Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron is the sequel to The Avengers and the eleventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Plot
The Avengers tracked Loki's Scepter to a HYDRA Base in Sokovia. The team, consisting of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, raid the outpost, fighting Chitauri enhanced soldiers and tracking down Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, who had been experimenting with human enhancement. Two of Strucker's experiments, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff try to fight the Avengers but Captain America apprehended Strucker, while Stark retrieved the scepter.

Stark analysed the Scepter and discovered an artificial intelligence within the gem. He showed Banner and used the AI to complete Stark's "Ultron" global defense program. The unexpectedly sentient Ultron, believing he must eradicate humanity to save Earth, eliminated J.A.R.V.I.S. and attacked the Avengers during a victory party at their headquarters. Escaping with the scepter, Ultron used the resources in Strucker's Sokovia base to upgrade his rudimentary body and build an army of robot drones. He recruited the Maximoff twins, who harbored a grudge against Stark because his technology was responsible for their parents' deaths, and together, they visited the South African shipyard base of arms dealer Ulysses Klaue to obtain vibranium. The Avengers battled them, but Wanda subdued them with haunting visions, causing the Hulk to run amok and forcing Stark to use his powerful Hulkbuster armor to stop him.

A worldwide backlash and the doubts and fears Wanda's hallucinations had caused sent the team into hiding at Barton's safehouse farm, where they meet Barton's wife, Laura, and their children. Thor departed to consult with Dr. Erik Selvig on the meaning of the apocalyptic future he saw in his hallucination. Realizing an attraction between them, Romanoff and Banner planned to flee together after fighting Ultron. Nick Fury arrived and encouraged the team to form a plan to stop Ultron. In Seoul, South Korea, Ultron forced Banner's friend Dr. Helen Cho to use her synthetic tissue technology together with the scepter's gem to create the perfect body for him. When Ultron began uploading himself into the body, Wanda was able to read his mind; discovering his plan for human extinction, the Maximoffs turned on Ultron. Rogers, Romanoff and Barton hunted Ultron and retrieved the synthetic body, but Ultron captured Romanoff in the process.

The Avengers fought amongst themselves when Stark secretly uploaded J.A.R.V.I.S., who was still operational after hiding inside Ultron on the internet, into the synthetic body. Thor returned to help activate the body with lightning, explaining that the gem on its brow was one of the six Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in existence and was part of his "vision". Taking "Vision" as its name, the robot and the Maximoffs joined the Avengers, and the team headed for Sokovia, where Ultron had used the vibranium to upgrade himself and build a machine to lift a large part of the city skyward, intending to crash it into the ground to cause global extinction. As the city began to lift, Banner rescued Romanoff, who awakened the Hulk for the battle. The Avengers fought Ultron's army while delaying Ultron from activating his plan's final procedure. Fury arrived in a Helicarrier with Maria Hill, James Rhodes and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to assist in evacuating civilians, but Pietro was killed when he saved Barton from a barrage of fire. A grieving Wanda abandoned her post to destroy Ultron's primary body in revenge, inadvertently allowing one of his drones to deactivate his machine. The landmass plummeted, but Stark and Thor overloaded the machine and shattered the city into pieces. In the aftermath, the Hulk, unwilling to endanger Romanoff by being with her, departed in a Quinjet, while the Vision confronted Ultron's last remaining body and destroyed it.

Later, the Avengers have established a new base in upstate New York, run by Fury, Hill, Cho, and Selvig. Fury assured Romanoff that Banner likely escaped the crashed Quinjet. Believing the Mind Stone was safe with the Vision, Thor returned to Asgard to learn more about the forces he suspected had manipulated recent events. Stark and Barton retired from the team, and Rogers and Romanoff prepared to train new Avengers: Rhodes, Wanda Maximoff, Vision and Sam Wilson.

In a mid-credits scene, Thanos retrieved the Infinity Gauntlet and, dissatisfied by the failures of his pawns, vowed to hunt for the Infinity Stones personally.

Cast

 * Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor Odinson
 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Lou Ferrigno as the voice of the Hulk
 * Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
 * Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
 * Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
 * Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig
 * James Spader as Ultron
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
 * Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
 * Claudia Kim as Dr. Helen Cho
 * Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
 * Idris Elba as Heimdall
 * Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue
 * Stan Lee as Military Veteran
 * Julie Delpy as Madame B
 * Nick W. Nicholson as Taryl Jenkins
 * Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton
 * Ben Sakamoto as Cooper Barton
 * Imogen and Isabella Poynton as Lila Barton
 * To-be-confirmed baby as Nathaniel Barton
 * Henry Goodman as Dr. List
 * Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.
 * Josh Brolin as Thanos
 * Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Zrinka
 * Isaac Andrews as Costel
 * Julian Bleach as Ballet Instructor
 * Faye Sewell as Oslo Hub Scientist

Continuity and References to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

 * Ultron is introduced.
 * Helen Cho is introduced.
 * U-Gin: Genetics Infinite, R&D is introduced.
 * Vision is introduced.
 * Ulysses Klaue is introduced.
 * Laura Barton is introduced.
 * F.R.I.D.A.Y. is introduced.
 * Jocasta is introduced.
 * Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch appear.
 * Peggy Carter appears in a vision.
 * The repaired Stark Tower, now called Avengers Tower, appears.
 * The Chitauri Scepter appears.
 * Baron von Strucker appears.
 * Dr. List appears.
 * J.A.R.V.I.S. appears.
 * James Rhodes/War Machine appears.
 * Erik Selvig appears.
 * HYDRA appears.
 * A Quinjet appears.
 * Heimdall appears in a vision.
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon appears.
 * Chitauri armor and weaponary appears.
 * A S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears.
 * Wakanda is mentioned.
 * Asgard is mentioned and appears in a vision.
 * Abraham Erskine is mentioned.
 * Stark Industries Tech is mentioned.
 * Vibranium is mentioned and appears.
 * Pepper Potts is mentioned.
 * Jane Foster is mentioned.
 * Howard Stark is mentioned.
 * Thanos appears.
 * The Infinity Gauntlet appears.
 * The Infinity Stones are mentioned.
 * The Tesseract, the Aether, the Orb and their stones appear in a vision.
 * A Leviathan corpse appears. Multiple Leviathans also appear in Tony Stark's vision.
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. is mentioned.
 * Bucky Barnes is mentioned.
 * Ultron's Crimson Cowl identity is referenced.
 * The Red Room is mentioned.
 * The Convergence is mentioned.
 * Several scenes from earlier films appear.
 * Outside the Avengers Tower, there is a memorial of the Battle of New York.
 * Hawkeye mentions being mind-controlled.
 * Tony mentions destroying the Chitauri fleet through the worm hole.

Development
In October 2011, producer Kevin Feige hinted at a sequel to The Avengers during the New York Comic Con stating, "Iron Man 3 will be the first of what we sort of refer to as phase two of this saga that will culminate, God willing, in Avengers 2". In March 2012, Joss Whedon stated that he would want a sequel to be "...smaller. More personal. More painful. By being the next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what seemed to work the first time. By having a theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself." At the premiere of The Avengers, Feige said the studio had an option for Whedon to return as director.

In May 2012, after the successful release of the first film, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced a sequel was in development. Most of the film's cast members were under contract to potentially appear in the sequel; however, Robert Downey Jr. was not, as his four picture deal with Marvel would expire after Iron Man 3.

At the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International, Joss Whedon said he was undecided about directing, stating, "I have not come to a decision on directing Avengers 2. I am having too much fun with this [Firefly reunion] now." However in August 2012, Iger announced that Whedon would return to write and direct the sequel and develop a Marvel television series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., for ABC. Later in the month, Disney set a May 1, 2015 release date. Asked about his decision to return, Whedon said Avengers 2, it wasn't a tough decision. For a long time I thought, 'Well, it’s just not going to happen.' Then when I actually started to consider it, it became so clear that I desperately wanted to say more about these characters, it would’ve been an easy no and it was a spectacularly easy yes. There was no wrestling." Whedon said that they intended for the film's production to not be as rushed as the first one. In a December 2012 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Whedon stated that he had completed an outline for the film. In February 2013 at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, Whedon said that death would be a theme in the sequel. In March, Whedon said that he looked to The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II as inspirations. Also in March, Mark Ruffalo, who played the Hulk in The Avengers, tweeted that he will reprise the role in the sequel.

Pre-Production
In April 2013, it was reported that filming was scheduled to begin in early 2014 at Shepperton Studios in England. At the Hollywood premiere of Iron Man 3, Whedon said that he completed a draft of the script, and had started the storyboard process and began meeting with actors. Whedon also mentioned that he wrote with Downey in mind and included a "brother/sister act" from the comic books. Entertainment Weekly reported that Whedon was referring to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, which Whedon confirmed. During an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Whedon explained his rationale for including the characters in the film: "Besides the fact that I grew up reading them, their powers are very visually interesting," said Whedon. "One of the problems I had on the first one was everybody basically had punchy powers... [Quicksilver]’s got super speed. [Scarlet Witch] can weave spells and a little telekinesis, get inside your head. There’s good stuff that they can do that will help sort of keep it fresh."

In May 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Downey was in negotiations to extend his contract with Marvel Studios and reprise his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the film, as well as a third Avengers film. Also in May, the chairman of Cape Town Film Studios said that Marvel Studios was interested in shooting the film in Cape Town, South Africa. In June 2013, Variety reported that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had entered talks to play Quicksilver, which Taylor-Johnson confirmed in a July 2013 Collider interview. Later in the same month, Downey signed on to return as Iron Man for the film and The Avengers 3. Marvel also announced that filming was expected to begin in March 2014.

At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Whedon announced the film would be titled Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Despite the subtitle, the film is not based on the 2013 comic book miniseries Age of Ultron. Feige explained, "We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appeared, and that's a great title. Age Of Ultron is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines." Whedon added, "We're doing our own version of the origin story of Ultron....We were crafting our own version of it where [Ultron's] own origin comes more directly from the Avengers we already know about. The other thing is in the origin story there was Hank Pym, so a lot of people assumed he was going to be in the mix, but he's not. 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." Whedon also said the film would have a darker tone due to Ultron's involvement, and confirmed that Hawkeye and Black Widow would return. The title of the film came as a surprise to many fans who were expecting Thanos, the mastermind behind the events of the first film, to be the main villain in the sequel. When asked about Thanos' involvement, Whedon responded, "We have to stay grounded. It's part of what makes the Marvel universe click - their relationship to the real world. It's science fiction, and Thanos is not out of the mix, but Thanos was never meant to be the next villain. He's always been the overlord of villainy and darkness."

In August 2013, Deadline reported that Chris Evans would return to play Captain America in the sequel after making his directorial debut on 1:30 Train. That same month, Evans also revealed during D23 that the sequel will start filming in the first week of March 2014. Later in the month, USA Today reported that Samuel L. Jackson would reprise his role as Nick Fury. Also in August, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Marvel Studios was in negotiations with Elizabeth Olsen to play the Scarlet Witch. At the end of the month, Marvel announced that James Spader would play Ultron.

In September 2013, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson confirmed they would be returning as Thor and Black Widow respectively, with Johansson mentioning that filming would begin in January. Also in September, extensive scans were taken of Spader's head and body in preparation for the role.

In October 2013, Samuel L. Jackson confirmed that Elizabeth Olsen had been cast as Scarlet Witch, while The Wrap reported that Aaron Taylor-Johnson closed the deal to play Quicksilver after working out scheduling conflicts in promoting his appearance in the 2014 Godzilla reboot. Marvel later officially confirmed Olsen and Taylor-Johnson in November 2013.

In November 2013, Cobie Smulders confirmed in an interview that she would be reprising her role as Maria Hill. Also in November, Feige commented on finding the right balance between technology and fantasy heroes in Avengers: Age of Ultron, saying, "Iron Man is a very technological hero and his movies are always technologically based. The first Thor was all about introducing Asgard and Thor in that more fantastical realm into the more reality-based MCU, and explain that obviously it might look like magic, but it's another form of science and technology. As we go into Ultron, clearly he does come out of technology, but we're using all of our tools at our disposal that we've established so far as part of the MCU to build the storyline of Age of Ultron." At the end of the month, Screen Rant reported that portions of the film would be shot in the United States.

In December 2013, USA Today reported that Don Cheadle would reprise his role as James Rhodes.

In January 2014, Thomas Kretschmann was cast as Baron Strucker. On January 24, 2014, while promoting the French release of Much Ado About Nothing, Whedon spoke about the continuity of the film saying,


 * "I have to make my movie assuming that people will only have seen the first one, or possibly not even seen the first one. I can't assume that everybody went to see Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Iron Man 3 in-between. I have to go from one movie to the next and be true to what's happened, but not be slavish to it... The model I'm always trying to build from, my guiding star, is The Godfather: Part II where a ton has happened in-between and it's a very different movie [from The Godfather Part I], but you don't need any information: it's there in the film."

On the same day, the Forte di Bard Association announced that filming would take place at Fort Bard in the Aosta Valley region of Italy in March 2014, as well as other locations in Aosta Valley including Aosta, Donnas, Bard, Pont-Saint-Martin and Verrès. By the end of the month, filming was scheduled to take place in South Korea, with locations in Incheon and Seoul, and Kim Soo-hyun was cast in an unspecified role.

In February 2014, the Gauteng Film Commission announced that action sequences would be filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa and other locations in Gauteng, beginning in mid-February. Also in February, Paul Bettany, who voices J.A.R.V.I.S. in previous MCU films, was cast as Vision.

Filming
Filming began on February 11, 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa that commensed for two weeks. Additonal filming began at Fort Bard on March 22nd in Bard, Aosta Valley, Italy. Filming in South Korea began on March 30 on the Mapo Bridge, and continued through April 14th at various locations in Seoul. Filming in the Hawley Woods in Hampshire, England began on April 8th. Filming in the Rivoli Ballroom began in Mid-April. Filming as of June 1st has reached the half-way point. Filming at the University of East Anglia campus in Norwich, UK began on June 13th and concluded on June 16th. Filming at Dover Castle in Kent, UK started on June 17th and continued until June 23rd. Filming in London and Guildford, England started on June 24th. On August 6, Whedon announced on social media that he has completed principal photography. On August 8, 2014, Kevin Feige confirmed that additional photography will be done for the film. In November 2014, it was revealed that additional scenes are scheduled to be filmed over a 2 week period in January 2015 at Pinewood Studios.

In December 2014, Paul Bettany confirmed that he will voice J.A.R.V.I.S. in the film.

Tie-ins
In November 2014, Marvel Comic's Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso stated there are comic tie-in plans for the film. In January 2015, the title for the prequel tie-in comics were revealed to be Avengers: Operation Hydra #1 and Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude.

In February 2015, a third prequel comic was revealed to be Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle''. ''

In December 2014, ABC announced that an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would tie-in to the events of the film.

Trivia

 * Reports surfaced in May regarding several cast members in dispute with Marvel concerning their salaries if they were to return for a sequel. Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth in particular were reportedly having trouble negotiating their returns to solo-franchises as well. It was also mentioned that the cast rallied behind Robert Downey Jr. - “He’s the only guy with real power in this situation. and balls of steel, too. He’s already sent a message that he’s not going to work for a place where they treat his colleagues like shit.” one source explained.
 * At Comic-Con 2013, Aaron Taylor-Johnson confirmed that he was in negotiations to portray Quicksilver, stating that he'd met with Joss Whedon, had begun extensive research on the character and is particularly interested in the relationship and backstory with [Quicksilver and] Scarlet Witch.
 * Coincidentally, Johnson's Kick-Ass co-star Evan Peters was cast as Bryan Singer's version of Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
 * Saoirse Ronan was considered to play Scarlet Witch. The Hollywood Reporter later confirmed this when it was announced that Elizabeth Olsen entered negotiations to play the character, stating that Ronan "passed on the offer". It was also revealed that Joss Whedon used Ronan as the main inspiration for the concept art of the character.
 * Joss Whedon said that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch aren't going to be immediate allies of The Avengers.
 * In the Title Reveal Teaser presented at Comic-Con 2013, Thor's dialogue "After all this time, why return now" has never been heard before the teaser was released. The dialogue for Iron Man, Captain America, Bruce Banner, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill was taken from "The Avengers" except Thor's. However, the dialogue is featured in a deleted scene in Thor: The Dark World.
 * The addition of Quicksilver to the cast sparked wide discussion over the direction of the character who is also slated to appear in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Quicksilver had been discussed previously as a potential character in both X-Men: The Last Stand and The Avengers, but legal complexities over the license to the character resulted in his omission from both films. However, in May 2013 both Marvel and Fox Studios announced a resolution to the previous legal issues, and that Quicksilver would appear in this film as well as an X-Men sequel, though under certain parameters: no allusion to his relations to the X-Men or Magneto (the character's father) can be made in an Avengers film, and no reference to Quicksilver's membership in the Avengers can be made in an X-Men film; the rights agreement between Fox and Marvel even goes so far as to stipulate the character cannot be referred to as a mutant in any Marvel film. Additionally, the day after Fox announced Evan Peters as Quickilver, Marvel and Fox entered into a legal standoff over provisions of the rights agreement for the character, including the issue of whether Peters would be allowed to portray Quicksilver in any other film outside the X-Men franchise, possibly necessitating a second actor to play Quicksilver in any Marvel film, resulting in two different versions of the same character appearing in two competing film series. As of May 2013, this dispute which also includes the character Scarlet Witch (Quicksilver's twin sister) has yet to be resolved.
 * Louis D'Esposito revealed that Tony Stark will be co-leading the Avengers with Captain America in the film.
 * Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth have stated in separate interviews that Joss Whedon initially hadn't told them the arc of the plot, with Evans claiming that he didn't even know the title of the film until the official announcement at Comic-Con. Additionally, Hemsworth and Cobie Smulders, who played Maria Hill in the first film, have both admitted to not knowing who Ultron is.
 * Anthony Mackie has expressed his enthusiasm to return as The Falcon after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, revealing that he thinks the character could benefit from appearing in a large-scale ensemble like The Avengers. Mackie also joked that he wished to "take down Iron Man" so Falcon could be the only "flying-Avenger".
 * Hugh Jackman and Andrew Garfield have also expressed interest to play Wolverine and Spider-Man in an Avengers sequel despite the rights issues between Marvel, Fox and Sony. Jackman stated that he wanted to see Wolverine battle Iron Man.
 * The original release date of Ant-Man being pushed up to July 31, 2015 has sparked more speculation regarding Henry Pym having a possible cameo in Age of Ultron.
 * James Spader was Joss Whedon's first and only choice for the role of Ultron, because of his "hypnotic voice that can be eerily calm and compelling while also being very human and humorous."
 * Joss Whedon described Ultron as a perfect villain for the Avengers: "He's got a bee in his bonnet, he's always trying to destroy the Avengers! He's not a happy guy, which means he's an interesting guy. He's got pain."
 * In September 2013, James Spader revealed that he went in for extensive body scans, facial scans to portray Ultron stating - "I have spoken to Joss Whedon about it. And yes, actually, just this weekend I went in for them to take very extensive photographs, head scans, body scans, and all kinds of things in preparation for figuring out how the hell I’m gonna fit in this Ultron character!"  Kevin Feige, adding in October 2013: "Well, I think it will be more than a voice role - we'll be capturing his face and his body to create a whole performance. He's a very unique and incredibly exciting and unpredictable actor. And Ultron in the comics is a robot, but what's cool about him in the comics -- and certainly how Joss Whedon is interpreting him for the movie -- is that he is much more than just a robot. That he's infused with much character. And I don't want to say too much, but you can imagine James Spader will be very dynamic in his portrayal of this character. We did not hire James Spader to do a robot voice".
 * This film will mark Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader's third collaboration together after both starring in Tuff Turf (1985) and Less Than Zero (1987).
 * Robert Downey Jr. and Joss Whedon spoke more about Ultron and Tony Stark in Entertainment Weekly stating: “What you said about abdication is apt, but I think it’s also about recognizing limitations,” Robert Downey Jr. says. “The downside of self-sacrifice is that if you make it back, you’ve been out there on the spit and you’ve been turned a couple times and you feel a little burned and traumatized.” with the article going on to explain that Stark does indeed create Ultron: For better or worse (trust us, it’s worse), 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. The only problem? Ultron (played by James Spader through performance-capture technology) lacks the human touch, and his superior intellect quickly determines that life on Earth would go a lot smoother if he just got rid of Public Enemy No. 1: Human beings. “Ultron sees the big picture and he goes, ‘Okay, we need radical change, which will be violent and appalling, in order to make everything better’; he’s not just going ‘Muhaha, soon I’ll rule!’” Whedon says, rubbing his hands together. “He’s on a mission,” the filmmaker adds, and smiles thinly. “He wants to save us.”
 * Scarlett Johansson was pregnant during filming of this movie so her scenes had to be shot first before she began to show.
 * James Spader uses his natural speaking voice for Ultron instead of doing an accent.
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson was asked to lose weight (muscle mass, in particular) because he looked too strong.
 * In the SDCC'14 trailer and First trailer for the film, Ultron recites "No Strings On Me", a song from Pinocchio (1940), a Walt Disney film about an inanimate being who gains sentience; Ultron serves as a dark parallel of Pinocchio.
 * Joss Whedon described this film as "smaller. More personal. More painful. The next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what worked the first time. A theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself."
 * James Spader was Joss Whedon's first and only choice for the role of Ultron, because of his "hypnotic voice that can be eerily calm and compelling while also being very human and humorous".
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen had co-star with each other back to back as playing husband and wife in Godzilla and then twins brother-sister in the film.
 * Thanos was considered to be the next villain, but Whedon decided against him in favour of Ultron: "We have to stay grounded. It's part of what makes the Marvel universe click, their relationship to the real world. Thanos is not out of the mix, but Thanos was never meant to be the next villain - he's always been the overlord of villainy and darkness."
 * In the Title Reveal Teaser presented at Comic-Con 2013, Thor's dialogue "After all this time, why return now" has never been heard before the teaser was released. The dialogue for Iron Man, Captain America, Bruce Banner, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill was taken from "The Avengers" except Thor's. However, this dialogue can been seen in the deleted scenes of Thor: The Dark World.
 * The film was named after a 2013 Marvel comic series 'Age of Ultron.' However Kevin Feige explained that that particular comic would not be used as a storyline: "We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appears, and 'Age Of Ultron' is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines."
 * Emily Blunt and Ruth Wilson were rumored the front runners for the role of Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel.
 * Aaron Taylor-Johnson described his approach to Quicksilver as inspired by the Ultimates comic version from Marvel's Ultimate Comics imprint: "Him and his sister have been abandoned by their parents and their father, and they grew up in Eastern Europe defending and looking out for themselves and each other. His sister really is his guidance - emotionally she's the one who looks after him, and vice versa. He's very overprotective physically - he doesn't want anyone touching her."
 * It took Joss Whedon a year to convince Aaron Taylor-Johnson to accept the role of Quicksilver. Johnson was concerned over the intensity of the Marvel contracts, the time constraints, and the fact that it was going to be such a large cast. Even after he accepted the role, he was still nervous, but was comforted after he learned that his friend and Godzilla (2014) co star Elizabeth Olsen would be playing his sister and would be his filming partner through most of the movie.
 * In the comics, Ultron was created by Dr Hank Pym (Ant-Man). In this film he is created by Tony Stark, while Pym gets his own separate story in Ant-Man (2015).
 * To help hide Scarlett Johansson's pregnancy, three stunt doubles were hired. This caused a lot of confusion among the other actors since, according to them, all of the stunt women looked very similar to Johansson. Chris Evans stated that it got to the point where he would say hello and start a conversation with one of them, only to realize mid way that the person he was talking to wasn't Johansson.
 * Saoirse Ronan was considered to play Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch.
 * Lindsay Lohan sought to audition for the role of Wanda Maximoff.
 * On James Spader's first day on set, the cast were so impressed by his performance that they applauded and cheered for him after his first take.
 * Because Ultron was described as 8-9 feet tall, James Spader had to wear an antennae-like contraption made out of a thick piece of wire with two red balls attached to the top that went up his entire back and 3 feet above his head. This was done so that the actors that shared scenes with him would be able to have a reference point for where his eyes would be (the two red balls represented the placement of Ultron's eyes). Elizabeth Olsen stated that this was actually distracting because Spader would be giving an intense performance and out of instinct she would look at him rather than the balls representing his eyes. Much to everyone's amusement, whenever this happened, Aaron Taylor-Johnson would yell, "Red balls! Look at his balls, Lizzie!" at her in order to get her to look in the right direction.
 * It was planned that after this film was finished Robert Downey Jr. and Avengers 3, he would retire from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Downey signed on for Captain America: Civil War (2016).
 * Joss Whedon cast Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch because he thought their powers would be cool to use in a film: "Their powers are very visually interesting... One of the problems I had on the first one was everybody basically had punchy powers... Quicksilver's got super speed; Scarlet Witch can weave spells and a little telekinesis, get inside your head. That's good stuff they can do that will help keep it fresh."
 * At his panel during the Salt Lake Comic-Con, Stan Lee stated that his cameo in this film is his favorite cameo he has done.
 * This film marks the first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance of Tony Stark without Pepper Potts, with the exception of his cameo role in The Incredible Hulk.
 * This film marks the first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance of Thor without Loki.
 * The film was named after a 2013 Marvel comic series 'Age of Ultron.' However Kevin Feige explained that that particular comic would not be used as a storyline: "We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appears, and 'Age Of Ultron' is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines."
 * James Spader described Ultron as self-absorbed and immature: "He sees the world from a very strange, biblical point of view because he's brand new, he's very young... He's immature, and yet has knowledge of comprehensive, broad history and precedent, and he has created in a very short period of time a rather skewed worldview."
 * "Marvel Ultimates" comic is famous for featuring a controversial story-line between Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. According to Elizabeth Olsen, while this particular aspect would not be overtly present in the film, she and Aaron Taylor-Johnson "played around" with certain parts of it: "Every time you see an image of them, they're always holding each other's hand and looking over each other's shoulder. They're always so close, it's almost uncomfortable. Aaron and I have been playing a little bit with those kinds of images just for ourselves."
 * This film has the most VFX shots for any Marvel movie to date, with over 3000 VFX shots; previously Guardians of the Galaxy held the record with 2,750 VFX shots.
 * According to Mark Ruffalo, his portrayal of the Hulk is inspired by Peter David's Hulk comics, where the Hulk and Bruce Banner were a split personality case: "There's a very cool thing happening in the film: Hulk is as afraid of Banner as Banner is afraid of Hulk. Both of these guys are obviously the same guy, and they have got to come to peace somehow with each other. And this confrontation is building across this film."
 * Brian Tyler's music score for the film will pay homage to films like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and Superman (1978).
 * Elizabeth Olsen described the Scarlet Witch as unstable: "She has such a vast amount of knowledge that she's unable to learn how to control it. No one taught her how to control it properly. So it gets the best of her. It's not that she's mentally insane, it's just that she's just overly stimulated. And she can connect to this world and parallel worlds at the same time."
 * Cobie Smulders described Maria Hill as being shell-shocked from Captain America: The Winter Soldier: "We're coming into this movie where we don't really know who's a good guy and who's a bad guy and she's trying to figure out that throughout this film. She's not getting any sleep, she's doing all the work. She doesn't have the kind of manpower that she had in S.H.I.E.L.D."


 * The first trailer was intended to be released after the October 28th 2014 episode of Marvel's TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. A low-quality version of the trailer leaked online on October 22nd 2014. In response, Marvel published the HD version of the first trailer on its official YouTube channel the same day. Marvel's official Twitter account announced the official trailer with a tongue-in cheek statement blaming the Marvel's villainous organization HYDRA for the leak.
 * Industrial Light & Magic developed a new motion capture system for the film called Muse, to better capture the actor's facial/body movements and combine different takes of the same performance, with regards to Ultron and the Hulk. Andy Serkis was brought on board to contribute towards Muse's design and improvement.
 * Scarlett Johansson described her role as having more backstory: "All these characters have deep, dark pasts, and hers is a very complex one, where she's realizing she never made an active choice, she's a product of other people's imposition. That's going to catch up with her. That's bound to have a huge effect. There's got to be a result of that realization... You'll see her actively making some choices in her life, for better or worse."
 * Hawkeye's new uniform combines elements of his original Marvel Comic outfit, his Ultimate Marvel outfit, and his Ronin identity.
 * Hugh Jackman has expressed an interest to play Wolverine in an Avengers sequel despite the rights issues between Marvel, Fox and Sony. Jackman stated that he wanted to see Wolverine battle Iron Man.
 * While Andy Serkis did do some motion capture for Mark Ruffalo to potray to the Hulk, he was offered an unknown role in the movie. In the leaked trailer, there was a short shot of him where he appears similar to Ulysses Klaw, main villain of Black Panther.


 * This is Joss Whedon's first directorial sequel, although he did direct Serenity (2005) which was a movie follow up to his television series Firefly (2002).
 * Ultron is seen wearing a crimson cowl. In his first appearance (Avengers #54 1968), he wore one throughout the comic and had the alias of the Crimson Cowl.


 * This is last time this squad of Avengers will be seen together. After this movie Avenger team will be different.
 * This is the second Robert Downey Jr.. movie to have additional music composed by Danny Elfman, the other film being Back to School (1986) where Elfman performed in the movie with his band Oingo Boingo.
 * In the trailer, we see Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wearing a Bruce lee shirt. This could be an homage to Downey Jr. being a black belt in wing-chun (one of the martial arts Lee took) in real life
 * This is from the Chapter Five of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
 * In comics, Vision was created by Ultron to kill Avengers. In this movie, he's created by Bruce Banner and Tony Stark, which also explains his colour combination of Red, Green and Golden. Red and Golden are the combinations of Tony Stark's Iron Man armour and Green is the colour of Hulk.
 * It is rumored The Punisher will become a member of The Avengers. In the 1993 video game of "The Punisher", Nick Fury teamed up with The Punisher to bring down Kingpin and his organization. If The Punisher does become apart of The Avengers, it's possible Nick Fury and Frank Castle may had served together in the military and Castle may had saved Fury's life, when Fury lost his eye in the line of duty. In the comic books, Nick Fury was a World War II pilot, whilst Frank Castle was a U.S. Marine Captain whom fought in Vietnam.
 * In comics, Ultron created Vision to defeat Avengers but Vision teams up with Avengers to defeat Ultron and becomes an Avenger. In this movie he's created by Avengers to defeat Ultron and is already an Avenger.
 * Claudia Kim was acted in South Korea when she was cast in the movie.
 * Joss Whedon wanted to get a "number of different looks and textures and moods" to give the film a different and fresh aesthetic from its predecessor, so he shot in different locations around the world, including South Africa, England, Italy and South Korea.
 * Paul Bettany described the Vision as a nascent newborn: "He's both omnipotent and totally naive, the sort of danger of that and complex nature of a thing being born that is that powerful. The choices he makes morally are really complex and interesting."
 * Although Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver's costume is significantly different from it's comic companion, the color scheme (blue and white) remains the same.
 * Elizabeth Olsen drew on her relationship with her older brother and her twin sisters to prepare for the role.
 * This is not Aaron Taylor-Johnson's first time in a comic book movie. He previously played the title role of Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass in both Kick-Ass and it's sequel.
 * Elizabeth Olsen stated in an interview that she is happy that her characters outfit is not comic book accurate as it would not be appropriate for fighting and the designers did not want to do the outfit either
 * Robert Downey Jr. described Ultron's creation as a process of recognizing limitations: "The downside of self-sacrifice is that if you make it back, you've been out there on the spit and you've been turned a couple times and you feel a little burned and traumatized. Tony Stark wants a break from saving the world, having done so at least nine times now."
 * The first live action adaptation of Tony Stark's Hulkbuster armor.
 * Will mark the first Marvel Studios film to have an actor play two different characters in the same film, as Paul Bettany will be voicing J.A.R.V.I.S. in the film, and physically portraying Vision.
 * Steve Rogers is the only Avenger besides Thor who is able to move the enchanted hammer Mjolnir. In the comics, Steve was deemed worthy to wield the hammer.
 * Ultron takes various Iron Man armours for his body. This is a homage to Tony Stark designing a sentient armor in the comics, which lost its morality and tried to kill Stark. Incidentally, that was Ultron's doing - he'd developed an android named Jocasta, who eventually rebelled against her master and became an Avenger and Tony Stark's mechanical aide, but suffered from being programmed to rebuild Ultron.
 * In the comics, Black Widow was a former ballerina subject to mental conditioning and experimentation. Scarlett Johansson describes this part of her history as critical to her role in the film: "She's realizing she never made an active choice, she's a product of other people's imposition. That's going to catch up with her. That's bound to have a huge effect. There's got to be a result of that realization... You'll see her actively making some choices in her life, for better or worse."
 * Joss Whedon describes Ultron as having a mission: "Ultron sees the big picture and he decides to implement radical change, violent and appalling, in order to make everything better. He wants to save us."
 * Robert Downey Jr. described Ultron's creation as a process of recognizing limitations: "The downside of self-sacrifice is that if you make it back, you've been out there on the spit and you've been turned a couple times and you feel a little burned and traumatized. Tony Stark wants a break from saving the world, having done so at least nine times now. So his focus is more on how can we make it so that there's no problem to begin with. That, you know, there's a bouncer at our planet's rope. That's the big idea."
 * There are references from Capcom's Street Fighter, such as Hawkeye having a family, while Black Widow's has voice actor in a post-EoMH cartoon series.