As Marvel Studios’ latest release, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, continues to dominate at the box office, the studio is already full steam ahead on their next venture, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which is currently in production in London. Empire spoke with writer/director Joss Whedon and producer Kevin Feige about the project in their latest issue (special thanks to forum user ‘HunBoy’ for the transcriptions!) and the pair had some interesting things to say about the film’s villain, new additions, and the look of the movie.
“I’m having a blast with Ultron,” Whedon told the magazine. “He’s not a creature of logic – he’s a robot who’s genuinely disturbed. We’re finding out what makes him menacing and at the same time endearing and funny and strange and unexpected, and everything a robot never is.”
The sequel to the 2012 film has a few more additions to the cast, including Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Thomas Kretschmann all as new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Don’t worry though, as Joss has a plan for them all – they’re not present for the sake of inclusion.
“I fiercely dislike the idea of just throwing in more people for the sake of doing that, but last time I had all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versus one British character actor, and I needed more conflict.”
Speaking of Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Feige says that their characters, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, will have some friction with the Avengers after they first meet up.
“They’re not very happy with The Avengers. Their powers are not insignificant and they’re quite different from what the Avengers have faced before.”
Whedon also mentioned that with “Age of Ultron,” he’s going for a different visual style from the first film, and that is partially due to their filming location.
“The number of different looks and textures and moods we’re getting from the British locations is stupid awesome, because this, palette-wise, is very different. I’m trying to make a different film. Because why would you make one movie twice? That seems weird.”
Shifting to another film, Empire asked Kevin Feige about their upcoming August release, Guardians of the Galaxy, and whether the infamous role of Thanos had finally been cast. Feige had a cryptic reply ready, saying:
“There is an actor. I’m not sure we want to announce it yet.”
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is set for release on August 1st with Avengers: Age of Ultron following on May 1, 2015.
