"Avengers: Age of Ultron"

[Rico]

Joss is coming back baby!  Woo-hoo!!!   :biggrin

Joss Whedon has signed to write and direct "The Avengers 2," Disney Chairman Bob Iger said Tuesday.

In addition, Whedon will create a "Marvel-based" series for ABC, Iger said during a conference call with analysts.

Whedon wrote and slid behind the camera on "The Avengers," which Iger called a "phenomenal success" during the call. The adaptation of the Marvel Comics series has grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide.

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/joss-whedon-signed-direct-write-avengers-2-51101

[Dangelus]

Nice!

I heard that this TV show is going to be about ordinary people who live in the Marvel universe. Sounds interesting!

[WillEagle]

Nice!

I heard that this TV show is going to be about ordinary people who live in the Marvel universe. Sounds interesting!

It needs to be about the Superheroes! There are plenty of heroes they could use not associated with the movies. Of course now that i think about it that could be kinda tough with all the different movies out there already.

[Dangelus]

I don't think super heroes need to be the main characters. They could guest star. I'd love to see Whedon do an ensemble show set in the Marvel universe with relatively ordinary people. Could be the next Buffy!

[Ktrek]

I'm not sure how you could have a show about ordinary people and set it in the Marvel universe without superheroes. Makes no sense to me, but on the positive side I'm glad Whedon will return to do the next Avenger's film. It will be very hard to make a film as good as the first and I doubt seriously that it will be better.

Kevin

[Jobydrone]

Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross wrote and painted a fantastic mini series called "Marvels" which told about some of the iconic Marvel Universe events, like the death of Gwen Stacy, the Mole Man's attack on New York in the Fantastic Four's first adventure, etc, but all from the perspective of average everyday people.  There were still superheroes in the story but it was all from the point of view of "normal" people.  Maybe that's the direction this possible TV series is going.

If you havent read "Marvels" pick it up...it's brilliant.

[WillEagle]

That 'Marvels' does sound interesting. I'll have to check it out.

[Rico]

We have a release date:  May 1, 2015.  Seems like a long way off, but lots of other cool Marvel films coming before this too.

Avengers, assemble...in three years!
Walt Disney Studios announced on Thursday that the untitled sequel to The Avengers, the third-highest grossing movie of all time, will arrive in theaters on Fri., May 1, 2015. As the studio announced last week, Joss Whedon will return to write and direct the project as part of an exclusive three-year film and television deal with Marvel.
The announcement rounds out the next five films in Marvel's "Phase Two" slate: Iron Man 3 is set for May 3, 2013; Thor: The Dark World  for Nov. 8, 2013; Captain America: The Winter Soldier for April 4, 2014; and Guardians of the Galaxy for Aug. 1, 2014.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/08/16/the-avengers-sequel-release-date/

P.S.  Oh, I just noticed the Thor sequel comes out on my birthday next year.  Well, I know what I'm doing that day!

[Geekyfanboy]

So excited that Joss agreed to write and direct this sequel.. can't wait.

[Rico]

Rumor out there that Ms. Marvel might join the heroes for the next film.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=95620

[Meds]

Going to be a difficult film to do. I hope he pulls it off and does a Superman 2.

[Rico]

Joss has turned in his outline for the movie.

Although the film still won't hit theaters for two-and-a-half years, EW is reporting that writer/director Joss Whedon has officially turned in his outline for Marvel's The Avengers 2. What's more, they've revealed that Whedon regulars Jeffrey Bell, Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon (Joss' brother) are set to serve as showrunners on ABC's upcoming "S.H.I.E.L.D.", assuming Whedon's pilot goes to series.

Set to begin filming in January, "S.H.I.E.L.D" will feature a cast that includes Brett Dalton, Iain De Caestecker, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ming-Na Wen, and Clark Gregg. Both Whedon siblings wrote the pilot alongside Tancharoen and Joss is set to direct.

Marvel's The Avengers 2, meanwhile, will hit theaters on May 1, 2015, and while the cast is currently unconfirmed, its very likely to again include Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=97727

[Rico]

We have an official title for the 2nd Avengers film.  "Avengers: Age of Ultron."  I like this idea a lot!

SAN DIEGO - Joss Whedon made a surprise appearance at the tail end of Marvel Studios' annual end of day Comic-Con panel with some big news about the sequel to "The Avengers."

The follow up to the 2012 blockbuster has been referred to up until now as "Avengers 2," but Whedon introduced a short CG animated video that revealed the film's official title: "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

"Age of Ultron" is the title of a recent mini-series written by Brian Michael Bendis that found the Marvel Universe effectively destroyed by The Avengers longtime nemesis Ultron. In the comic books, Ultron is an artificial intelligence accidentally created by Avenger Henry Pym (Ant-Man) for the greater good. Instead, Ultron - in robotic form - decides all of humanity must be destroyed beginning with his "Father." The Avengers and other Marvel heroes have foiled Ultron time and time again, but have never been able to completely destroy him.  There is always a piece of his programming somewhere repopulating and strategizing. In "Age of Ultron," Avenger Wolverine found himself going back in time to kill Pym before he created Ultron in order to save the world. This ends up affecting the time stream and changing history.  Eventually order was restored, but there are long term consequences that are currently playing out because of the event in different Marvel titles. 

Because of the complexity of the Ultron mythology and multiple backstories (not to mention involvement of Wolverine a character Marvel Studios currently does not have the rights to use on the big screen) this would be an unlikely back drop for the movie's storyline.  It is possible, however, that certain elements from the event will inspire Whedon's screenplay.  What the title and the recognizable Ultron head that accompanied it does mean is that Thanos will not be the villain in the next movie.  The Death God from Titan briefly appeared at the end credits of "The Avengers" as the behind-the-scenes conspirator to power Loki's alien invasion, but he'll likely be back to quarrel with Earth's Mightiest Heroes down the road.

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" is scheduled to open nationwide May 1, 2015.

http://www.hitfix.com/news/avengers-2-is-now-officially-avengers-age-of-ultron

[Dangelus]

I suspect the story won't be much like the mini series. Wolverine plays a big role in that and they don't have the rights to use him. Also there's not much Ultron in Age of Ultron! 

[Rico]

Details on this from Joss.  They look to be doing their own version of Ultron.  My guess is (like I said on the podcast yesterday) is that it might even end up being Tony Stark that designs Ultron for the movie.

Marvel Studios and writer/director Joss Whedon took to the stage at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H this year and wowed the audience with the announcement of the title for The Avengers sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Though the film is still two years away from release, Whedon has already decided to share some details on the film's plot, inspirations, and characters.

"A lot of people, because we called it Age of Ultron and there was a book called Age of Ultron recently, assumed that was the storyline we were doing which is not the case. We're doing our own version of the origin story of Ultron. The other thing is in the origin story, there was Hank Pym, so a lot of people assumed he was going to be in the mix, but he's not because we're basically taking the things from the comics for the movies that we need and can use. A lot of stuff has to fall by the way side. Ultron was their chief villain when I read the book. He has been THE Avengers villain for so long, I was amazed anybody was surprised it was going to be him in a movie. But we're sort of crafting our own version of it, where his origin comes more from The Avengers that we already know about it."

Whedon also admitted to knowing that this would be the sequel for the film since before he made the first "Avengers" movie.

"Since before I even took the job of making the first one, I thought 'Well I don't know if I want to make this movie, but the second one should have Ultron in it!'"

When asked how the film would be different from the first movie, Whedon elaborated more than he has in the past.

"It's a little bit darker than the other film, because Ultron is in the house there's a science fiction element that I think is a little bit stronger than the other film. Getting the team together was so rousing, but seriously, keeping the team together is a completely different problem."

Ultron goes through several different iterations in the source material and Whedon says that will be reflected in the film.

"Ultron is definitely somebody who evolves so we're going to get a couple of iterations, it's going to be cool."

When asked by a fan if The Avengers would do some globehopping in the sequel, Whedon gave an interesting reply for the film's story.

"It's very much a global Avengers film, a lot of the movie has to do with their place not only in America but in the world."

While still writing the film, Whedon appears to be having the most fun writing one of the returning characters instead of one of the new ones.

"Part of the fun for me, definitely, this time around is writing Hawkeye, because he did get possessed pretty early by a bad guy and sort of had to walk around scowley for most of the movie last time. So now it's nice to actually have the character there and really see him interact with the other guys."

Whedon also confirmed the time table to begin production on the sequel.

"End of February, beginning of March. We'll be shooting in London, London will be the base for Avengers 2."

Featuring favorites from the first "Avengers" film and new Marvel characters never before seen on the big screen, Avengers: Age of Ultron will open in theaters on May 1, 2015. You can check out the interview segment below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylai2RE9EM0#ws