Avengers: Age of Ultron is a 2015 superhero film, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The film is a sequel to The Avengers and a crossover/sequel to Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It is the eleventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Infinity Saga, as well as the fifth film as Phase Two. The film was released on April 13, 2015.
The film is directed by Joss Whedon, and stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Calum Kelmer as Alpha the Eternity Warrior, Paul Bettany as Vision and J.A.R.V.I.S., James Spader as Ultron, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.
Synopsis[]
Marvel Studios presents Avengers: Age of Ultron, the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jump start a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, along with support from Nick Fury and Maria Hill are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to the Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Plot[]
A year has passed since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed with the reemergence of the terrorist organization HYDRA. With S.H.I.E.L.D. no longer heading their operations, the Avengers reassemble for the first time in three years to track down and eliminate HYDRA cells themselves, using Tony Stark's resources to help. Their latest mission brings them to the location of the alien scepter that Loki utilized during the Chitauri Invasion; the Scepter is now in the possession of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, one of the notorious heads of HYDRA who has been using energy drawn from the alien weapon to power advanced weaponry, as well as attempting to empower living humans.
A raid on Strucker's base in the Eastern European country of Sokovia commences, with the Avengers battling HYDRA forces to reclaim the scepter. During the battle, without Strucker's approval, two of his agents join the fray: Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, Sokovian twins who are the only humans to have survived exposure to the scepter's energy, and have gained supernatural powers as a result. Pietro can move at superhuman speeds, while Wanda possesses a powerful plethora of psionic powers. The twins are able to hold their own against the Avengers but are unable to prevent the heroes from capturing Strucker.
Stark finds the scepter, and Wanda attempts to stop him by using her powers to implant a vision into his mind. In his vision, Stark sees his teammates dead or dying while the Chitauri launch an even larger invasion on Earth. Upon seeing Stark's nightmare, Wanda suspiciously allows him and the Avengers to take the scepter away before fleeing with her brother.
With Strucker's arrest, HYDRA has suffered a great blow and the organization is left in a state of discord. Returning to Avengers Tower with the scepter, Stark and Bruce Banner begin studying the weapon. Their research leads to the discovery of a net of neurons that, according to Stark, could be reconfigured into an artificial intelligence stored inside the scepter's gem. The two scientists extract it for use in Stark's secret peacekeeping program – "Ultron" – designed to allow the Iron Legion to operate independently and safeguard Earth under the direction of an advanced A.I.
After three days, the project is seemingly met with little success. However, while the Avengers throw a party to celebrate their recent victories, Ultron suddenly activates. Somehow already self-aware despite Stark's work has not made it that far ahead, Ultron immediately determines that the only way to save Earth is to eradicate humanity, which he deems as the prime factor in the planet's turmoils. J.A.R.V.I.S. attempts to stop Ultron, but the more powerful A.I. appears to destroy him and then takes control of the Iron Legion armors. After the Avengers have finished their party, the team, joined by Maria Hill, James Rhodes, and geneticist Helen Cho hold a small contest to see who can lift Mjølnir.
Their contest is interrupted when Ultron suddenly directs the Iron Legion to attack them, and an intense battle ensues. During that battle, Ultron has a chance to kill Cho but mysteriously spares her life, while another one of his bots almost kills Natasha before a powerful being named Alpha arrives and saves her life by taking a blast from the scepter. While most of the Iron Legion is destroyed by the Avengers, one drone manages to escape with the scepter and flees to the Sokovian HYDRA base, where Ultron uses the HYDRA technology stored there to begin construction of an army of robotic drones as well as his own mobile unit.
After the battle, the team confronts Stark about his secrecy and get to know their new ally, who turns out to be a cosmic warrior seeking a powerful source on Earth, while Ultron recruits the Maximoff twins, who have a vendetta against Stark because a Stark Industries bomb killed their parents; Wanda had willingly allowed Stark to make off with the scepter with hopes that his fear of letting the world die would lead to him constructing his own undoing, which in this case appears to be Ultron. After Ultron kills Strucker to lure the Avengers out, he and the twins travel to South Africa to acquire vibranium from arms dealer Ulysses Klaue. The Avengers try to stop them, but Wanda hypnotizes Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America, giving them vivid hallucinations that render them invalid.
After failing to hypnotize Alpha, she hypnotizes Banner, turning him into Hulk and sending him to attack Johannesburg. With Iron Man unable to call in "Veronica", Alpha demonstrates his true power by battling the Hulk, but the destruction they cause starts a public backlash against the Avengers, who are forced to go into hiding.
The team takes refuge at Clint Barton's Homestead, where they meet his wife Laura and children Cooper and Lila. Having experienced apocalyptic visions in his hallucination, Thor leaves, traveling to the mystical "Water of Sights" to determine the meaning of his hallucination. Nick Fury arrives at the homestead and encourages the Avengers to form a plan to stop Ultron. Banner deduces that Ultron is planning to create another body made of synthetic tissue, using the "Regeneration Cradle" device developed by Dr. Helen Cho.
Meanwhile, Ultron, Pietro and Wanda go to Dr. Cho's laboratory in Seoul, South Korea, where Ultron reveals his plan to use the vibranium samples in conjunction with Cho's synthetic tissue from the Regeneration Cradle to create a more powerful body for himself, with the scepter's gem as its primary power source. To ensure her cooperation, Ultron takes control of Cho's mind with the scepter.
As Ultron transfers his consciousness into the synthetic body and Cho implants the gem into its forehead, Wanda curiously looks into Ultron's mind and discovers his plan to destroy humanity. Horrified, the twins turn against Ultron, who leaves the laboratory with the Regeneration Cradle. Arriving in Seoul, Captain America, Black Widow, Alpha and Hawkeye battle Ultron, who kidnaps Black Widow and derails a train to slow the Avengers down. The twins aid Captain America in rescuing passengers from the train, while Alpha holds Ultron's attention and Hawkeye retrieves the Regeneration Cradle, taking it back to Avengers Tower.
At Stark Tower, Stark and Banner upload J.A.R.V.I.S. – which survived Ultron's earlier attack by escaping into the internet – into the synthetic body as an attempt to rectify their mistake with Ultron. Believing Stark is about to potentially create another Ultron, Captain America and the twins try to stop them, but Thor arrives and explains the Infinity Stones to them which Alpha reveals he is familiar with, he takes the decision upon himself to bring the body to life with his own energy.
The resulting being thankfully proves friendly. Alpha further explains the Infinity Stones to them and that, the new being having the stone could prove useful against Ultron. The twins and the synthetic being, who is later given the name "Vision", ally themselves with the Avengers, who return to Sokovia to end Ultron's threat once and for all.
Arriving in Sokovia, the Avengers find that Ultron has used the remaining vibranium samples and Chitauri anti-gravity technologies being studied in the HYDRA facility to build a machine that lifts a large part of Novi Grad, the Sokovian capital, into the sky. His intent is to crash it into the ground to replicate a meteor strike, causing a mass extinction event. While Banner rescues Romanoff, the Avengers evacuate civilians from the city and fight Ultron's army of robots, but they are unable to evacuate everyone before the city begins to ascend. Fury and the revived S.H.I.E.L.D., joined by War Machine, arrive in a Helicarrier to assist in evacuating the last few civilians.
Black Widow and Banner, now transformed into Hulk, enter the fray and the team converges on the location of Ultron's device. There, they wipe out most of Ultron's drones and severely damage Ultron's primary body. In retaliation, Ultron hijacks the Avengers' Quinjet and kills Pietro. Hulk leaps into the jet and tosses Ultron to the ground, where a grieving Wanda finds and destroys him.
One of Ultron's drones deactivates the device, causing Novi Grad to begin plummeting towards the Earth, and forcing the other Avengers to flee aboard the Helicarrier alongside the evacuated citizens. Meanwhile, Iron Man fires his Unibeam and Alpha blew up the Vibranium Core. The ensuing explosion shatters the city into rubble, which falls safely into a nearby lake. Ultron's consciousness attempts to flee in the last remaining drone, but the Vision confronts him. The two have a brief exchange of ideals before the Vision obliterates the drone, effectively ending Ultron's threat.
The Avengers establish a New Avengers Facility in upstate New York, run by Fury, Cho, Maria Hill and Erik Selvig. Believing the Mind Stone is safe with Vision, Thor returns to Asgard to learn more about the Infinity Stones, leaving Alpha to watch over Vision. Barton and Stark also leave the team. Captain America and Black Widow assemble a new Avengers team, consisting of Scarlet Witch, Falcon, War Machine, Vision and the Alpha.
Meanwhile, Thanos retrieves an Infinity Gauntlet saying "Fine, I'll do it myself." and then begins his crusade for the Infinity Stones.
Cast[]
- Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
- Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
- Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
- Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
- Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
- Calum Kelmer as Alpha
- Paul Bettany as Vision / J.A.R.V.I.S.
- Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon
- Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter
- Idris Elba as Heimdall
- Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton
- Stellan Skarsgård as Doctor Erik Selvig
- Claudia Kim as Doctor Helen Cho
- Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
- James Spader as Ultron
- Neil Fingleton as Ultron (motion capture)
- Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
- Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue
- Julie Delpy as Madame B.
- Henry Goodman as Doctor List
- Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Zrinka
- Isaac Andrews as Costel
- Ben Sakamoto as Cooper Barton
- Imogen Poynton & Isabella Poynton as Lila Barton
- Aaron Himelstein as Cameron Klein
- Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.
- Jaiden Stafford as Nathaniel Barton
- Bentley Kalu as Klaue's Mercenary
- Stan Lee as Stan the Man
- Josh Brolin as Thanos (uncredited)
Appearances[]
- Sokovia
- HYDRA Research Base
- Novi Grad, Sokovia
- Novi Grad Church
- New York City, New York
- Avengers Tower
- Grand Central Terminal
- Rogers Residence (mentioned)
- Stark Expo (picture)
- Hammer Industries Headquarters (picture)
- Strategic Scientific Reserve Brooklyn Facility (picture)
- Salvage Yard
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Missouri
- Clint Barton's Homestead
- Seoul, South Korea
- U-GIN Genetic Research Facility
- Water of Sights
- London, England
- University of London
- Rivoli Ballroom (illusion)
- Whip & Fiddle (picture)
- Oslo, Norway
- NEXUS Internet Hub
- New York
- New Avengers Facility
- Nidavellir
- Asgard (illusion)
- Red Room Academy (flashback)
- Malibu, California
- Tony Stark's Mansion (picture)
- Los Angeles, California (footage)
- Stark Industries Headquarters (footage)
- Afghanistan (picture)
- Ten Rings Base (picture)
- Gulmira (picture)
- New Mexico
- Puente Antiguo (picture)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site (picture)
- Mojave Desert (picture)
- Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility (picture)
- Wakanda (mentioned)
- Hel (mentioned)
- Pentagon (mentioned)
- Fiji (mentioned)
- Banda Sea (mentioned)
Events[]
- War on HYDRA
- Attack on the HYDRA Research Base
- Battle of Sudan (mentioned)
- Ultron Offensive
- Attack on Avengers Tower
- Assassination of Wolfgang von Strucker
- Battle at the Salvage Yard
- Duel of Johannesburg
- Battle of Seoul
- Battle of Sokovia
- Massacre of the Dwarves
- Kidnapping of Tony Stark (picture)
- Battle of Gulmira (picture)
- Infiltration into Hammer Industries Headquarters (picture)
- Battle of Puente Antiguo (picture)
- Chitauri Invasion (mentioned)
- Battle of New York (mentioned)
- Destruction of Tony Stark's Mansion (mentioned)
- Convergence (mentioned)
- HYDRA Uprising (mentioned)
- Battle at the Triskelion (mentioned)
- Infiltration into the S.H.I.E.L.D. Crater Investigation Site (mentioned)
- Attack on Wakanda (mentioned)
- Normandy landings (mentioned)
- Vietnam War (mentioned)
Items[]
- Iron Man Armors
- Iron Man Armor: Mark XLIII
- Iron Man Armor: Mark XLIV
- Iron Man Armor: Mark XLV
- Captain America's Uniform
- Vibranium
- Captain America's Shield
- Uru
- Mjølnir
- Infinity Gauntlet
- Hawkeye's Bow and Quiver
- Arrow Case
- Black Widow's Bite
- Black Widow's Batons
- HYDRA Exo-Suits
- HYDRA H3L-A Energy Rifle
- Scepter
- Infinity Stones
- Mind Stone
- Space Stone (vision)
- Reality Stone (vision)
- Power Stone (vision)
- Ultron Sentries
- Veronica
- Regeneration Cradle
- Doomsday Trigger
- War Machine Armor: Mark II
- Arc Reactor
- J.O.C.A.S.T.A.
- T.A.D.A.S.H.I.
- EXO-7 Falcon
- Tesseract (vision)
- Orb (vision)
- Destroyer (picture)
Vehicles[]
- Captain America's Motorcycle
- Jeep
- HYDRA Tank
- Quinjet
- Churchill
- U-GIN Truck
- Black Widow's Motorcycle
- Helicarrier
- Lifeboats
- Audi R8
- Audi A3 Cabriolet
Sentient Species[]
- Humans
- Asgardians
- Alpha's Species
- Androids
- Synthezoids
- Titans
- Frost Giants (illusion; deleted scene)
- Chitauri (mentioned)
Creatures[]
- Dogs
- Leviathans (corpse and vision)
- Cuttlefish (mentioned)
- Dinosaurs (mentioned)
- Elephants (art)
- Butterflies (art)
Organizations[]
- Avengers
- HYDRA
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Theta Protocol
- Stark Industries
- Stark Relief Foundation (mentioned)
- Asgardian Royal Family
- U-GIN
- Sokovian Police Department
- South African Police Service
- National Police Agency
- YTN
- Red Room (flashback)
- Hammer Industries (picture)
- Strategic Scientific Reserve (mentioned)
- Project Rebirth (picture)
- The Chronicle (picture)
- Norns (vision, deleted scene)
- NATO (mentioned)
- Intelligencia (dossier)
- Bilderberg Group (dossier)
- Royal Purple (logo)
Mentioned[]
- Irina Maximoff
- Oleg Maximoff
- Loki
- Abraham Erskine (indirectly)
- Pepper Potts
- Jane Foster
- Odin
- Winter Soldier
- Howard Stark
- Ulysses Klaue's Great-Grandfather
- T'Chaka
- Phil Coulson (indirectly)
- Pietro Maximoff's Parents
- Grunhel's Fleet
- Noah
- Banksy
- Eugene O'Neill
- The Road Runner
- Mother Teresa (archived photograph)
- Pope Francis (archived photograph)
- Mahatma Gandhi (archived photograph)
- Bill Clinton (archived footage)
- George H. W. Bush (archived footage)
Production[]
- Despite the subtitle, the film is not based on the 2013 comic book miniseries Age of Ultron. Feige explained, "We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appeared, and that's a great title. Age of Ultron is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines. Also Whedon added: "We're doing our own version of the origin story of Ultron....We were crafting our own version of it where [Ultron's] own origin comes more directly from the Avengers we already know about. 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. 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 wayside."
- In December 2012, Whedon stated that he had completed an outline for the film.
- In February, at the 2013 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival Whedon said that death would play a theme in the sequel.
- In March 2013, Whedon said that he looked to The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II as inspirations.
- On January 24, 2014, the Forte di Bard Association announced that filming would take place at Fort Bard in the Aosta Valley region of Italy in March 2014, as well as other locations in Aosta Valley including Aosta, Donnas, Bard, Pont-Saint-Martin, and Verrès. The next month, the Gauteng Film Commission announced that action sequences would be filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa and other locations in Gauteng, beginning in mid-February. A few weeks later Marvel announced that portions of the film would be shot in South Korea. Filming was scheduled to take place in the Gyeonggi Province and it's capital, Seoul with South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reimbursing up to 30% of the studio's expenditures, as part of a state-funded incentive program.
- Filming finally began on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa, having been postponed for a day. Second unit crews shot the action sequences, without the main cast, in the Central Business District of Johannesburg for a period of two weeks.
- In March 2014, Brian Tyler signed on to compose the film's score, marking his third film collaboration with Marvel following Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World in 2013. His score includes callbacks to previous Marvel films and pays homage to John Williams' scores for Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Samuel L. Jackson stated that Nick Fury will have a smaller role than he had in the first film.
- Half way through production, it was revealed Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Calum Kelmer had been cast in large roles in the film. They were later revealed to be playing Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and the Eternity Warrior respectively.
- Coincidentally, all three are quite different to normal comic-book adapted characters.
- Both the Maximoff's are never referred to as their superhero names.
- Alpha is a character unique to the MCU and is a combination of Nova, the Phoenix Force and the Gods, Eternity and Infinity. Whedon revealed Alpha would be further explored in the future as he is crucial to the MCU going forward.
- Coincidentally, all three are quite different to normal comic-book adapted characters.
- Mark Ruffalo stated that Hulk would have more screen time in this film.
- After the first official poster was released in February 24, 2015, Hayley Atwell, Anthony Mackie, and Idris Elba were officially confirmed to appear in the film as Peggy Carter, Sam Wilson/Falcon, and Heimdall respectively.
- There had been subsequent conversations in social media networks about a scene being shot in Chittagong, Bangladesh and when this discussion became viral at some networks, it was confirmed that a shipyard scene was filmed in Chittagong.