Is this surprising? No. Whedon loves strong female characters. Look at Buffy for one. River and Zoe in the Firefly series is another good example. So with Avengers being very heavy with testosterone he has come out to comment on the female leads. Scarlett Johansson will play Black Widow again but besides her it’s not clear what other characters will be involved. Gwyneth Paltrow might join the cast as Pepper Potts the character she played in both Iron Man movies. They could also bring in another actress for Betty Ross. With Mark Ruffalo replacing Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk this leaves the door open for a new Betty Ross. My vote goes out to Morena Baccarin, she’s worked with Whedon on Firefly and Serenity. I have not watched a lot of V but I think she would make a strong Betty Ross.