Good morning everybody, hope you’ve all had a good week. Mine has been quite a long week; to start with I ended up scalding my legs with my tea by stupidly picking up the wrong cup without thinking and having it fall straight into my lap, to say it didn’t hurt would be a massive lie. Then on Monday, my mum rang (on my behalf) the Doctors to try and get me an appointment to get my toe checked as its badly infected, we were waiting on the phone for over 50 minutes before someone finally answered, only to be referred to our chemist who we then went to see, only to be told that they don’t deal with that sort of thing (they can only help treat 7 problems), but the chemist did say that its clearly infected and needs to be treated by a proper doctor who can then prescribe antibiotics as its definitely needed, but until I can actually get an appointment, it means I’m having to keep it covered and having to rest it by not moving my foot so much, as everything that comes in contact (i.e. sock, air, plaster, water, etc..) causes searing pain. Because of this It has given me the perfect opportunity to re-watch all of the Avenger movies, which brings me to this weeks post..

The Avengers changed the movie landscape. It’s not the first Marvel movie, but the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” concept was born when the Avengers were assembled. How do you follow up on that first team-up epic superhero flick? Well…with an evil robot! As the highly-anticipated sequel to Marvel’s The Avengers, this film continued the saga of Earth’s mightiest heroes as they faced an entirely new threat. Directed by Joss Whedon, Avengers: Age of Ultron not only delighted comic book and movie fans alike, but it also shattered box office records, when it was released in U.S cinemas on 1st May 2015, and becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. From behind-the-scenes secrets to trivia about the characters and storyline, here are 50 facts you might not know about Age of Ultron to make yourself more (artificially) intelligent.

*Before continuing…I should forewarn you that if you haven’t seen the film at all, this post might contain spoilers, so only read if you are ok with that.*

About Avengers: Age Of Ultron

Run Time – 2 Hours and 21 Minutes

Directed By: Joss Whedon

Summary:

Following on from the events in the previous movies; The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Marvel Studios presents Avengers: Age Of Ultron… After a successful raid on a HYDRA base, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner create an Artificial Intelligence called Ultron, a peacekeeping protocol designed to help the Avengers protect the world from their enemies. But things go wrong when Ultron sees the human race as a threat and sets out to destroy it along with the Avengers. Now the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, must reassemble to stop Ultron from causing mass destruction. Aside from this, the Avengers also must take on the powerful twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as well as the new entity called Vision. Also, the Avengers find that things may never be the same again after discovering a power beyond their comprehension.

Main Cast:

Robert Downey Jr. – Tony Stark / Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth – Thor
Mark Ruffalo – Bruce Banner / Hulk
Chris Evans – Steve Rogers / Captain America
Scarlett Johansson – Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner – Clint Barton / Hawkeye
James Spader – Ultron
Samuel L. Jackson – Nick Fury
Don Cheadle – James Rhodes / War Machine
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver
Elizabeth Olsen – Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
Paul Bettany – J.A.R.V.I.S / Vision
Cobie Smulders – Maria Hill
Anthony Mackie – Sam Wilson / The Falcon
Linda Cardellini – Laura Barton

Facts

• James Spader was Joss Whedon’s only choice for the role of Ultron, because of his “hypnotic voice that can be eerily calm and compelling, while also being very human and humorous.”
• James Spader was originally just going to be Ultron’s voice, but he told the filmmakers that for a main character, he deserved to do more than provide a voice, and so he took on performing Ultron through motion-capture.
• On James Spader’s first day on-set, the cast was so impressed by his performance that they applauded and cheered for him after his first take.
• James Spader uses his natural speaking voice for Ultron. The voice was then processed to give it a more metallic, machine-like quality.
• Because Ultron was eight to nine feet tall, the five-foot ten-inch James Spader had to wear an antenna-like contraption made out of a thick piece of wire, with two red balls attached to the top that went up his entire back and three feet above his head. This was done so that the cast members that shared scenes with him would have a reference point for where his eyes would be. The two red balls represented the placement of Ultron’s eyes. Elizabeth Olsen stated that this was actually distracting, because Spader would be giving an intense performance and out of instinct, she would look at him rather than the balls representing his eyes. Much to everyone’s amusement, whenever this happened, Aaron Taylor-Johnson would yell “Red balls! Look at his balls, Lizzie!” at her in order to get her to look in the right direction.

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen worked back-to-back, first playing husband and wife in Godzilla (2014), and now brother and sister in this film.
• It took Joss Whedon a year to convince Aaron Taylor-Johnson to accept the role of Pietro. Taylor-Johnson was concerned over the intensity of the Marvel contracts, the time constraints, and the fact that it was going to be such a large cast. Even after he accepted the role, he was still nervous, but was comforted after he learned that his friend, and Godzilla (2014) co-star, Elizabeth Olsen, would be playing his sister, and would be his filming partner throughout most of the movie.
• Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson consulted each other before accepting the roles of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. The two became friends while filming Godzilla (2014), and as soon as they found out that both had offers, they called each other to check if the other was doing it before signing on.
• When Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson learned that their roles Wanda and Pietro Maximoff would be based on their “Marvel Ultimates” version, they both read and studied every single issue in order to prepare for the role.
• (at around 1h 55 mins) Pietro mentions to Wanda that he was born twelve minutes before her. In real life, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Pietro) is a year younger than Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda).

• According to Mark Ruffalo, his portrayal of The Incredible Hulk is inspired by Peter David’s Hulk comics, where The Incredible Hulk and Bruce Banner were a split personality case: “There’s a very cool thing happening in the film: Hulk is as afraid of Banner, as Banner is afraid of Hulk. Both of these guys are obviously the same guy, and they have to come to peace somehow with each other, and this confrontation is building across this film.”
• In Avengers Assemble (2012), Banner is shown becoming The Incredible Hulk, but is never shown reverting back to Banner. In this movie, Banner is never shown becoming The Incredible Hulk, but is shown reverting back to Banner.
• The Hulkbuster armor has three arc reactors on the front: one on the chest and one on each knee. Six on the back: four on the back and one on each calf. Excluding the arc reactor of the suit worn underneath the Hulkbuster, it’s safe to say that it takes nine arc reactors just to power the gargantuan suit.
• Stan Lee’s cameo as a War Veteran, at the farewell party for Thor, is a sly inside joke, since Lee did actually join the Army, but never went into battle.
• (at around 25 mins) In his cameo, after getting drunk, Stan Lee says “Excelsior”, the same phrase with which he ended his weekly “Stan’s Soapbox,” which appeared in every Marvel comic book.

• In the comics, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are born mutants. In this movie, they got their powers due to experimentation of H.Y.D.R.A. on them. This change has to do with the fact that Twentieth Century Fox holds the rights to the X-Men film franchise and the whole mutant concept. Therefore, this change was intended to disassociate the film from the X-Men film franchise to avoid legal issues.
• Elizabeth Olsen stated in an interview that she is happy that her character’s outfit is not accurate to the comic book, as it would be inappropriate for combat.
• Neither Quicksilver nor Scarlet Witch are called by their superhero names in this movie. They are referred to as “the Enhanced,” “the Twins,” or their full names Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. However, Tony Stark calls Wanda a “witch” during his fight with The Incredible Hulk.
• Quicksilver’s running visual effects were created by first filming with an ultra-high-speed camera, and then filming Aaron Taylor-Johnson running in the same scene at regular speed, and then digitally splicing the two scenes together.
• Elizabeth Olsen worked with a dance choreographer to make her movements more graceful for action sequences.

• Character screen times: Captain America = 50:25 Iron Man = 45:34 Black Widow = 33:07 Quicksilver = 26:43 Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk = 23:55 Scarlet Witch = 20:59 Hawkeye = 19:56 Thor = 14:18 The Vision = 8:41
• Joss Whedon wanted to get a “number of different looks and textures and moods” to give the film a different and fresh aesthetic from its predecessor, so he shot in different locations around the world, including South Africa, England, Italy, and South Korea.
• Saoirse Ronan, Daisy Ridley and Chloë Grace Moretz was considered to play Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch).
• This is Chapter Five of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• One poster for the film has Captain America in front of Iron Man, and another puts Iron Man in front of Captain America. This hints at Captain America: Civil War (2016), where Iron Man and Captain America clash over their superhero beliefs, and lead superhero armies against each other.

• The trailer was viewed 34 million times on YouTube in the first 24 hours after it was released. This broke the record that was previously held by Iron Man 3 (2013).
• This is the first (and so far only) time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that Thor appears in a movie without Loki. Tom Hiddleston did film a scene, reprising Loki, but it was ultimately cut from the final version, as Joss Whedon felt it “didn’t play” well with the film as a whole.
• This film marks the first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance of Tony Stark without Pepper Potts, with the exception of his cameo role in The Incredible Hulk (2008). It is also the only Iron Man or Avengers film that does not feature Pepper Potts.
• The opening sequence of all of The Avengers fighting and supporting each other in Sokovia was the last scene to be completed for the film.
• This film has the most visual effects shots for any Marvel movie to date, with over 3,000. Previously, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) held the record with 2,750 shots.

• Despite Ultron and The Vision having two seemingly different personalities, they share the same origins. They both came from the Mind Stone. Ultron was born from a dormant intelligence within the Mind Stone, whereas The Vision was born from the remainder of the Stone’s contents. So in a way, they are the “good” and “bad” of the Mind Stone, which suggests that the other Infinity Stones may possess their own sorts of intelligence and personality.
• In the comic books, The Wasp was the one who gave The Vision his name, shocked upon seeing him for the first time. In this movie, he’s named by Thor and Ultron. Thor refers to him as the “vision” he received in the form of a prophecy, and Ultron refers to him as the object of his “vision” for the future.
• The creation of Vision, The Battle of Sokovia, the death of Quicksilver, and The Sokovia Accords are the consequences behind Tony Stark’s actions of creating Ultron.
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s favorite superhero amongst The Avengers is Chris Hemsworth.
• (at around 28 mins) During the party in which people are attempting to lift Mjölnir, everyone fails except Steve Rogers, who is able to move it slightly (you can see Thor’s smile quickly disappear when he does). This is a reference to the fact that Rogers is one of the only humans who are considered worthy to wield Thor’s Hammer, and does so in one of the comic books. This was further proved true in Avengers: Endgame (2019) when Steve fully lifts Mjölnir and wields it.(at around 28 mins) During the party in which people are attempting to lift Mjölnir, everyone fails except Steve Rogers, who is able to move it slightly (you can see Thor’s smile quickly disappear when he does). This is a reference to the fact that Rogers is one of the only humans who are considered worthy to wield Thor’s Hammer, and does so in one of the comic books. This was further proved true in Avengers: Endgame (2019) when Steve fully lifts Mjölnir and wields it.

• (at around 49 mins) When Scarlet Witch tries to mind control Hawkeye, he neutralizes her and quips “I tried the mind control thing. Not a fan!” This is a reference to Jeremy Renner being openly displeased with his character being mind controlled by Loki during most of Avengers Assemble (2012).
• (at around 1h 27 mins) Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wears a Bruce Lee t-shirt. Downey has a black belt in Wing-Chun.
• At Clint’s home when Tony talks to Fury in the barn and tells him about the nightmare that Wanda showed him in the beginning; Fury realizes that not only is Tony’s worst fear seeing everyone dead but that he survives and has to live with his guilt about being the only one left. This comes partially true in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), where Thanos succeeds and wipes out half of all life in the universe. In Avengers: Endgame (2019), however, Tony sacrifices his life so that he dies and everyone else lives.
• (at around 1h 45 mins) Foreshadowing Quicksilver’s death, Captain America tells Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver that “If you get hurt, hurt ’em back, if you get killed, walk it off.” While Cap is saying all of this, they switch between showing the three characters to whom he’s talking. When he says the line “if you get killed, walk it off,” Quicksilver is shown.
• The first word spoken in the film by an Avenger is “shit”.

• (at around 1h 35 mins) When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is picking a new A.I., one of the chips says “Tadashi,” in reference to the chip that’s in Baymax, from Big Hero 6 (2014), another Disney property based on Marvel Comics.
• All of the main, original Avengers in this movie are manipulated in some way by Scarlet Witch, with the exception of Hawkeye. Hawkeye was the only member of The Avengers to be under the mind control of Loki in Avengers Assemble (2012).
• Hawkeye’s new uniform combines elements of his original Marvel Comic outfit, his Ultimate Marvel outfit, and his Ronin identity.
• Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s costumes deliberately consisted of “sporty, long-sleeve, cycle top, compression t-shirts and things like that” to be able to show off his physique, and “give an idea and sense of it.”
• Quicksilver’s first and last lines were “You didn’t see that coming?” and each time he says it to Hawkeye.

• (at around 2h 5 mins) At the end of this movie, Natasha is sent a video of Barton’s son wearing a “Nathaniel Pietro Barton” onesie. This shows he is named after Natasha (Black Widow) and Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver), the two people who saved his life.
• Scarlett Johansson was pregnant during filming, so many of her scenes were scheduled early in filming before she began to show. To help hide her pregnancy later in filming, three stunt doubles were hired. This caused a lot of confusion amongst the other actors since, according to them, all of the stunt women looked very similar to Johansson. Chris Evans stated that it got to the point where he would say hello and start a conversation with one of them only to realize midway that the person, he was talking to wasn’t Johansson. Ultimately, some scenes used CGI to hide Johansson’s belly.
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) were announced before the release of this film.
• One of the highest grossing opening days ever for any film, hitting around $85 million in its first day.
• In the end of the movie, we can see The New Avengers: Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, and War Machine.

In conclusion, Avengers: Age of Ultron is a truly epic superhero movie that captivated audiences around the world. With its thrilling action sequences, complex characters, and impactful storylines, it is no wonder that the film was a commercial success. From the brilliant performances of the ensemble cast to the stunning visual effects, every aspect of the movie was meticulously crafted to create a truly immersive cinematic experience.

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading today’s post, I hope you enjoy the rest of your week, for now though…I will see you next Wednesday!