Avengers: Age of Ultron Goes Worldwide For Filming Locations
As the first in the series, The Avengers takes place largely in the United States following Loki’s takeover attempt of Earth that started with New York City. The entire film was shot stateside, including the scenes in Stuttgart, Germany. To switch things up, director Joss Whedon and the bigwigs at Marvel Studios decided to take on a much more global approach with Avengers: Age of Ultron.
In fact, almost none of Avengers: Age of Ultron was filmed in the States. Similar to Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy, the majority of the shooting took place near London at Shepperton Studios, part of Pinewood Studios. A good portion of the film was shot in England, including Hawley Woods in Hampshire for a winter battle scene, Dover Castle Tunnels in Kent and educational facilities throughout Norfolk and Surrey. Hendon Police College in London will create the cityscape for the fictional Eastern European city of Sokovia.
Filming actually began on February 11, 2014, starting in Johannesburg, South Africa. The second unit crew was on location shooting many of the action scenes without the main cast. The Gauteng Film Commission introduced Johannesburg to Marvel Studios as an ideal location the year prior, in hopes of increasing South Africa’s international profile.
Filming later went on to a few locations in Northern Italy. Scenes were shot at Fort Bard in A’osta Valley where rumors speculate scenes will feature Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (Thomas Kretschmann). Production in this region lasted about a week before filming was moved to South Korea for two weeks.
Joss Whedon enjoyed shooting in Seoul, South Korea. Crews and Captain America (Chris Evans) were spotted on the Mapo Bridge at the Han River as well as the nearby Saebit Dungdungseom, an artificial island that will reportedly appear in the film as the headquarters for an IT institute.
While it may not be the most popular tourist location, a few scenes were also shot in the small country of Bangladesh. The Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard makes its own cameo in a scene of the film. The area is famous for the scrapping yard, which was once a tourist attraction until the facility’s poor safety record discouraged it.
Filming completed on August 6th, 6 months after it began. The film will showcase the many locations, though many take on a different life in the artificial Marvel Universe. A glimpse at many of the worldwide scenes can be spotted in the film’s various trailers.
?In an interview with Marvel’s “The Watcher” webseries, Joss Whedon said, “This is a very global film. We wanted the world perspective on the Avengers. What they’re doing. What they’ve been doing and who they are. They’re being the Avengers. And that’s a global thing…”
Essentially, everyone involved in the film hopes that Avengers: Age of Ultron will have a much more global appeal. The various locations not only broadens the options for the upcoming films, but it will appeal to a larger audience with hopes of seeing their home country on the big screen for its release on May 1, 2015.
