Joss Whedon’s The Avengers: Age of Ultron – your pre-release intelligence briefing

http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/apr/10/avengers-age-of-ultron-joss-whedon

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It’s been three years since Joss Whedon’s The Avengers made comic-book history by successfully squeezing Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor and a multitude of other ornately garmented superheroes into a single, barnstorming fantasy epic. With the imminent debut of sequel, Age of Ultron, the question is whether the fanboy icon can invite even more comic-book favourites to join the party without accidentally ordering the geek equivalent of a nuclear strike on our cerebellums. Age of Ultron arrives on 23 April in the UK and Australia, and 1 May in the US – here’s everything we know so far.

The storyline stems from Tony Stark’s failed plan to save the world from superheroes

After millions of people copped it during the Avengers’ battle with Loki and the Chitauri invaders at the end of Joss Whedon’s first film, it’s likely superpowered that beings won’t be flavour of the month in the sequel. Trailers suggest that Iron Man, aka Stark, invents robot warrior Ultron as part of a revived peace programme to allow his newly-formed team to enter early retirement. But it was never going to be that easy. As tends to happen in these instances, the all-powerful artificial intelligence develops a god complex and decides the only true way to end war is to eradicate all forms of human life.

The Hulk fights Iron Man

Trailers clearly show the not-so-jolly green giant engaged in an almighty dust-up with what appears to be a Hulkbuster-suited Tony Stark. But might Ultron itself have gained control of the suit, or is their battle the result of more Iron Man meddling? Rumour has it that Stark tries out experiments on Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/the Hulk to try and help his friend control his anger. Another theory is that Banner loses it thanks to the nefarious attentions of Elisabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch, who, with her brother Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) appears to be an Ultron ally in the early part of the film.

Joss Whedon admits he struggled to fit everyone in

Ultron could yet be the most crowded comic-book epic of all time, with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner … breathe … Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader, and Samuel L Jackson all set to make appearances. “It is a nightmare,” Whedon told UK magazine SFX. “This is the hardest juggling act I have ever, ever tried to pull off.

“They’re very disparate characters. The joy of the Avengers is they really don’t belong in the same room. It’s not like the X-Men, who are all tortured by the same thing and have similar costumes. These guys are just all over the place. And so it’s tough. Honestly, this is as tough as anything I’ve ever done, and I haven’t worked this hard since I had three shows on the air.”

So it’s probably a good thing that some of them are going to die

In the trailers, Iron Man suggest there’s “no way we all make it through this”, and Whedon has also hinted that some of his characters won’t get to the end credits. Some have suggested the shot of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor waking up in water in the second trailer points to the Norse god’s reincarnation in Valhalla following a fatality on Earth. Others reckon Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, who is tipped to get a bigger role in the sequel but is nevertheless (let’s face it) eminently disposable, will be meeting his maker.

This will be Joss Whedon’s final Marvel movie for some time

Whedon won’t be directing The Avengers: Infinity War parts one and two; that task has been handed to Captain America: The Winter Soldier film-makers Joe and Anthony Russo. But the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse will want to go out with a bang after delivering Marvel’s first $1bn (£682m) movie and the standard bearer for ensemble superhero films. The Avengers was so sharply written that it forced rival sagas such as 20th Century Fox’s X-Men to significantly up their game, and inspired Warner Bros to build an entire cinematic universe around its rights to DC’s rival Justice League team. Whedon may be walking away for the time being, but you can guarantee he’ll want to make a lasting impression.

It’s likely to be one of the highest-grossing movies of all time

Official tracking for The Avengers: Age of Ultron puts it way ahead of The Avengers at the same pre-release stage. Given that the earlier instalment managed the biggest opening ever, a colossal $207.4m, the new film could easily surpass its predecessor’s final $1.51bn haul and could yet be on course to challenge James Cameron’s Titanic ($2.18bn) and Avatar ($2.78bn) at the top of the all-time box-office pile. Staying power will largely depend on reviews and word-of-mouth, and so far the signs are good

Critics who have seen it say the sequel stands up to The Avengers

“Avengers Age of Ultron is loaded with insane action, great character moments, and funny dialogue,” tweeted Collider’s Steven Weintraub after a screening earlier this week, adding: “Joss did the impossible again.” Screen Crush’s Mike Sampson posted: “Avengers 2 is both an amazing sequel and a fantastic setup for the rest of the MCU. So nerdy in the best possible way.” But Slash Film’s Peter Sciretta had a few misgivings, writing: “Avengers: Age Of Ultron is bigger, more complex, darker, more action-packed than the first film, but ultimately not as much fun.” The first full reviews are expected to hit the web at 2pm PST (10pm BST) on 21 April, when the US embargo drops.