Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron (April 2015)

Whoa, new trailer just hit today:



Looks very dark and creepy, a vast difference in tone from the previous film, which set many records for making huge money and further cementing Marvel's movie rep.

Two very funny "meta" things in the trailer: the references to "I Got No Strings," the Pinocchio song (which of course, like Marvel, is owned by Disney)... and the unmistakeable voice of James Spader as the villainous Ultron, sounding not too far away from Red Reddington in NBC's The Blacklist.

Looks like an interesting movie and a big change in direction for the film series.

 

Aw, it was great popcorn entertainment. Granted, it ain't deep nor is it high art, but as an action movie, it's fine. At least it wasn't stupid like the Transformers and all that crap.

 

Joss is no stranger to dark and creepy. Yes, his witty dialogue gets mentioned most often, but he can get really grim when the situation warrants it. I'm looking forward to the film.

 

Sure hope the film isn't as dreary and tedious as that preview.

 

Looks awesome to me - looking forward to it!

 

Meh. More comic book smashups. I'm so over the whole genre.

 

I'm going with at least $1.5 billion worldwide by August, at least as high as the last one. Any bets?

I think what makes Joss Whedon's take on the whole superhero thing is he carves out some pretty snappy dialogue, plus he finds a way to differentiate the characters and drive them with conflict in a fairly organic way. It also helps that the movies have genuine surprises and are fairly fast-paced. I'm not saying they're deep, complex, or profound; I'm just as cool with a terrific cheeseburger as I am with a $300 Kobe beef dinner. Sometimes, a cheeseburger is just what you need; other times, you might need something more filling. But there's an awful lot of bad cheeseburgers out there. I don't think this will be one of them.

 

I''ve stopped eating cheeseburgers many years ago. Watching that trailer was so generic-superhero that it could have been from any such movie, including Transformers. We're now being fed a diet of superficial (eye) candy floss 24/7 - both in cinema and TV, and sooner or later you will get a tummy ache. I'm already there.

 

Joss realized early on, that The Avengers were a team of heroes that never should have been together in the first place, so his task in the first film was to somehow find a logical way to link the different characters together, and make it somehow work. Now that things have been established, Joss has free reign to do the kind of "deeper" superhero movie that he's been really wanting to do for a long time.

 

Eh, there's a rat burger, and there's a Steak & Shake cheeseburger (which I swear to god, I'd pay $20 for right now). It's all different levels of junk... but there is such a thing as really great junk food, and I'd consider the Marvel movies in that category.

I suspect Robert Downey, Jr. is very down about the fact that his very serious human drama The Judge basically tanked, particularly when he spent years developing it, helping shape the script, and producing it. I think Downey truly thought he could branch out into non-franchise / non-action-adventure movies, and that there was still a decent market for people who wanted to see serious dramas. It's interesting to note that he's agreed to make three more movies playing Iron Man (Avengers 2, Captain America 3, and another Avengers movie), so I think he's aware of the need to hang on to a good thing.

BTW, if you think there's too many comic book movies out these days, check out this list:

http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.co...-comic-book-movies-between-now-and-2020.html/

By my rough count, there's about two dozen superhero movies due out between now and the end of 2020, which is just six years. CaRAzy. Like it or not, these movies will keep getting made as long as people keep going to see them. I personally think there's good and bad movies out there -- the entire genre isn't bad per se, though some of them admittedly are -- but I would like to see a greater variety of films in theaters and not 70% action/adventure/comic/videogame movies.

 

Not.

They won't get my money. I think the bubble will burst due to over saturation. If I don't see another character with <inset super power here>, it will be too soon.

 

And here's an essay in the Hollywood Reporter offering conjectures on what's going on in the trailer:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/whats-revealed-leaked-avengers-age-743181

The word is that the trailer was supposed to hit on October 28th, but it got leaked early, so Marvel was forced to release it early. It's fascinating that the movie business is now so complicated, they have to worry about when glimpses of a forthcoming movie come out 5 days too early.

I don't think it'll burst in 2015. You wanna take my bet that Avengers 2 will make at least $1.5 billion? I'll give you $100 million for the over and under.

 

Oh, I wasn't suggesting that the bubble would burst in 2015 - it will take a few years, but before 2020, I reckon. As for it doing the sort of business that you suggest, I wouldn't be at all surprised. I was merely expressing my personal ambivalence/disdain to the current trend.

 

So this is not a continuation of the last one ' Loki & co ?

 

I like it. I always enjoyed the Ultron stories (well most of them). Of course the movie is going to diverge quite a bit from the comics.

I'm sure there will be plenty of light things and jokes and stuff too. I hope none of the Avengers die though.

Scarlet Witch always looked cool in the comics, but her stories (aside from the original Wundagore stories) either always had her as a damsel in distress or a psycho Dark Phoenix type. So I wonder what they'll do with her. And what she'll be called (since she can't be a mutant in the movie).

Looking forward to it!

 

Interesting, the first Avengers movie was in 1:85:1
This appears to be 2:35:1 (or close).

I wonder what made him change his mind?

 

I'm not too up on the full Marvel universe. Who is Andy Serkis supposed to be?

John K.

 

The rumor I read online is that he is to play Klaw a villian made of pure sound. That implies that possibly the Black Panther may be introduced as well.

And speaking of Black Panther... he's from Wakanda which is one of the only known sources of vibranium. Vibranium is the only substance that can damage Adamantium (which is what Ultron is made of in the comics).

 

That trailer looked just like another TRANSFORMERS chapter!

And it appears this franchise will follow the route of other superhero franchises, cramming more and more heroes and villains into an already overcrowded ensemble until the whole thing degenerates into gibberish.

 

I just read that Ultron will be made out of Vibranium (not Adamantium) in the movies because Fox owns 'Adamantium' thanks to Wolverine.

 

Guess Wolverine won't be an Avenger, thanks to Fox's owning the character!

 

Many complained that the first Avengers movie looked cheap at times. Some folks blamed Seamus McGarvey's cinematography and director Joss Whedon's choice to shoot the film in 1.85:1.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/avengers/avengers_age_of_ultron/news/?a=97687