer Treat Clark (Gladiator) as Borachio, Riki Lindhome (The Last House on the Left) as Conrade, Ashley Johnson (The Help) as Margaret, Emma Bates as Ursula, Nick Kocher as First Watchman, Brian McElhaney (Arthur) as Second Watchman, Joshua Zar as Leonato’s aide, Paul M. Meston as Friar Francis, Romy Rosemont (Glee) as the Sexton, and Jillian Morgese as Hero.

Whedon has famously held Shakespeare readings at his home from time to time, but how he managed to squeeze this project into his post-production schedule on The Avengers remains a tantalizing mystery. Much Ado follows two couples — Benedick and Beatrice, chatty and cynical, and Claudio and Hero, driven almost mute by their love for each other — who are comically tricked by the dastardly Don John.

UPDATE: Joss Whedon on his secret film of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’: ‘This is the best vacation I’ve ever taken’ — EXCLUSIVE

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