Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015)
Primary Characters
Times viewed: around 6
- Steve Rogers/Captain America
- Tony Stark/Iron Man
- Thor
- Bruce Banner/Hulk
- Clint Barton/Hawkeye
- Natasha Romanov/Black Widow
- Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
- Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
- Vision
- Ultron
Secondary Characters
- Jarvis
- Nick Fury
- Maria Hill
- James Rhodes/War Machine
- Sam Wilson/Falcon
- Helen Cho
- Erik Selvig
- Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
- Ulysses Klaue
- Thanos
Notable Story Elements
- Iron Legion
- Avengers Tower
- Vibranium
- Wakanda
- Hulkbuster armor
- F.R.I.D.A.Y.
- Loki's Scepter/Mind Stone
- Infinity Stones
- Original theatrical release
- A few viewings on BluRay and on TV
- Friday Family Movie Night sometime in the past year
- 23 Days of Marvel - March 29th, 2020
Easter Eggs
- Cap recalls his shield using electromagnetic gauntlet panels, a device he had for a time in the comics but abandoned
- Black Widow's "lullaby" to ease Hulk back to his Banner identity includes the words, "sun's getting real low"; in his original gray-skinned incarnation, and later when he was believed dead and working as a Las Vegas enforcer named Joe Fixit, Banner would transform into the Hulk at sunset
- Tony's vision of everyone slain is reminiscent of innumerable times in the comics when heroes view or travel to dark futures; in the Civil War II event, a precognitive Inhuman named Ulysses is at the center of the conflict between Iron Man and Captain Marvel
- There's a "Jarvis is my co-pilot" bumper sticker on Quinjet's cabin
- Mjolnir budging when Steve halfheartedly pulls at it foreshadows one of Endgame's biggest moments, itself inspired by him hefting it as The Captain while John Walker was Captain America
- In the comics, Dr. Helen Cho is the mother of Amadeus Cho, a teenager who is "the world's sixth smartest man" and a sidekick of Hulk; he later becomes The Totally Awesome Hulk
- The water Thor enters is meant to be the scrying pool of the Norns, the Norse weavers of destiny; while in it, he learns that he will be responsible for the fall of Asgard (in a way, he will be) and glimpses the Infinity Stones and the gauntlet
- It is Captain America who welcomes Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to the team, just as he did in the comics when the founders Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, and Wasp left; the fourth member of "Cap's Misfits" is another reformed criminal, Hawkeye, who in this movie has an ongoing rivalry with Quicksilver and motivates Scarlet Witch to assist against Ultron
- Ultron abducts Black Widow, similar to his comic book kidnappings of Hank Pym's wife Janet (Wasp) and Clint Barton's wife Bobbi (Mockingbird), whose brain patterns he uses to create robotic companions (Jacosta and Alkhema)
- Hulk exiles himself, similar to what The Illuminati (Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, and a dissenting Namor) do to him; he lands on Sakaar, "Planet Hulk"; much of that is borrowed for his Ragnarok appearance
- Clint and Laura name their son after Quicksilver, glimpsed on his bib - Nathaniel Pietro Barton
A comparison of the number of characters, themes, and Easter eggs in this one, above, to earlier MCU movies shows just how much was packed into it. This, after almost a full hour was trimmed from Joss Whedon's weightier cut.
In the end, it's still too much.
The roller coaster rocket-launches with a battle reminiscent of the tracking shot from the Battle of New York, this time pitting the Avengers against a remnant of Hydra. It's evident here that they are a cohesive and potent unit. There's a similar shot as they defend the trigger of Ultron's doomsday device, and another of a marble sculpture in the credits. Each one is slickly framed, but like much of the action throughout, it's tough to take in all the details.
Who wore it better: MCU Quicksilver or X-Men Quicksilver? One amusing scene in Days of Future Past aside, My vote goes to Age of Ultron. He's cocksure and quippy, just like he is in the source material. He's also with Wanda, one of my favorite comic characters. They play well off one another. It's a Joss Whedon film, though, so his is the requisite heroic sacrifice.
Though still a year from release, Civil War really starts here as the team come to blows over Tony and Bruce's determination to salvage something positive out of Ultron's "vision." In the end, the core team has already tarted to splinter. Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye will all be absent from that coming conflict, just a few years after the Avengers came together. Steve and Tony's parting conversation at the new Avengers compound is amicable, but their words portend both of their futures.
Years of prior planning and set-up for the future are carefully crafted, but not everyone is up for a 1,000-piece puzzle. Even Whedon was rightfully spent after this one.
In the end, it's still too much.
The roller coaster rocket-launches with a battle reminiscent of the tracking shot from the Battle of New York, this time pitting the Avengers against a remnant of Hydra. It's evident here that they are a cohesive and potent unit. There's a similar shot as they defend the trigger of Ultron's doomsday device, and another of a marble sculpture in the credits. Each one is slickly framed, but like much of the action throughout, it's tough to take in all the details.
Who wore it better: MCU Quicksilver or X-Men Quicksilver? One amusing scene in Days of Future Past aside, My vote goes to Age of Ultron. He's cocksure and quippy, just like he is in the source material. He's also with Wanda, one of my favorite comic characters. They play well off one another. It's a Joss Whedon film, though, so his is the requisite heroic sacrifice.
Though still a year from release, Civil War really starts here as the team come to blows over Tony and Bruce's determination to salvage something positive out of Ultron's "vision." In the end, the core team has already tarted to splinter. Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye will all be absent from that coming conflict, just a few years after the Avengers came together. Steve and Tony's parting conversation at the new Avengers compound is amicable, but their words portend both of their futures.
Years of prior planning and set-up for the future are carefully crafted, but not everyone is up for a 1,000-piece puzzle. Even Whedon was rightfully spent after this one.
Ranking
- The Avengers
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Iron Man
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Avengers: Age of Ultron
- Iron Man 3
- Iron Man 2
- Captain Marvel
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Thor
- Thor: The Dark World
- The Incredible Hulk
No comments:
Post a Comment