Finally, An Official Look At ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’
Now, if you’re like me and you enjoy seeing a new trailer debut on the big screen as opposed to watching it on Youtube, or you scroll past the many articles containing “leaked” photos or videos from sets, then you can really appreciate when something official is published. There’s a certain awe involved with witnessing for the first time brand new footage that the Internet has actually taken away from us. Just recently Entertainment Weekly provided the world with official photos of Cap, Iron Man, Thor, and company from the Avengers: Age of Ultron. And they are awesome.
New Costumes
Darker may seem the theme now. Whether or not you can argue that Marvel is now contending with DC’s thematic focus, the new look does work in their favor. Let’s take a look at who has the most updated uniform: Captain America. He stands on the main page garbed in a darker navy blue with hints of crimson around the star and shoulders. It’s more influenced by his comic book adaption director of S.H.I.E.LD. uniform as seen in the Winter Soldier, which by far is my favorite among the previous. It’s bulkier, which from my military point of view makes sense. Cap is a soldier and while he isn’t invulnerable like Thor or possess a suit of armor like Iron Man, he still runs into battle against all enemies. As we can see from his last run in the Avengers, battling alien warriors takes a toll on the superhuman body, and his silly light blue track suit didn’t seem adequate for the super soldier or even convincing as a super hero.
And sharing the same page is the old fan favorite Tony Stark in his latest Iron Man suit. While we have yet to see what the wise Joss Whedon plans to do with the arc reactor surgically removed from Tony’s chest, the suit still functions with its own reactor at its core. Away are the flashy gold pieces that used to comprise of 80% of the suit, and back to the hot rod red at the center as an ode to the original. While the suit is more or less identical to earlier models, I’m anxious to see what new abilities it has like Mark 42’s automated assembly. Also, AOU is set to introduce Stark’s Hulk-busting armor which should be epic in grand proportions.
Among a few other updates includes Hawkeye in a parka, Black Widow with a bit more tactical armor like kneepads, and a pair of purple pants for Hulk.
The Villains
Finally, we get to see the face of Ultron. Standing tall and menacing behind our heroes with glowing red eyes and dark armor is the foe of the future. Voiced by the talented James Spader, Ultron is set to cause ruckus with an army of artificially intelligent minions behind him. Giving us a little insight on the strategic villain is writer/director Joss Whedon, who says that, “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!’ He’s on a mission. He wants to save us.”
Whether or not he will be assisted or is acting alone, Ultron does come with some comrades. In true relation to the comics, it appears that the twins Wanda and Pietro are among the antagonists, at least early in the story, working against the Avengers. These official photos displays a goth-like Scarlet Witch and the speedy Quicksilver in what appears to be a wetsuit amid a city of debris. While details are yet to be unveiled, we know from the end credit scene in Winter Soldier that they are influenced by Baron Von Strucker.
With Avengers: Age of Ultron set to premier in May 2015 there is still loads to look forward to. What are you expecting out of the next earth shattering sequel.