It was at least a little surprising to most people when the full title for THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON was released at Comic-Con. Many thought that the character teased at the end of the first film (which I won't reveal here because I'm sure someone that hasn't seen THE AVENGERS yet will whine if I do) would be the big baddy for the next movie, but it looks like that character will be saved for a future film and Ultron will be the main villain battling The Avengers in 2015.
In a new interview with Total Film director Joss Whedon talks about adding Ultron to the mix and reveals that even though there was the cameo/tease at the end of THE AVENGERS, he suggested using the villain for the second film even before he started work on the first one:
I was pitching Ultron before I took the job on the first movie. I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this, but for the second one, you should totally do Ultron.’ Because he’s been a thorn in their side as much as any other character over the years and particularly back in my history. He was great. He’s somebody who can juice things up and he’s a real problem for the Avengers. That’s not always easy to find. It’s not like the Vulture is really going to give them a hard time for 20 minutes.
Yeah, Vulture would last about five seconds if he had to fight the entire Avengers team. With how powerful some of these superheroes (and whichever ones are being added to the new film) are you have to have a villain that can really go toe-to-toe with them. It was great to see The Avengers work as a team to fight off an alien army, but in the comics usually the most epic and important battles have been when the team is trying to take down one incredibly powerful foe. Like if all of The Avengers tried to take down Loki at once in the first film instead of him fighting Thor, Iron Man and Hulk separately. It's something I'm sure many fans (including myself) are very excited to see.
THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is in theaters May 1st, 2015.