“Dammit, HYDRA!”
That is Marvel’s official tweet regarding the leak of the first trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron. This most-anticipated bit of footage was supposed to drop with the Oct. 28 episode of Agents of S.H.IE.L.D television show – perhaps as a means of offering that show a lifeline in its ever-declining ratings, but the internet is notorious for being a step ahead of a studio’s best laid plans. As a result, Marvel has apparently decided to release the full HD version online. No squinting, no trying to figure out what was said: HD is the truly the proper way to give a first impression for an event film like this.
The team is back: Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawk-eye, Thor, and Black Widow, and they face a new challenge in fighting against the robotic Ultron. “This is the end… the end of the path I started us on,” says a regretful Tony Stark, who will be the one mainly responsible for the creation of Ultron. But it’s Ultron himself, voiced by James Spader, who provides the chilling narration of the film’s major themes, namely the relationships between puppets and their masters, and the notion that, while there will always be a desire to protect this world, the world itself is constantly in flux. This notion is particularly apt, as it seems to reinforce some of the themes that the last few films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have brought to light: that maybe the world is in such constant flux that it’s hard to know why and how to protect it and keep it safe as time keeps moving forward.
Big ideas aside, the most interesting aspects of the trailer are the quick shots that indicate some moments of character conflict, including a scene of strife between Thor and Tony, as well as a spectacular showdown between Hulk and the Hulkbuser armor (which, this review suspects, is taken from an early scene in the film wherein there is some training going on). There is very little in this trailer for the new team-members Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, but overall Marvel is giving it’s fans quite a lot to mull over here.
Of course, the first Avengers film had one thing that made it more distinct than the new film could ever be: it was an event film, the first of its kind that would have heroes from different films coming together for a gargantuan film, and audiences got to see them fight amongst themselves before learning to work together and combine their talents. It’s now been done, and the sheer novelty of seeing that play out on screen has passed. The new film may, in fact, play out very much the same as the first one; instead of being pitted against dozens of indistinct aliens, the team must now confront an army of robots who are all duplicates of Ultron. We, as fans, can only hope there will be a bit more to chew on with this story.
One last thing: Cap’s shield is broken.
Good tease, Marvel!
My Rating: 4.0/5
james. spader. is. so… awesome! i cannot wait!
I can only hope that there will be more to chew on with this story than there was in the first Avengers movie. I am intrigued by the character of Ultron, though, from the way you describe him (it?). Sounds like there might be potential for some interesting ideas there 🙂