SDCC 2013: Joss Whedon Announces ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Film

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.

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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.

 


Comments

  1. Wow. My mouth just literally dropped open.

    I very much doubt this will be based on the mini series, but the “Age Of” definitely raises some question marks. There’s only so many ways that can be interpreted.

    Either way, this means Ultron is in Avengers 2, and that is awesome. I can’t wait to see what Whedon does with him.

  2. Wow this is awesome. I love that we all assumed it would be Thanos and the BOOM! Ultron! Totally agree with Paul that it’s great to diversify the villains. Introducing Thanos in the first Avengers and then holding him until the third will make the anticipation huge!!

    • They’ll have to show him at some point tho, otherwise when they tease A3 people will have forgotten about him. “Who’s that purple guy? He was in the first one?! I don’t remember his name. They never said?! No wonder I forgot all about him, I thought was the bad guy.”

    • They’ll have to show him at some point tho, otherwise when they tease A3 people will have forgotten about him. “Who’s that purple guy? He was in the first one?! I don’t remember his name. They never said?! No wonder I forgot all about him, I thought The Black Haired British Dude was the bad guy.”

    • Oh yeah, they’ll have to bring him up at some point. I was assuming he’d make an appearance in either Thor 2 or GOTG or both. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as the main villain in GOTG and then have the Guardians and Avengers team up in 3 to bring him down. A villain so powerful neither team could handle him alone! It’s going to be awesome!

    • I’d actually prefer if GotG and Avengers stay separate from each other. Maybe Whedon could make it work, but I’d be apprehensive (all those characters in one movie? Enough to make even us fanboys dizzy). Really excited for GotG though.

  3. It looks like Thanos was introduced as a link to “Guardians of the Galaxy,” where he will be the villain. I hope and pray that “Avengers 2” draws little to nothing from Bendis’ crappy “Age of Ultron.” I don’t see how it can, since Ultron’s origin story will have to be told. Hank Pym has not yet been introduced in the Marvel cinematic universe, so it will be interesting to see how Whedon accounts for Ultron’s existence. Introducing the Scarlet Witch and Ultron at the same time makes sense, since Wanda’s probability warping powers have often been the Avengers’ most effective weapon against Ultron.

    Over the years Ultron has become the Avengers’ archenemy, possibly because writers see him as a metaphor for mankind’s real and ever more realistic fear of our technology rising up against us. Ultron is the new Frankenstein. I am now even more eagerly looking forward to “Avengers 2”

    • They’ll probably borrow Ultron’s Ultimate origin where by he is just another Ultron Drone until Wanda’s magic liberates his mind.

      Looking in to the GotG, their enemy will not be Thanos but he will be a presence in the movie. My guess is that GotG was made so that they could turn Thanos into a really ominous threat that can only be surmounted by the Avengers in the third film.

    • My feeling about Thanos is that he’ll be in the background, manipulating events until whenever his big showcase film is. The spotlight villain in Guardians will probably be The Collector.

  4. hope this isn’t just shots of rubble for 2 hours.

  5. A tweet from Empire Magazine:

    “Also had a chat with Kevin Feige about Avengers: Age Of Ultron. The title is ‘borrowed’ from the comic, but bears no relation to that arc”

    So that’s probably a relief to most?

    I’m excited for this!

  6. My initial reaction literally was: “What the &*^%”?!?

    Deep breath.

    I too hope that this has very little to do with Bendis’ recent series, and I suspect that it won’t. There’s way too much continuity to wade through. I’m guessing that it is more of a branding gimmick, or simply fanboy tease. I think that Ultron has a lot of potential in the cinematic universe, and I had been making strong arguments that he should be in the third Avengers film. I’ll be happy to see him in two instead. My only concern is that they don’t have to rush Pym and his development. Perhaps Marvel could introduce Pym in SHEILD and build up his character over a few episodes as a scientific consultant? Also, we have Ultron, we have Scarlet Witch, this guarantees we’re going to have Vision, right?

    I agree that saving Thanos for Avengers 3 would be great way to build anticipation for a huge payoff. Thanos often works a long game, so seeing his scheme play out over a few films would be a great touch. Also, it does answer the nagging questions about the Guardians’ role in other films. Marvel has stated that they wont be in Avengers 2, but perhaps this frees up the possibility for them to be in 3 for the big Thanos face off.

    All in all, this is a surprising & promising development . . .

    • Incidentally, I just read on a film site that this news has no “wow” factor compared with DC’s Superman/Batman film. Personally, this caught me more off guard and has me more excited than DC’s announcement yesterday. Go figure.

      And no, I haven’t seen Man of Steel yet . . .

    • It may lack “wow” factor on a movie website because the name Ultron means nothing to the average joe. Superman and Batman sharing for the first time is a relatively big deal.

    • No one knows who Ultron is, so the excitement for the movie is solely based on the name “the Avengers”. Additionally, we already knew the movie was going to be made, so a title reveal isn’t that big of a deal. Doubly so when you compare the first pairing of Batman and Superman on the big screen.

    • I agree, which is why I stated that it was on a film site that I read the news . . .

  7. I’ll probably still see it in theaters but . . . meh.

  8. I’ll bet ya they skip Pym entirely and have Stark create him.

    • Hmm, not sure how I feel about that. I suspect that Pym will simply be a scientist in the cinematic universe, inventing Ultron, discovering Pym Particles, but, leaving the actual superheorics as Ant-Man to someone else, which I would be fine with, except, it would be nice to see Wasp somewhere . . .

    • I wouldn’t be happy about it either. Im just sayin’; the roster’s pretty full as it is with the addition of Pietro and Wanda, and we all know how these things work in the movies. Why cast and introduce another brain when you have two already? It wouldn’t surprise me.

    • I know, Avengers 2 is going to be pretty crowded, which is why I’m thinking that SHEILD might be a good place to introduce Pym. Or he could pop in Winter Solider somewhere, maybe help out with tech support? The advantage of Marvel’s expanding slate is that it gives plenty of space to tease stuff out.

      All that said, I could see Pym being ditched altogether, as unappealing to me as that is. Or maybe he’ll just be spoken of but never seen, like Jane’s friend Dr Blake in Thor . . .

    • So will the Age of Ultron trade get retitled when the film comes out?:)

    • Quote from Whedon:
      “We are crafting our own version of it where his origin comes more directly from the Avengers we already know about.”

      Looks like Stark and/or Banner create Ultron.

    • I saw that quote too. My guess is Stark, after all, he’s already been tinkering with intelligence programs such as JARVIS. Actually, now, that I think about it, having JARVIS morph into Ultron would be an interesting route to go. Plus, it would be nice for Paul Bettany to have something more to do than “yes sir” “no sir” “we’re not ready sir . . .”

      Banner has enough guilt on his shoulders already; I don’t really see him as someone who would be dabbling in AI experiments.

  9. Well seeing as how we know for sure it won’t be like the recent series arc (phew!) I am pretty excited to see Ultron as a villain for the Avengers. He’s a perfect villain because he not only is scary looking but is an intellectual challenge for Tony Stark and Banner as well. My main question would lie in how they are going to insert the origin of the character since they have yet to introduce Ant Man yet.

    I would assume that Pym is going to be a side character to spark the plot so we can roll into the Ant Man Film after the movie is released.

    I’ll be honest, I really excited for the Marvel films, the hype is certainly there, but Superman/Batman is definitely something I’m looking forward to seeing. I just wish Warner Brothers could spark the same magic that Disney does with its licenses. Marvel blew them out of the water this year.

    I mean, they didn’t even have a booth at C2E2 and I thought that Marvel was able to dominate them at that con as well.

  10. Very strange. I definitely don’t object to Ultron being used. He’s more of a classic Avengers foe than Thanos. But… why “Age of”? An entire “Age”? An alternate reality? A chapter of history? As a character, Ultron is already convoluted, but they’re going to compound his appearance by exploring some sort of Ultron-run reality? In the midst of introducing Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, and others (Pym?)? It better be a three-hour movie, for all of that to work well together. They already had a huge cast, but at least they had sewn the seeds of a fight with Thanos.

    The funniest thing about all this: I wonder how many curious fans of the film will pick up the AoU collection, simply because it has the same title as the upcoming film? They’re in for an awfully confusing, unpleasant surprise once they crack that baby open.

    • There’s a pretty established history of comic films not influencing comic sales so I doubt that will be a problem.

  11. This is a bad idea in a market saturated by “iron men” and “transformers”.. As much as Ultron is awesome. I dont want to see metal hurling around the screen so much when there are clearly other options.. How bout Kang time traveling or something.. geez…

  12. Everone’s wondering about whether or not they’ll introduce Pym in the movies conveniently forgetting they have a TV show that they can now introduce movie characters through. Maybe we’ll get an arc dealing with Pym in SHIELD that sets up Avengers 2.

    • Personally, I think some fans are overestimating the relevance of the SHIELD series and its connection to the films.

      It would be unusual to introduce an important character like Pym on television and just cross your fingers that moviegoing audiences will either watch the series or just roll with the fact that there’s a new character there that wasn’t there before. Especially in this case, when the character in question is responsible for the threat they’re facing.

      You want the audience to feel that emotional weight of the creation turning against its creator, that Oedipus Rex drama. If even a small portion of the audience didn’t watch the TV show, and they don’t know who this guy is, that piece of the conflict is lost on them, and they disconnect. If you use Stark as Ultron’s creator, the connection with the audience is already there, and people will be invested. The stakes will be higher. In my opinion, the smart thing to do would be to attempt to introduce Pym in the film, and do it in an efficient way, or don’t use him at all.

      But the show hasn’t even premiered yet. Who knows, maybe the show will be a direct tie-in in the vein of comic book tie-ins that aren’t essential to the larger event but add to the story. I doubt it, though.

    • @WheelHands: Agreed. As much as the expanding Marvel live action universe excites all of us as fans, I think many of us are overestimating the speed at which this is all going to develop.

      Getting a single film or TV show off the ground is extremely difficult. While Agents of SHIELD has as good of a chance of success as anything, there’s no telling if it’ll even make it through an entire season.

      So seamless connections between a brand new TV show and an ongoing film franchise? I think that’s a bit too much to expect right now.

      But who knows, all of this is pretty unprecedented!

  13. Looks like the next batch of Marvel movies will “borrow” from the comics. Marvel better get on the ball and start cranking out more Events for their new movies.

    Seriously though, this is not what I had in mind when I said “I wished the movies were more like the comics”. But I still got Superman/Batman so this is a trade-off. We’re good magical Movie Genie, Thanks!

    Btw, how many people think Joss Whedon actually “read” AoU? Just for funsies.

  14. Avatar photo webhead921 (@Grapes4Lunch) says:

    What’s the status on the Ant Man movie, anyways? Maybe they could introduce Pym in Avengers 2 or shield, and have the Ant Man movie spin out of Pym’s involvement in Avengers 2.

    • They showed a brief clip of Ant Man a few months ago. I cant remember if it was illegally posted and likely remove or what. I do remember it being really cool. They successfully demonstrated how his power set can be adapted in a live action movie.

    • Ant Man is slated to begin Phase 3 August 2015 . . .

    • @Invincipal: That was some VFX test footage that Edgar Wright put together for… was it New York last fall, or San Diego last year?

      In other words, none of the actual move has been shot yet, but yeah, that stuff looked really cool.

  15. Just saw a great video of Chris Evans and Scarlett J. being told the new title at SDCC. Chris: “What’s it called? Who’s Ultron?” Scarlett: “I don’t know.”

  16. I’m excited to see Ultron because he is a classic Avengers villain to use for a movie. But I’m surprised we’re not going to get Thanos at all in this (or at least right now we’re not). They do the whole end credits scene for a tease and yet we’re gonna have to wait like, another 5-7 years from the first Avengers movie to see him? That’s a bit weird.

    (Yes I know he’s gonna be in GOTG but I may not watch it so for me it’ll be strange to wait that long to see him on screen.)

  17. They’re apparently calling it “Age of Ultron” because it’ll cost you $40 to see the film.

  18. Interesting.

    Very interesting.

  19. HANK PYM WILL NOT BE IN AVENGERS 2.

    Quote from Whedon:
    “We’re doing our own version of the origin story of Ultron. The other thing is, in the origin story, there was Hank Pym. So a lot of people assumed that he was going to be in the mix, but he’s not. Because we’re basically taking the things from the comics for the movies that we need and can use. A lot of stuff has to fall by the wayside.”

    Source:
    http://collider.com/avengers-2-age-ultron-plot-details-joss-whedon/

  20. I’m not surprised Ultron won’t have anything to do with Pym, it makes sense in the Iron Man heavy filmverse that Ultron be a result of Stark Tech gaining sentience or something to that effect. Keeps RDJ front and center and sets up some nice drama for him. Looking forward to this, I admit I expected Avengers to be a bit of a mess but I loved it!

  21. I’d venture to guess that the title is nothing more than an attempt to sell some Age of Ultron trades when the movie comes out. Whedon & the movie people decided to use Ultron, and Marvel thought “hey! if we use the same title, maybe we can get a bunch of people to buy Bendis’ book when the movie comes out!” Bendis was even talking about his book going into higher demand on Twitter yesterday. I’m assuming he was somewhat joking, as he had to have known that his story wasn’t being used for the movie.