Ah, Ultron, it seems like we have been hearing so much about you over the last month. Some are excited you will be in THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON while others are more cautious, worried that your creator will no longer by Hank Pym but rather Tony Stark. Either way, you have quite the arsenal of powers an abilities and will surely be taking The Avengers to task. Or will you?
In the cover story for this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, director Joss Whedon shared some notes on changes he is making to Ultron for the upcoming AVENGERS sequel. Overall, these should not impact the character, but we may be in for a different iteration of the robotic menace than what we are expecting.
“I knew right away what I wanted to do with him,” Whedon says. “He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee in his bonnet. He’s not a happy guy, which means he’s an interesting guy. He’s got pain. And the way that manifests is not going to be standard robot stuff. So we’ll take away some of those powers because at some point everybody becomes magic, and I already have someone [a new character, Scarlet Witch] who’s a witch.”
Whedon adds that he has to be careful “to ground [the character] while still evoking that guy.” And like a certain giant green Avenger hero, it sounds like large doses of rage will be key to his personality. “As a character I love [Ultron],” Whedon says, “because he’s so pissed off.”
Whedon truly seems to be humanizing Ultron by referring to him, he, and not it. Tony Stark’s creations through the IRON MAN films and THE AVENGERS have always been referred to in this way with Stark calling himself a proud papa several times. I think the decision to shift the birth of Ultron to Stark is a wise one for the cinematic universe. The question remains whether or not he will look the same as the comics or have a more human appearance.
I also like the decision to ground the villain as a creation rather than a supernatural or alien threat. After dealing with Loki and the Chitauri, changing the pace to a Frankenstein style story will be a good one for the franchise.
THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON opens May 1, 2015.
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