Paul Bettany's J.A.R.V.I.S To Become The Vision In AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

It looks like Paul Bettany's Jarvis is getting an upgrade afterall, it had been previously rumored that Jarvis (Tony Stark's A.I.) would become Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, that didn't seem to be the case when James Spader was announced to play the villain instead. Yet, news from TheDailyMail states that Bettany is going to be still involved in the sequel in a big way. He'll instead play Avengers villain turned member The Vision in the film. Making this the first time Paul might be shown in camera within the MCU. There had been also speculation that this role could possibly go to Clark Gregg, but that won't be happening either.

This could be an interesting turn of events, as The Vision (Paul Bettany) ends up getting romantically involved with Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). I doubt this will be explored in Age of Ultron, but this will at least give fans three new Avengers members on screen. It's expected both characters will start-off as villains, as Vision is a creation of Ultron and Scarlet is rumored to be the daughter of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.


SOURCE: DAILYMAIL

First Glimpses Of Ultron From AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Teaser Trailer Footage From Comic-Con

Could Ultron's Cosmic Origin Be Explained In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Leading Into AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON?

People have been speculating for weeks now how Joss Whedon will introduce Ultron in the MCU. Whedon confirmed a new origin for the Marvel villain played by James Spader (Stargate, Less Than Zero, Lincoln) which wouldn't include Dr. Hank Pym (Ant-Man). A new quote from Iron Man 3 co-writer Drew Pearce to SciFiNow (via CBM) gives the impression most theories haven't hit the mark. Also, hinting that Ultron's origins might be cosmic having connections to Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of The Galaxy.

"There is a hell of a lot of rumors, though. Ultron may be something that appears in Guardians of the Galaxy, or it may appear in the Thor universe. I've read a lot of stuff online, and I don't think anyone has got close to the real plan yet."

I had been wondering how the hell Guardians would factor into Avengers: Age of Ultron, since the film leads right into the Avengers sequel. Having the film establish the cosmic side of the universe seemed like a legimate reason to make the film on it's own merit. However, if Ultron has a cosmic basis rather than being a robotic Frankenstein monster could give the character more depth. We've heard from Kevin Feige that Thanos would be the villain behind the scenes in Guardians of The Galaxy and won't be a major player in Age of Ultron. It could be that Thanos convinces Ultron to attack Earth (maybe giving it to him if he destroys The Avengers) and is an alien that is able to inhabit technology ala Ghost In The Shell's Puppet Master (which highly influenced The Matrix). Perhaps, to convert the planet to his own means or bend it to the will of Thanos.

James Spader Confirmed As Villain Ultron In AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Marvel today via Twitter has announced that character actor James Spader (Stargate, Lincoln, Pretty In Pink, Wall Street, Supernova) will play the villainous Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It had been assumed that Paul Bettany would play the villain but it seems like that has been debunked. However, the angle of Tony Stark building Ultron or transforming from JARVIS remains to be seen. Spader is an seasoned actor and I'm excited to see what he can do with the character. No confirmation concerning Aaron Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen joining the cast has been announced.

RUMOR: Paul Bettany Playing Ultron In AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON?

A new rumor is giving more credit to a little speculation that Tony Stark would have a hand in building the new Avengers villain. UnleashTheFanboy says that actor Paul Bettany who has voiced J.A.R.V.I.S. in four Marvel films will be getting a bigger role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Paul could see his loveable Jarvis transformed into the ominous villain Ultron. As the site claims that Bettany is set to play Ultron in the sequel. Joss Whedon stated recently that Ultron's origin would be changed to exclude Hank Pym from it (giving Edgar Wright more wiggle-room for his Ant-Man origin). Hinting that Stark, not Pym would be the robotic-monster's father. If true, this seemingly confirms that Stark will indeed set things in motion for Jarvis to become Ultron.

Seeds were already planted in Iron Man 3 with Jarvis' "malfunctions" and the suits having their own combat A.I. during the final battle scenes. It will be interesting if they have Bettany use his actual face for the film (ala life model decoy/Terminator) or will instead use the classic robotic look. We're still waiting on the studio to confirm new additions Aaron Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen as the film's other villains (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver).

Is Tony Stark The Creator Of Ultron Not Hank Pym In AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON?

Putting together bits and pieces of information post Comic-Con can be tiring but sometimes a few gems pop-up. One being the revelation from Joss Whedon that Dr. Hank Pym won't be showing up in Avengers: Age of Ultron and that Ultron's origin will be altered to suit the film. Giving the impression that Pym won't be in the film at all which has been hinted for ages by Ant-Man director Edgar Wright. He had previously stated his characters would have their introduction and origins explored in his film first. Kevin Feige even confirmed this in an interview with Empire. Kevin also teased a Stark/Ultron connection (he mentioned the Age of Ultron teaser footage shown at Comic-Con) shortly after. Thor helped create Loki as villain in the first film, so will Stark build Ultron only to have him turn on mankind?

It's not hard to make that leap with Stark already dappling in artificial intelligence with JARVIS. Stark mentions Life Model Decoy (androids used by S.H.I.E.L.D.) in Avengers to Agent Coulson. So it's possible Tony was already working on them or they already existed in the MCU. In Iron Man 3 it went even further with his suits being able to work on their own, with a few bugs that almost saw Pepper getting hurt by one of them. It ended up leading to a massive battle with the Iron Legion taking out villains on their own. Could these be the seeds Marvel was planting to give us Ultron in Avengers 2?

DREAM CAST: ANTMAN

While an official announcement hasn't been made there were rumblings during Cannes recently that Ant-Man has been indeed greenlit by Marvel. There has been talk that there could be Ant-Men involved in the story giving the impression Scott Lang and Eric O'Grady will be included. Simon Pegg has mentioned that he'd rather play the villain Egghead in the film instead of Hank Pym. Bradley Cooper had been one of the few actors linked to the lead role. While it's unlikely Ultron will be the main villain of the film he could still show up as Hank's "life-model decoy" or a more industrial version. We know androids exist in the Marvel universe as Iron Man 2, Avengers and Captain America have established this.

BRADLEY COOPER AS HANK PYM/ANTMAN

ALISON BRIE AS JANET VAN DYNE/WASP

SIMON PEGG AS ELIHAS STARR/EGGHEAD

BILL NIGHY AS ULTRON

KEVIN MCKIDD AS SCOTT LANG/2ND ANTMAN

FRAN KRANZ AS ERIC O'GRADY/3RD ANTMAN

What We Know So Far About 'ANT-MAN' (2014-2015)

Edgar Wright has been working closely with Marvel Studios over the last eight years to put together a solo adventure for an Ant-Man movie. The founding member of the Avengers was left out of the first film so his origin can be revealed in his own film. Wright and his Tintin writing partner Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) have been working on the film's script off-and-on for a couple of years now. A second and possible third draft of the script have been handed in to Marvel, Kevin Feige has stated it would "go sooner, rather than later". He also mentioned an upcoming announcement concerning Ant-Man, telling people to keep an eye on Edgar's Twitter. Earlier, Wright had Tweeted that he was back behind the camera. Some believe this ment he was shooting test-footage for his Ant-Man pitch.

UPDATE: It's been announced that Edgar Wright will be making World's End this fall with it releasing in Spring 2013. This means that at the very earliest Ant-Man won't go into production until Summer/Fall 2013, with a possible 2014 release date. 

Actors such as Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Simon Pegg, Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty) and Bradley Cooper (Limitless, The Hangover 1-2) have been all rumored for roles in the film. Simon Pegg is really the only one who has commented on his link to the Ant-Man role, stating he'd rather play the villain (perhaps Egghead). This announcement will likely be the release date of the film likely Summer 2013 or May/Summer 2014. I have to assume casting announcements could be saved for Marvel's Comic-Con pannel which will have actors from Iron Man 3 and possibly Thor 2. The talk of "Ant-Men" could mean multiple actors donning Pym suits.

Ant-Man will have at least two of the Ant-Men including Dr. Hank Pym and burglar turned-hero Scott Lang (2nd Ant-Man) which was confirmed by MTV. ThePlaylist was able to speak with Joe Cornish which he became coy when the question of Ant-Men was raised again. However, they mention several "Ant-Men" are rumored which could mean SHIELD Agent Eric O'Grady (3rd Ant-Man) could be in the film as well. As for villains, it seems to be up in the air but there has been talk of Ultron or Egghead being the baddie. I think Ultron is the best bet as his inclusion would lead to the introduction of Vision, the android and Avengers member.

CORNISH: "We had heard that at one point Cornish and Wright were going to put several of the Ant-Men (meaning people that had put on superhero scientist Hank Pym’s suit) into the script, meaning that they could have thrown in our personal favorite Ant-Man – Eric O’Grady, low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent turned shadily “Irredeemable” Ant Man"....Cornish smiled at our implication and said, slyly, “No comment.” He then started to say something, “Well, you know…” before shutting himself off with another “No comment.”


WRIGHT: "I think it's a really interesting high-concept idea. [...] I know there's a big stigma attached to it, mostly because every movie about shrinking has been about people in peril. I think it'd be great to do a shrinking film about a bad-ass secret agent. [...] Even something like The Incredible Shrinking Man, which is a fantastic film, is about a guy in trouble. But this is going to be nothing like that. It's essentially a high-tech spy heist film with somebody with a very particular power."

Edgar Wright's Ant-Man A Team Spy Film?

We've been getting a few hints on what we can expect from Marvel Studios' Ant-Man which is being written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz) and Joe Cornish (Attack The Block, Tintin). From what is known we could be seeing a group of Ant-Men in a high-tech spy heist film. This makes a lot of sense considering neither Pym or Wasp won't be showing up in Avengers.

It will include at least two of the Ant-Men including Dr. Hank Pym and burglar turned-hero Scott Lang (2nd Ant-Man) which was confirmed by MTV. Also the film's leading lady Janet van Dyne wears a similar suit and is known as the Wasp. It would be nice to see another heroine in the film perhaps Lang's daughter Cassie. She becomes a Young Avenger known as Stature who shares the same powers as her father.
 
ThePlaylist was able to speak with Joe Cornish which he became coy when the question of Ant-Men was raised again. However, they mention several "Ant-Men" are rumored which could mean SHIELD Agent Eric O'Grady (3rd Ant-Man) could be in the film as well.

"We had heard that at one point Cornish and Wright were going to put several of the Ant-Men (meaning people that had put on superhero scientist Hank Pym’s suit) into the script, meaning that they could have thrown in our personal favorite Ant-Man – Eric O’Grady, low-level S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent turned shadily “Irredeemable” Ant Man. "

Cornish smiled at our implication and said, slyly, “No comment.” He then started to say something, “Well, you know…” before shutting himself off with another “No comment.”


Edgar Wright talked to VanityFair about his vision for the film which will be a "high-tech spy heist film". The espionage angle gives further fuel that a team could be put together. Wright had been in contention to direct Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which has a similar theme minus superpowers. I wouldn't be shocked to see Ant-Man closer to Bond or Mission Impossible than any of the other Marvel films.

"I think it's a really interesting high-concept idea. [...] I know there's a big stigma attached to it, mostly because every movie about shrinking has been about people in peril. I think it'd be great to do a shrinking film about a bad-ass secret agent. [...] Even something like The Incredible Shrinking Man, which is a fantastic film, is about a guy in trouble. But this is going to be nothing like that. It's essentially a high-tech spy heist film with somebody with a very particular power."