Joss Whedon found making 'The Avengers' ''extremely arduous''.

The filmmaker was relieved to take a break from the blockbuster to spend just 12 days shooting Shakespearean comedy 'Much Ado About Nothing' and says working on something new brought back his focus on the comic book tale.

He said: ''Making 'The Avengers' was very important to me, but it was also extremely arduous. I missed my friends and I missed my home, so I decided to throw them all on camera which is the only way I seem to know to relate to people.

''But I was blissfully happy when we were shooting Much Ado About Nothing - and it was actually one week and three weekends - and then I went back to cutting 'Avengers' much better.

''I was in the very early process - my first assembly was very long. When I came back from 'Much Ado', without any rancor or confusion, I was able to cut the film down to length and readily focus on the things that mattered.''

Joss - who has been advising on the forthcoming 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' series and will soon start work on 'The Avengers 2' - admits he is in ''constant danger'' of burning out because he always gives himself too much to do.

He told Deadline: ''I'm in constant danger of burning out. Look, this is not a healthy person talking to you. 'I'm going to make a sequel to the biggest movie I've ever made!' ... 'Perhaps a TV show would go along nicely with that...' I always order the entire left side of the menu and then wonder why I'm full.''