Gary Collinson previews Avengers: Age of Ultron…
“I was designed to save the world. People would look to the sky, and see hope… I’ll take that from them first.”
There’s little doubt that – on paper, at least – 2015 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years in memory when it comes to blockbuster cinema, with the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road, Tomorrowland, San Andreas, Jurassic World, Terminator Genisys, Ant-Man, Mission: Impossible 5, The Fantastic Four and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. are all set to grace the big screen over the next few months. But before then Marvel Studios will kick-start the summer movie season in April (or early May, for those in the States) with what is perhaps the most anticipated of all the summer releases, as Joss Whedon reassembles Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron.
It’s fair to say there’s a lot of anticipation for The Avengers’ second feature. Not only is it the follow-up to the third-highest grossing movie of all time, but it also comes on the heels of a hugely successful Phase Two for the Marvel Cinematic Universe; while Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World met with mixed reactions, To
ny Stark’s third solo movie was a monster hit at the box office, and 2014 saw Marvel released two highly-acclaimed offerings in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, both of which sit comfortably above The Avengers in many fans’ rankings of the MCU. So, it’s going to take something special for Avengers: Age of Ultron to live up to expectations, but from what we’ve seen so far, there’s no reason to doubt that Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios will deliver anything short of another superhero spectacular.
Avengers: Age of Ultron will pit our heroes against their most deadly foe yet in Ultron (James Spader), an Artificial Intelligence designed by Tony Stark (sorry Hank Pym) to save the world, which by Ultron’s own logic can only be achieved by one method – the total annihilation of mankind. With Ultron hell bent on destroying humanity, it’s up to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to save the day, and presumably redeem Tony Stark in the process – although with Captain America: Civil War on the horizon, that remains to be seen.
This being a sequel, The Avengers will find their ranks bolstered by some new blood, with several additions who will be instantly recognisable to fans of the comic book series: after brief cameos in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Godzilla co-stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen will appear as the mutant miracle twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (who we glimpsed briefly in the post-credits scene of The Winter Soldier) and will start out as allies of Ultron before presumably switching their allegiances, while Paul Bettany will juggle his usual role as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S. with an on-screen appearance as the android superhero The Vision (you may have caught him opening his eyes at the climax of the most recent trailer).
As we’ve seen from the trailers, Avengers: Age of Ultron looks to be epic in scope, and certainly not short on action either, with the Avengers launching a full scale attack on the villainous organisation HYDRA and their leader Baron Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann) as well as battling wave after wave of Ultron-bots across the globe as they attempt to prevent Ultron from ushering in his ‘Age’. And naturally there’ll be more conflict between the team too, with Iron Man seemingly at the centre of most of it. The trailers hint at some drama with both Captain America and Thor, and that’s before we get to what’s likely to be one of the standout moments of the film as Tony Stark dons the Hulkbuster armor to take on an enraged Green Goliath.
In addition to the main story, Avengers: Age of Ultron promises to delve into the murky backstory of the Black Widow, and we can also expect a host of cameos from Marvel regulars such as Rhodey (Don Cheadle), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Heimdall (Idris Elba) and the fan favourite villain Loki (Tom Hiddleston), while there’s been talk that Thanos (Josh Brolin) will make another appearance as Marvel continues to build to Infinity War. Meanwhile, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and/or Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) popping up somewhere ahead of their Phase Three solo movies, and hell, we may even get to see Spider-Man now that Marvel and Sony has reached a deal to share the rights to the wall-crawler…
After achieving what many thought impossible by bringing together so successfully the various Marvel movie franchises in 2012, this sequel may be the last time we see Joss Whedon directing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Leaked emails from December’s Sony hack indicated that The Winter Soldier co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo are reportedly in line to helm the two-part Avengers: Infinity War, and Whedon has himself stated that he isn’t overly keen on tackling such an enormous project after investing so much time and energy into the first two films. If so, then it is clear that he’s determined to go out with a bang with Age of Ultron, throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the movie.
“Avengers: Age of Ultron got larger than the first film” said Whedon, when asked how he intends on topping the 2012 box office behemoth. “I didn’t mean for it to get larger, but the climax that I pitched was completely unhinged and nobody said no, so that’s that… To me, adventure film is the best way to put it. Then science fiction, action, western, war, woman’s picture, horror movie … I’m not kidding; every single one of those things is in there.”
Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for release in the UK on April 23rd and North America on May 1st, with Joss Whedon directing a cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Mark Ruffalo (The Incredible Hulk), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Paul Bettany (JARVIS / The Vision), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Quicksilver), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), James Spader (Ultron), Stellen Skarsgard (Erik Selvig), Thomas Kretschmann (Baron Strucker), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Claudia Kim (Dr. Cho), Andy Serkis (Uylsses Klaw), Henry Goodman (Dr. List), Julie Delpy (Madame B) and Linda Cardellini (Laura Barton).
This post first appeared in the Flickering Myth Magazine, which you can read here…
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=pnc360pUDRI&feature=player_embedded
