‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know

Marvel Studio’s cinematic triumphs have been bringing in millions of fans and revenue. At the San Diego Comic Con 2013 gathering, the world got to see their 1st glimpse of May 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Comic book fans and diehard followers of the Marvel cinematic universe are super excited to watch this sequel. Returning heroes, an angry robot with plans to eradicate humans, two new familiar faces from Marvel’s universe making their debut and several more aspects of the film have us hyped, too. We’re going to make sure you go into this comic book epic with all the information needed to fully enjoy it’s many thrills.

Here’s everything you need to know about the summer’s biggest box-office blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

1. The Original Avengers Team Return to Deal with a Combative Robotic with Destructive Plans

The original lineup of Marvel Comics’ most popular team will be returning to save the world – Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Iron Man’s real-life persona, Tony Stark, develops a artificial intelligence system designed to perform global defense duties for Earth.

This robotic A.I., Ultron, doesn’t abide by Stark’s programmed rules though and decides that the only way to save Earth is by wiping out the human race. The Avengers get back together to deal with Ultron’s reign of terror and his fellow robotic drones.

2. Two New Marvel Characters Join the Fray

Not only will The Avengers have their hands full with Ultron’s reign of terror, they’ll also contend with two super humans – Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Quicksilver (real name Pietro Maximoff) has access to superhuman speed and his twin sister Wanda Maximoff (real name Wanda Maximoff) harnesses magical abilites such as telekinesis and hypnosis.

Both twins have been raised and experimented on within a secret Hydra outpost. Their powers are derived from the magical scepter once wielded by Thor’s brother, Loki. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch stand on the opposite sides with The Avengers at first, but they soon fight alongside them to deal with Ultron.

Fun fact – the actors behind Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) played the role of a couple instead of twins in 2014’s Godzilla.

3. James Spader Voices the All-Powerful Ultron

Ultron, the main villain of the film, is brought to life through Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s technological breakthrough for a pilot peace program. Both scientists looked to develop Ultron as a robotic A.I. that would protect Earth when The Avengers are unable to attend to the many threats at hand.

Ultron’s A.I. adopts a God complex and decides to pacify the Earth by eliminating the human population. James Spader’s brooding vocals have been adopted to voice Ultron.

Check out the video interview above to hear Spader talk about his role as Marvel’s robotic menace.

4. Paul Bettany Will Take on the Role of Vision

Actor Paul Bettany is responsible for doing the vocals for Tony Stark’s A.I. companion J.A.R.V.I.S in past installments of the Iron Man films and beyond. This time however, Ultron chooses to bring J.A.R.V.I.S. to life in a physical android form with a new moniker – Vision.

5. Don Cheadle and Anthony Mackie Will Reprise Their Heroic Roles for this Sequel

Iron Man and Captain America have two allies to accompany them in their efforts to bring down Ultron. For Age of Ultron, James “Rhodey” Rhodes reprises his superhero alter-ego as War Machine/Iron Patriot and Anthony Mackie will return to his role as Falcon.

Along with those two, several other actors and actresses are planned to appear in the film:

– Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
– Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
– Idris Elba as Heimdall
– Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton (Hawkeye’s wife)
– Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
– Claudia Kim as Helen Cho
– Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue
– Stellan Skarsgard as Eric Selvig

6. Avengers: Age of Ultron is a Part of Marvel Studios’ Cinematic Phase Two Universe

This mega-sequel happens to be the 4th film included in Marvel Studios’ Cinematic Universe – Phase Two. The full chronological order of Phase Two is as follows:

– Iron Man 3
– Thor: The Dark World
– Captain America: The Winter Soldier
– Guardians of the Galaxy
– Avengers: Age of Ultron
– Ant-Man

Phase Three of this expanding Marvel movie universe will include the following films:

– Captain America: Civil War
– Doctor Strange
– Spider-Man
– Thor: Ragnarok
– Avengers: Infinity War Part I
– Black Panther
– Captain Marvel
– Avengers: Infinity War Part II
– Inhumans

7. This is Director Joss Whedon’s Last Hurrah With Marvel

Longtime Marvel Studios director Joss Whedon will be leaving the studio and superhero brand behind now that Avengers: Age of Ultron has wrapped up filming. Take a look at the video interview posted above to hear about Whedon’s thoughts post-Marvel Studio’s directing duties.

8. There’s a Special Mid-Credits Scene Available for Those Smart Enough to Sit Down During the Rolling Credits

Everyone who sits in the audience for a Marvel Studios film knows they have to wait for the credits to roll. Why? Simply because these films are known to feature special post-credits scenes that allude to the next film in the current or next Marvel Studios film phase. Avengers: Age of Ultron does things a bit differently this time around by only featuring a mid-credits scene.

For those who wish to be surprised and see the bonus scene for themselves, you might as well skip the spoiler we’re about to post up:

SPOILER BEGINS – Thanos finally gets his intergalactic paws on the all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet. He decides to go seek out the Infinity Stones for himself after watching his pawns continuously fail to fulfill his goals. – SPOILER ENDS

9. Two Sequels are Planned for Release in 2018 and 2019

Longtime comic book heads out there saw the title for the next two Avengers films and already knew who the main baddie would turn out to be – Thanos. The two sequels planned for release after Age of Ultron are Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1 and Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2. the 1st film will release on May 4, 2018 and the 2nd film is scheduled for May 3, 2019. Filming for both films are expected to occur back-to-back sometime around 2016.

10. The Film Has Garnered a Hefty Sum of Box Office Sales Before Its Debut in North America

Thus far, Avengers: Age of Ultron has garnered $44.8 million in two days after opening in 26 countries on April 23, 2015. Total box office projections for the film in North America have said to come in at $217-million during its opening weekend. The original Avengers film netted a total of $207-million.