The slow crawl of reveals is starting to take shape since Joss Whedon "announced" the title of his THE AVENGERS sequel, the aptly titled THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. The director has also confirmed that Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff and Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff will be in the follow-up, but thus far no casting announcements have been made. Rumors have swirled that Saoirse Ronan was a contender for Scarlet Witch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been linked to Quicksilver for some time. During his promo interviews for KICK-ASS 2, the actor has now confirmed that he is at least in talks with both Marvel and Joss Whedon to portray the enigmatic son of Magneto, saying via Collider:
“I feel really flattered and honored that they came to me for that role. I think he’s an interesting character and we’re just gonna keep going into that. I sat down with Joss, I think he’s awesome, I sat down with the guys at Marvel and they’re also great; I think it’d be interesting.”
Speaking to MTV, Taylor-Johnson elaborated more about the character, which makes me think that he's seen some aspect of the script or been given a rundown, possibly by Whedon, saying:
"I think when it comes around and you're asking about 'Avengers 2' and Quicksilver and things like that, the thing is to think about that he's an abandoned child. Him and his sister are abandoned, they live in Eastern Europe. And if that's something that you can make work, then there's always… you gotta have something that you can relate to. So when it comes to that, then it's enjoyable. So I don't really care what it is you know."
On Whedon, Taylor-Johnson seemed rather enthused, stating:
"Oh man, [Joss Whedon] is awesome! He's a real dude and I love what he did with the first Avengers. He had a real though task to deal with and I think he put up brilliantly."
Although Taylor-Johnson isn't confirmed for the role of Quicksilver, I'd say it's about in the bag at this point. Negotiations may still be underway, but it would seem silly for the actor not to take the role if offered it. After the success of KICK-ASS and the likely success of both KICK-ASS 2 and Gareth Edwards GODZILLA, it would be a natural progression to superstardom for the actor to jump into arguably the biggest superhero movie on the horizon (okay, okay, it's got some competition from SUPERMAN/BATMAN, but still…).
Do you think Taylor-Johnson can keep up with the role of Quicksilver?
THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is set to debut on May 1, 2015. Taylor-Johnson will next be seen in KICK-ASS 2, opening on August 16, 2013.