*UPDATE* New photos have been added that show off much of the cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch! *
Want to know how you go into an event like Comic-Con riding a wave of incredible buzz? Just take a look at Marvel who caused a firestorm (both positive and negative) with their announcement of a new female Thor that may have some impact on the movie version of the character. And later tonight on The Colbert Report they are expected to introduce Falcon as the new Captain America! Nope, there won't be any controversy over that one! But that's not all, as Entertainment Weekly has just revealed the first official look at the villain Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Kevin Feige has spilled some major details about Iron Man's role in the film.
The robotic villain, played by James Spader, is one of the Avengers' most lethal foes in the comics, but he'll undergo something of an origin change in Joss Whedon's film. No longer the creation of Hank "Ant-Man" Pym, it's now the actions of Tony Stark that bring the sentient android into existence. Worn out and exhausted after saving the world multiple times over, Stark creates Ultron to basically take over the job...
"Tony Stark has devised a plan that won’t require him to put on the Iron Man suit anymore, and should allow Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk to get some much needed R&R as well. His solution is Ultron, self-aware, self-teaching, artificial intelligence designed to help assess threats, and direct Stark’s Iron Legion of drones to battle evildoers instead."
And what typically happens when a robot becomes self-aware and starts figuring out the best way to save the world? Humans inevitably become his target, and that's exactly what happens. Ultron's ability to rebuild and evolve will also factor in, making the Avengers' lives even more miserable.
Stark's superhero fatigue plays out in another way, as well. With SHIELD disbanded and no organization picking up their duties, the Avengers need someone to bankroll their operation. Enter the multi-billionaire Stark who becomes their benefactor and landlord at the newly-redesigned Avengers Tower. Marvel chief Kevin Feige talked to IGN about that, as well as a recently screened scene that pits Hulk vs. Stark's Hulkbuster armor...
“Last
time we saw Stark Tower, from The Avengers, it had gotten beat up a
little bit thanks to Hulk and thanks to Loki and the Chituari, and
Pepper and Tony were standing over a table looking at plans. That’s where we pulled out and all the letters had fallen away except the
‘A’ in Stark. So what they were doing was retro-fitting for The
Avengers. And that’s what we see in this next film. S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone
– for people who are following along. S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded and
brought down at the end of The Winter Soldier because it turned
out to not be the best organisation ever. So Tony’s bank-rolling The
Avengers now. And he’s bank-rolling their headquarters. So it’s now
Avengers Tower. Tony
designed it so in addition to a hanger for a brand-new Quinjet,
laboratories, places where he can build and store his Iron Man suits,
there are I believe two bars. Beautiful multiple space living rooms
which are perfect for parties and social gatherings. But it’s a primary
location in the film this time around.”
And when asked about Hulk vs. the Hulkbuster...
“There are a lot of scenes that you should be getting excited about. That is certainly one of them. I think I said a long time ago when Joss [Whedon] first did his six-page or 10-page outline for Avengers, there was a lot of work and the movie’s adapted quite a bit since then, but there were like six or seven signature things just in that. I said ‘Joss, even if we don’t do anything else. Just do these seven things, that’s enough for the movie. Now let’s get to work and put it all together.’ Those things are in the movie and are amazing, of which that sequence is one.”
Expect to hear a lot more about Avengers: Age of Ultron over the coming days.
