Joss Whedon Annouces Avengers: Age Of Ultron Film

[justinsayne]

Last night in San Diego, writer and director Joss Whedon announced the official title and villain for the sequel to his landmark Avengers film. Avengers: Age of Ultron debuts on May 15, 2015.

Just how much it will borrow from Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch’s recent comic book series remains unclear. This one caught us all a bit off guard. The working assumption put Thanos at the center of this next Avengers film, but perhaps he’ll be waiting in the wings for Avengers 3. We know he’ll play some role in Guardians of the Galaxy, but that won’t be his endgame. Until then, we’ll be seeing enemies from other corners. Probably smart to diversify the range of threats and villains. There’s plenty from which to choose.

For those who don't know who or what Ultron is a sentiant robot built by Hank Pym (Ant-Man) that turns rouge & becomes dedicated with the extermination & conquest of humanity. Ultron was featured as the villain in several episodes of the first season of the Avenger: Earths Mightiest Heroes cartoon.

This kinda surprised me as I was one of the many people who thought Thanos was in line as teh next major threat to the Avengers, it certainly seemed that way after the way Avengers ended. That said I can't say I'm disappointed in this news as I think Ultron should be a great choice to keep our heroes busy in the next film.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

For those who don't know who or what Ultron is a sentiant robot built by Hank Pym (Ant-Man) that turns rouge & becomes dedicated with the extermination & conquest of humanity. Ultron was featured as the villain in several episodes of the first season of the Avenger: Earths Mightiest Heroes cartoon.

This kinda surprised me as I was one of the many people who thought Thanos was in line as teh next major threat to the Avengers, it certainly seemed that way after the way Avengers ended. That said I can't say I'm disappointed in this news as I think Ultron should be a great choice to keep our heroes busy in the next film.

According the head executive in Marvel Thanos is set to appear in GOTG, Avengers 2, and plenty of other phase 3 movies leading up to Avengers 3. He's basically the end game villain pulling all the strings to everything.

But back to this news, I'm excited, Whedon will do awesome. With the inclusion of Ultron and Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver this will be interesting.

 

[Mac Attack]

I'm actually very excited to head more about Ultron. At first glance it may appear to any non comic book fan that this villain is a lot less powerful than Loki and the army however Ultron is extremely powerful and will give a good battle to the Avengers. I'm intrigued that we're most likely getting some version of the Ant-Man in the upcoming movie and I'm also intrigued to see what kind of role Tony Stark plays as after Iron man 3 it left me sort of confused as to how that'll all play out. Anyways Ultron is pretty awesome, and it'll be interesting on how it's portrayed and how it gives the avengers a large fight. My guess is that it is not the only villain for the movie...

 

[justinsayne]

I'm intrigued that we're most likely getting some version of the Ant-Man in the upcoming movie

Some version of Ant-man?, we're getting Ant-man, Marvel has already announced the Ant-man movie, directed by Edgar Wright, for 2015. That movie will most likely set the ground work for Avengers 2, since Pym created Ultron. Also Whedon has already confirmed Ant-man for Avengers 2.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Some version of Ant-man?, we're getting Ant-man, Marvel has already announced the Ant-man movie, directed by Edgar Wright, for 2015. That movie will most likely set the ground work for Avengers 2, since Pym created Ultron. Also Whedon has already confirmed Ant-man for Avengers 2.

Ant Man the movie is actually set after Avengers 2, but as you said he'll definitely be in Avengers 2 so I guess Ultron will be their way of introducing him.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

I'm really not happy about an Ant-Man movie, I mean if they're leading up to Civil War or something I suppose you need Hank Pym. But I just don't like him, I don't know why, it might be just because he turned into a whiney douche post-Secret Invasion. Regardless, I just feel they could do more with the options they have...Like Black Bolt. Or maybe Luke Cage.

That being said, I loved the Ultron crossovers, and the semi angsty teenager in me wants a Sentry spin-off just to see him tear Ultrons head off. But Ultron on it's own is a badass villain if only because it can defend itself. I loved Loki, but the fact he couldn't win a fist fight made me question how far they could take him.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/22/comic-con-whedon-says-no-hank-pym-in-avengers-2-and-different-ultron-origin

According to this Ant Man will not be in Avengers 2 after all and Ultron will have a completely new origin. Many think this is the case due to Robert Downey Jr. wanting a role that fits Stark more and while that can be the case considering he's the only one with creative control I'm not torn up about it. The movie will already be crowded enough with the inclusion of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Hawkeye is viewed as the most expendable? Bullshit. If they kill him off it needs to come from Scarlet Witch going winsane and leading to disassembled. Mind you, that's just me being a shitty loyalist and wanting a House of M adaptation.

I really hope they don't kill off Hawkeye, I think Renner does a fantastic job as him, plus I've always been a bit of a mark for him, archery is just so boss.

 

[Alastor]

I think a way to introduce Ultron without Antman in the movieverse would be to make JARVIS the seed for Ultron. My story pitch would be Starks experimenting on combing the Extermis virus with one of his suits after Iron Man 3 but it result in JARVIS becoming unstable and almost killed him. So Starks gave up on it but SHIELD stole notes from Starks and created a sister AI similar to JARVIS to continue with the experiment. This new AI then goes rogue and become Ultron.

And Hawkeye is easily the most expendable. Hulk is the avengers ultimate weapon, without him avengers have nothing against the big bad foes. Thor/Capt/Iron Man all have their own franchises. Black Widow is there for the sex appeal for the teenage boys. Hawkeye is just there as the non-rich batman gadget type hero. I don't think Renner appeals to the teenage girl demographic but I might be wrong.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

I don't think Renner appeals to the teenage girl demographic but I might be wrong.

If this is the case it really is a sad point in time that the teenage girl demographic has brought the mainstream media to it's knees. I'm not saying purely appeal to the 18-35 male demographic, but seriously.

Like I said though, I'm a massive fan of Hawkeye so I'm probably not going to be able to provide an unbiased opinion. And I've always like Renner as an actor anyway.

 

[GI Cake]

I don't think Renner appeals to the teenage girl demographic but I might be wrong.

Nah man, something about Renner made my ex-girlfriend weak in the knees. He's definitely there for the teenage girl sex appeal.

Letting Stark build Ultron would just be a horrible mistake. Even more so if Marvel does plan to have Hank Pym in the Avengers and for his own movie.

Okay, lets break it down like this. Tony Stark. Tony has Trillions in the bank and fucks a lot of bitches Stark. Someone who's genius has not only saved his life but has advanced the Human Race into a golden age of renewable energy. Lets break down the things he has accomplished in the movie verse. He has.

• Created an armored battle suit capable of standing toe to toe with Thor.
• Disarmed every global terrorist that had Stark Tech weaponry (Iron Man 1)
• Created a new element that is clean, powerful, and renewable (Iron Man 2)
• Defeated an entire invading Alien Army (Avengers)
• Again, disarmed another Global Terrorist and mastered Extremis (Iron Man 3)

Stark, for all intents and purposes, has not, and can not do wrong, and to think that his accomplishments in Movie-Verse pale in comparison to what he has been able to do in the mainstream 616 verse is absurd.

Okay, let's look at Pym. Seeing as Hank has not found his way to the Movies yet, lets talk about what he has done in Comics.

• Discovered "Pym Particles" and created a way to use them to increase and decrease the size of anything
• Created Ultron, the first AI that was sentient and became smarter than Pym, Richards, or Stark.
• Caused the deaths of his ex-wife, Wasp, and the death of his best friend, Goliath
• Constantly detracted and negatively affected the Avengers in every step of the way.
• Founded the Avengers Academy. Which is basically Juvie for Superhero Teenagers who need to be set straight.

So lets cross out Ultron from that list, and we have a super-genius who constantly stumbles over his own feet, and add Ultron to Stark's list of feats in the Movie-verse and then what happens? You make Pym no more expendable than Hawkeye. Why insist on having an Ultron movie without Pym's involvement. For that matter, why bother ever adding in any other genius if Movie Stark is for all intents and purposes the god of the Marvel Movie Universe. Can we please not make Pym an afterthought?

 

[Danger Burger]

I'm pretty sure, for everyone here angry that Hawkeye is expendable, that this is the opposite of what whedon actually said in the video. He said he is having the most fun writing Hawkeye as he is the character he most readily identified with or something. He claimed he could be seen as expendable because of his zombified role in the first film and lack of powers, but he's not treating him that way. Or maybe I remember that wrong.

 

[Starkist]

I'm just glad they are making a second one. I never really read comics like everyone on this forum has. I just watch the movie and get my insight from everyone on here. The first one was good to watch. The second one will hopefully be good, if not it'll be better or worse clearly. I don't have much clue of what it is going to be about but I will be watching it when it does come out.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

Why insist on having an Ultron movie without Pym's involvement. For that matter, why bother ever adding in any other genius if Movie Stark is for all intents and purposes the god of the Marvel Movie Universe. Can we please not make Pym an afterthought?

My issue with Hank Pym is that I never saw him as anything other than a plot device for bad shit to happen. If he wasn't beating his wife he was changing his costume every other week for a new set of confusingly written, disproportional powers.

First he can grow tiny and control ants, fair enough, but how is that practically useful in every issue? When you've got a Super Soldier, a giant gamma monster, Tony "you bet I fucked your wife" Stark and The God of Thunder, what use is a dude that can shrink? The same with Wasp really.

At least with the newer Ant-Man it was used for tactical espionage.

Somebody, explain to me why they are wasting time on this? They may as well have Stark invent Ultron, at least it can be his great failure that causes the public to lose faith in Super Heroes and set up a darker sequel. Instead of involving Pym and basically making him the reason for all the bad in the world.

 

[Alastor]

What I meant was the role of Hawkeye in the first movie is eye candy/someone for the audience to relate to in a world of superheroes. I was unsure of how valued add for the role Renner is when other male superheroes in the movie are also there to provide eye candy too.

Also, I never knew there were fans of Hank Pym. lol He seem like a prick to me and his hero name Ant-Man just sound stupid.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It could be really good or it could be a clusterfuck.

The Age of Ultron is also the name of a company wide crossover that's going on in Marvel Comics right now. The gist of it is that Ultron is somehow able to take over the world in the future through some sort of thing going on with The Vision. When it comes to time travel and parallel universes getting mixed in with primary continuity, it can get confusing.

However, while I was typing this, an epiphany did suddenly strike. Age of Ultron for the film might be a completely different plot for the 2nd Avengers movie. Aside from the film's subtitle and the title of the crossover being identical, they might wind up being world's apart.

justinsayne: "This kinda surprised me as I was one of the many people who thought Thanos was in line as teh next major threat to the Avengers, it certainly seemed that way after the way Avengers ended. That said I can't say I'm disappointed in this news as I think Ultron should be a great choice to keep our heroes busy in the next film."

In a way, he might be. Joss Whedon stated at Comic-Con that Hank Pym, the creator of Ultron in the comics, won't be in the movie. Maybe Whedon intends to tinker with Ultron's origin in which Thanos is the one who created him. In the closing credits, I remember the servant, whoever he was, telling Thanos that to take on the Avengers was to "court death" and Thanos smiled. As they foiled his plans made with Loki, maybe Ultron will be used as some sort of "test" and they're ultimately saving Thanos to be the primary villain for the third film.

Vin Diesel has been teasing a role in a Marvel film for a little while now and it's widely thought that Thanos could be him. Diesel sat down with Entertainment Weekly and said:

"I could tell you that Marvel was excited about bringing a different kind of relationship or love story, I guess kind of inspired from the Dom-Letty relationship (from Fast & The Furious), into the Marvel universe."

Thanos has a hard on for Death. In the Marvel Universe, the concept of Death is a sentient being as old as the universe that can actually assume a physical form, has intelligence, motives, designs, etc. Take the concept in the Final Destination films, jack it up to the millionth degree and put it in the form of a robed female skeleton and that's pretty much Marvel's incarnation of death. In many of the more classic storylines involving Thanos, it's his ultimate goal to win Death's affections.

However, because of Ultron's involvement in the Avengers sequel, some are suggesting that Diesel might play The Vision. Ultron creates Vision in the continuity and he's had this relationship with the Scarlet Witch.

At any rate, I've got confidence that Whedon will be able to put it all together.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

I read on Zerg that Vin Diesel could be in line to playing Black Bolt in the Inhumans movie (which I could fap my little fanboy heart out to)

Onto Thanos, I marked out like a child when he made his post cameo debut in the credits, if only because my friends aren't comic-book fans. And if he doesn't make an appearance in Avengers 2 then so be it, it sets up nicely for GOTG, and they need that being as it's a mostly unheard of mainstream franchise but they need an established villain*

*I really hope they include Captain Marvell, he was the shit.

They just need a clean, believable way to bring Ultron into the Marvel-movieverse and the rest will write itself. It's getting fans to care about the villain that may stall them. Ultron is, afterall a faceless, hugely powerful machine.

Loki however, was the Chris Jericho of Mavel baddies by the conclusion of Avengers. Sure he got completely annihilated, but he was damn entertaining doing it.

Plus who can argue with a baddie with a slickback? fuck, it's the only reason Billy zane survived the Titanic.