Avengers: Age of Ultron will almost certainly be the big hit of 2015, as Marvel is already building the hype for the sequel to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Even with the hype train already in motion, fans only know a little bit about Age of Ultron , but there are three things that seem pretty certain.
Know: Tony Stark Will Be in Trouble by the End
What precious little information Marvel has released about Age of Ultron has confirmed that the titular villain will be an enemy of the Avengers’ own making. In particular, Tony Stark’s own making.
As Inquisitr has reported before , Ultron will be born of Tony Stark’s desire to keep himself and his fellow Avengers safe in an increasingly dangerous world. Early on in Age of Ultron , we may see evidence that the Avengers are beaten down and exhausted from their role as Earth’s protectors.
Stark tweaks the Ultron system to allow it to fill in the gaps by using his Iron Legion of extra armors, and that appears to be where things begin to go wrong. Ultron starts learning on his own, and he decides that he’s got the perfect solution for humanity’s woes: a world where Ultron reigns supreme.
Since Iron Man basically creates one of the Avengers’ greatest enemies, you can be certain that there’s going to be some fallout from that faux pas. It’s hard to imagine everybody on the team being happy with Stark after Ultron has been bested, and there have even been rumors that the biggest repercussion of the Age of Ultron could be the Avengers squad splitting in two.
Know: The Age of Ultron will also kick off the Age of Miracles
The arrival of Thor on Earth was the beginning of things getting really weird in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Age of Ultron will kick the weirdness into high gear. That’s because the next Avengers movie will see the introduction of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.
In the comics, these two heroes are mutants – the offspring of X-Men villain Magneto – but Fox owns the rights to the X-Men and even the use of the word “mutant” in terms of superheroes. Thus, when the two future Age of Ultron stars appeared in the stinger for Captain America: The Winter Soldier , Marvel made sure to ensure that they were referred to as “miracles.”
Know: We’ll See More Infinity Stones
One thing you might have noticed in that grainy video of the Winter Soldier stinger is a glowing orb of some sort. Marvel is all about glowing orbs, and that’s because they’re the artifacts that will link together all of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe: the Infinity Stones.
The Infinity Stones will likely figure into Avengers: Age of Ultron, though just how isn’t quite certain yet.
Inquisitr has already looked into how the Infinity Stones will likely pull together the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy – you can check out those musings here – but suffice it to say that they’ve been sprinkled across Marvel’s movies pretty much since the very beginning.
How will they fit into Age of Ultron ? One Infinity Stone will probably be the catalyst that gives Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch their otherworldly powers. The link between those powers and the Infinity Stone seems pretty obvious, and we could well see the orb in Loki’s staff finally identified as an Infinity Stone, which is something fans have been speculating about since the first Avengers movie.
Don’t Know: When We Will See a Trailer?
Marvel has been leaking plot details, concept art, and pictures from Age of Ultron , but we have not yet gotten a proper trailer for the next Avengers flick. That might change in the next couple of weeks, though, as the most recent rumor has Marvel attaching the first Age of Ultron trailer to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar .
Don’t Know: Who Else Will Be in Age of Ultron ?
Age of Ultron will feature all of the current Avengers, as well as Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision, but we don’t know if that’s the entirety of the list of heroes.
Marvel is already working on Doctor Strange , and Ant Man is set to debut next summer as well, so those two may pop up – either by mention or in person – in Age of Ultron . There is also the possibility, though, that Marvel could tip its hand regarding Black Panther and Captain Marvel , two heroes fans have been clamoring for.
With the current Avengers roster likely gaining three additions over the course of the next movie, it’s hard to imagine too many more new characters getting tossed into the mix without the film getting overcrowded. Even if those four heroes don’t pop up during the main action of Age of Ultron , though, they could pop up in the film’s stinger, much as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch did in Winter Soldier .
Don’t Know: What Will Happen to the Hulk?
Marvel has denied rumors that Age of Ultron would lead into a Planet Hulk -style storyline wherein the Hulk is shot into space in order to meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but that seems like just the sort of thing that Marvel would say in order to throw fans off the scent of their plans.
With recent revelations seemingly confirming an inevitable meet-up between the Avengers and the Guardians, Age of Ultron would seem to be the perfect place to start seeding such a crossover, and a Planet Hulk -like story could be a good way to go about that. Nobody outside of Marvel knows just what Age of Ultron will bring for everybody’s favorite jolly green giant, but it seems apparent that Marvel is keeping something under wraps.