Death Is Certain? Marvel Head Says ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Finale ‘Alters’ Team Roster

Avengers: Age of Ultron is still months away, but if the hype gets any bigger we’re going to need… umm… a bigger boat? Whatever. What’s important is that the head of Marvel Studios let slip the news that the Avengers lineup will definitely be different by the time Ultron‘s credits roll.

Avengers news addicts have known for some time that Age of Ultron was going to raise the stakes, possibly resulting in the death of a team member, a split in the squad or both. One could divine as much from what the stars of the film have been saying. Whether it was Chris Evans hinting at Civil War starting in Captain America 3 or Robert Downey Jr. telling us how huge that movie is going to be, we’ve known for a while that the implications of Age of Ultron are going to be massive.

Now, though, it looks like we have even more confirmation that Ultron is going to change the game dramatically. Buried in a long piece on Age of Ultron over at BuzzFeed is this little gem from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.

“It’s like as it was in publishing, when each of the characters would go on their own adventures and then occasionally team up for a big, 12-issue mega-event,” Feige said. “I envision the same thing occurring after this movie, because the [Avengers] roster is altered by the finale of this film.”

The Avengers roster is altered, you say? That could mean any number of things as we’ve already seen that Age of Ultron will introduce at least three new potential Avengers: the Vision, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. There’s also still talk that other, unannounced characters might make their debut in Age of Ultron.

Of course, “altered” could also mean “split” as would be the case if Marvel truly does take the Civil War route that’s been in the news of late. That possibility would likely see Captain America leading his own Avengers squad while Iron Man heads up his own.

There’s also the possibility that “altered” means “lessened,” as in one or more Avengers biting the dust.

Then again, it could be a mixture of all three.

Buzzfeed‘s piece on Age of Ultron contained several other snippets, chief among them being that the second Avengers movie will take a lot more time to delve into the lives of the individual Avengers. Jeremy Renner has already said that his Hawkeye character will get more screen time in Age of Ultron, and the new trailer seemed to show more of Black Widow’s backstory, but Thor’s character will also be explored.

“[Age of Ultron] gave us room to kind of make him a little more grounded and human,” Chris Hemsworth told Buzzfeed, “and have him in some civilian clothes and mixing it up at a party. I want to do those scenes more.”

Meanwhile, Captain America will still be adjusting to life in the 21st century, according to Chris Evans.

“He’s still looking for a home, probably a metaphorical home,” Evans said. “He’s always felt comfortable as a soldier. And he likes structure. He works well taking orders. But when that dynamic turned on him, he’s now left to depend upon his team, the Avengers.”

Captain America will likely be among those most affected by Age of Ultron’s finale. Ant-Man will be the first Marvel movie to debut after Age of Ultron, kicking off the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 3. Captain America 3, though, will be the first movie featuring an established character to deal with the fallout from Age of Ultron.

That film will be out in 2016, and it’s looking like the First Avenger will by that time be looking at a world that’s much more different than he could have even expected.