We already know that many of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be returning to Joss Whedon’s ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron.’ Back in October when we saw the first trailer for the upcoming Phase Two film, we saw the familiar faces of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk. We even saw Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Colonel James Rhodes AKA the Iron Patriot join in on the action. However, there are so many newcomers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we’re in the dark about still. And yes, we’d love to hear more about Clint Barton’s adventures since we last saw him (According to Whedon, “something’s up with that boy. That’s all I’m gonna say.”), but let’s learn more about the new recruits to the world of Marvel Studios like Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Ultron.
In a recent interview with /Film, Whedon discussed in detail his state of mind while concocting the sequel to 2012’s ‘The Avengers’ that left him hesitant to return to the director’s chair for a little bit. But amidst those talks, he dropped a few hints about some of the new characters that we’ll be seeing when the mighty team assembles again in May 2015. The writer/director started with Wanda Maximoff, the hero played by Elizabeth Olsen known as the Scarlet Witch, by comparing her to Whedon’s back catalogue of “strong but somewhat damaged-by-powers characters”:
“Well, you know, ‘strong but damaged by power’ describes every person in this movie. It may, in fact, describe what the movie is about. You know, the more power that we have, the less human we are. Her damage pre-dates her power, and these kids they’ve had a rough history. Is she in an idiom with which I am comfortable? Why, yes sir, she is. [LAUGHS]”
Next in line is Wanda’s brother Pietro AKA Quicksilver, who is someone that we’ve seen recently in Bryan Singer’s ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’. Naturally, the question on everyone’s mind is how the two versions of the same characters will compare to each other. The answer? They’re actually completely different:
“There are some things that we now would probably care to avoid just so that we’re not… But we were never doing the same version. Obviously at some point we’ll go into slow mo because that’s what’s fun about a super speedy guy. For me, what’s fun about Quicksilver isn’t necessarily seeing Quicksilver, it’s seeing the Avengers the way he does. And, they really took to the mattresses with that one scene, but he’s just a very different guy in ours and I think we’re just kind of proceeding as planned.”
Finally, Whedon moves onto the titular villain of the film, Ultron. The discussion about the rampaging robot begins with a very interesting comparison to Dr. Frankenstein’s monster when the topic of Tony Stark and Ultron comes up:
“You know, in the Marvel universe, there are a lot of Frankensteins. Steve Rogers himself, is one of the better-looking Frankensteins of our era. There’s always an element to that. There are a lot of people, whether they’re trying to do good or bad, who think they have the next big idea. And the next big idea is usually a very bad one.”
From there, Whedon mentions what makes James Spader’s antagonist different than any other villain that we’ve seen in the MCU so far:
“You know, for me, there’s always a point where I’m writing where [I go], you know, they’re right! The Avengers sucked! Got to do something about that. We got to take care of these guys. Hopefully, you will come out of this, if not agreeing with him, [at least] getting him, and getting his pain, which leads to a lot of damage, and some humor, and how’s he different. I mean, villains are different from each other. The important thing for me is he’s not this external thing. He’s not ‘Independence Day’. I’m not criticizing that movie, but I’m saying that it’s not like we spent some time on the alien going, oh, I hate that Will Smith! Punched me right in the face! The first day there! When he’s in his scenes, you want to feel like he will never understand that he’s not the hero.”
While we get a good chunk of interesting information about some of the new characters that we’ll be seeing in ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’, this is all simply the tip of the iceberg. Joss Whedon almost certainly has some crazy surprises up his sleeve, but while we wait to find out exactly what they are when the film hits theaters, let us know what you think about what we know so far. Are you excited to learn more about Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Ultron? Let us know in the comment section.
‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’ assembles in theaters on May 1, 2015.