Naveed Islam is here with your definitive guide to this summer’s biggest movie, The Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Story So Far:
After defeating Loki and the invading Chitauri Army in the “Battle of New York,” the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes went their separate ways. Iron Man gave up being a superhero after realising that he was more than just a man in a high-tech suit. Thor fought Malekith and the Dark Elves over control of the Aether, a substance of untold destructive power, as Loki usurped the throne of Asgard. Captain America and Black Widow discovered that terrorist organisation HYDRA was lying dormant in S.H.I.E.L.D. and had to foil their plans while evading their top assassin, the Winter Soldier. Black Widow, Nick Fury and their comrades cut ties with S.H.I.E.L.D. as Cap searched for his old friend Bucky, who had been the Winter Soldier all along.
The One Pulling the Strings:
After retiring as Iron Man, Tony Stark uses his knowledge in robotics to build an automated peace-keeping force called Ultron. However, Ultron has a mind of its own and soon realises that the real threat to the world is mankind itself. Ultron is fiercely intelligent and possesses an unbreakable metal body as well as an army of robot replicas to do his bidding. The Avengers will need all the help they can get in order to defeat this malevolent machine.
A Vision of the Future:
Created by Ultron to aid in the fight against the Avengers, Vision has a synthetic body capable of superhuman feats including flight and changing his form to become invulnerable or intangible. But Vision has the mind and voice of Tony Stark’s faithful A.I. assistant Jarvis. Presumably, he and Ultron became acquainted when Ultron was on Stark’s drawing board. But to what nefarious end has Ultron created Vision?
What We Know:
Ultron could prove to be the ultimate test for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The team seems to be coming apart at the seams, with glimpses of Thor wringing Tony Stark by the neck, Captain America’s shield lying broken and Hulk and Iron Man literally coming to blows. Even if the team manages to defeat Ultron, will this be the end of The Avengers as we know it? Meanwhile, new faces seem to be lurking in the background. A bearded Andy Serkis is rumoured to be playing the villain Klaw while a mysterious woman was seen entering a dark cave. Could these new characters have ties to other superheroes operating within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as Black Panther? No doubt, The Avengers: Age of Ultron will shake-up the status quo of the MCU.
What’s To Come?
Ten films will be released in the next four years as we build towards the next chapter in the Avengers saga. We will see Captain America again in 2016 when he and his former friend and ally Tony Stark have a conflict of ideals in Captain America: Civil War. Thor will return in 2017 to face an apocalyptic threat to the Nine Realms in Thor: Ragnarok. Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon and a presumably fully-grown Groot will all take flight again in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, also coming in 2017. New faces are also set to join the MCU beginning with Scott Lang who will suit up and shrink down as Ant-Man this year. In 2017, Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme joins the fray in Doctor Strange and Wakandan Prince T’Challa takes up arms as Black Panther, while Carol Danvers rises to the occasion as Captain Marvel and a new cosmic team called the Inhumans arrive in 2018. Will Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Captain Marvel join the Avengers or perhaps fill in the ranks of a brand-new team roster? Will the Inhumans cross paths with the Guardians of the Galaxy? One enigmatic figure who has been looming large in the background is the Mad Titan, Thanos who has been scouring the universe for the Infinity Stones. He is set to wage war against all existence in The Avengers: Infinity War, with Part 1 releasing in 2018 and Part 2 coming out in 2019. Will the Avengers, Inhumans and Guardians band together to fight one last battle? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
When we first heard of the “Avengers Initiative” all those years ago, never in our wildest dreams did we expect this. Marvel didn’t just tie plot threads from multiple films together but successfully built a shared universe, where characters like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor all live, breathe and fight alongside one another. As we look ahead to The Avengers: Age of Ultron and beyond, this universe will only get bigger and bigger. This truly is a magical time to be a True Believer. Excelsior!