One of 2015’s most hotly anticipated movies is Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, is only because the first Avengers movie was so unbelievably awesome that I, along with the rest of the world it seems, have been waiting for some more footage of the super team working together and kicking ass, whilst bickering throughout. Finally that time is coming nearer, but for now we’ve got just a few trailers and clips to see us through. Another trailer got dropped the other day, so let’s have a look at what we’ve got in store.
Here’s Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye herding fleeing civilians. This being the start of the trailer, this could be some kind of cold open, showing a select few of the Avengers (probably the Earth-bound ones, presumably Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America) trying to deal with a situation that becomes out of their control, requiring Iron Man, Thor and Hulk to be brought in to help out.
The civilians seems to be heading for a variation on the Heli-Carrier that, by the looks of things, has replaced those easily-broken but difficult-to-repair spinning rotors in favour of jet legs. I’m cool with that. It may be worth noting that Robert Downey Jr. is doing the opening narration for the trailer which, according to the rules of Marvel, means he may well be a villain in this film. We all know the main villain is James Spader as Ultron, but could Tony Stark turn villainous too (by the way, I’ve never read a comic book in my life, so consider pretty much everything I say speculation and probably wrong).
Obligatory shot of a helmet not being worn. I’m struggling to remember the last blockbuster trailer I saw that didn’t either show a helmet being picked up, removed or broken in some way.
Here’s Hawkeye again, proving that not only is he pretty much everyone’s least favourite Avenger, he’s also absolutely terrible at playing hide and seek.
Even the villain gets a discarded mask shot.
This is the image everyone has seen so far, with a broken, limping Ultron confronting the Avengers, chilling out after some sort of victory. What we haven’t seen so far is what happens next…
A munch of Ultron’s robot army soldiers flying through the wall. Seeing as we’ve seen in previous trailers and clips that this scene has almost every member of the Avengers good guy cast, including Don Cheadle’s Rhodes (whose only protection, his War Machine suit, is destroyed by Ultron’s arrival) and Cobey Smulders’ Maria Hill, could we be about to see a smaller character getting either wounded or maybe even killed here? Probably not, but I’m ready to see someone maybe check out of the franchise, just to throw in a little spice. From Marvel’s schedule we flat-out know it cannot be Iron Man, Captain America or Thor, as they all have or are featured in sequels in the pipeline, and they wouldn’t kill Hulk, but everyone else might want to double check their contracts.
Ah yes, Hulk. Here’s Ruffalo, about to get his green on. He was possibly the best part of the first movie, so I’m hoping for big things, but also hoping he isn’t overused.
And there’s Nick Fury! Skulking around in hiding, but still using the not-at-all recognisable eye patch. If he’s trying to stay hidden, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to drop the patch and pick up some sunglasses?
No idea who this is, but I liked the shot.
Here’s Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. Her powers sound fairly world-ending for the team, so I’m hoping they’ve been toned down a bit to give the guys a fair chance. She looks badass though, so that’s cool.
Also, Iron Man seems unable to cope, so that should be fun.
This doesn’t bode well. Medical instruments tend to mean torture in movies, which is not something I need added to my Avengers.
Now we’re talking. An army of robots, crawling and flying all over the place. It looks a little like the climax to Iron Man 2, but with better robots, so I have faith. Also, it’s a little bit terrifying.
I thought Iron Man had left the snowy wasteland of Tennessee in his third movie? Apparently he forgot something, so he went back. Maybe he changed his mind and wants to be Harley’s father-figure after all. Probably not.
You’ll have to trust me on this one, this is Hulk smashing up an ambulance. Why? Because it looks cool. Judging by the rage, this looks like an accidental Hulk-out.
Obligatory shot of Scarlett Johansson’s backside in tight leather.
Andy Serkis! I have literally no idea who he’s playing (he doesn’t even have a character name listed on IMDb) but I’d put money on him being some kind of a villain and, judging by the dirty nature of his appearance, he’s probably involved somehow in the building of Ultron’s robots. You see, if you build things in movies, you get grease all over your face. That stuff gets everywhere.
Captain America, not doing terribly well against a robot. Should be a decent fight.
Once again, Johansson’s Black Widow finds herself face to giant green face with Ruffalo’s Hulk. In a fight, this would probably end extremely quickly. However…
She’s somehow broken through that tough jade exterior, enough to do the hand-to-hand thing that somehow means friendship.
Ultron has force lightning! ULTRON HAS FORCE LIGHTNING!!!!!
And here’s what I’ve been looking forward to the most. The Hulkbuster suit. I love that Tony Stark has a keen eye for identity and branding. No matter the purpose of the suit, it still has to have the trademark red and gold aesthetic.
And here it is in action, doing exactly what it was made for in taking on the Hulk. I’m not sure how is the villain here – could this be the moment Stark turns evil, if in fact he actually does? Either way, that great friendship we saw building between Stark and Banner in the first movie may be in need of some repairing.
It’s a boring shot to end on, but here’s the credit shot. Notice Downey Jr.’s name is, other than director Joss Whedon’s, the only name above the title. This could just be that Downey Jr has a better agent than everyone else, but it could also mean that he has a much larger role in this film, as a main villain perhaps. Also, just look at the rest of that cast. Hemsworth, Ruffalo, Evans, Johansson, Renner, Cheadle, Taylor-Johnson, Olsen, Bettany, Smulders,, Skarsgard, Spader and Jackson. It’s a phenomenal line-up, and given how high up Cheadle is placed, if I were a betting man I’d put him as the most likely to get wiped out. That could be enough to drive Stark over the edge, especially given how Ultron is his creation. Could he be the reason his friend dies?
Like I said, everything here is speculation. Here’s a link to the trailer if you want to check it out for yourself. Do you think I read everything wrong? I do. Are you looking forward to Age of Ultron? Discuss in the comments!