Joss Whedon On AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON 'Dream' Scenes, 'The Twins,' Cameos And Run Time
Revealing how long Age of Ultron will be, compared to The Avengers, writer/director Joss Whedon talks in-depth about the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and what they bring to the sequel. Check it out!
While BuzzFeed was among the folks who visited the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron last year, the media site talked very recently with Joss Whedon, who confirmed to them amid post-production that the sequel runs 142 minutes; a full minute shorter than The Avengers. The director also talked in-depth about the newcomers Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and ultimately what stars Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson bring to the characters as well as to the highly-anticipated film. “They don’t like America, and they don’t like the Avengers,” said Whedon of the Twins, who he says volunteer for their superpowered fate essentially because of their hatred of Earth's Mightiest Heroes (especially Iron Man). “We only touch on it briefly — there was more. When the movie was an hour longer, everything got explained a lot. The Avengers are like a world power, and not everybody’s on board with the Avengers coming in and starting fights, even in the name of justice. So you need that dissenting voice, and you need to understand it and sympathize with it.”
About Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and what he brings to Pietro Maximoff aka Quicksilver, Joss Whedon says, “He is an old-school movie star.” He continued, “Pietro has always been kind of a dick. Aaron is so beautiful — like sculpture beautiful — that you buy him as somebody who’s going to be a little arrogant. He’s not as a person. He’s a dear. He works his ass off. But I knew that he could play that guy.” As for Elizabeth Olsen, who portrays Wanda Maximoff, Whedon says Marvel had suggested he watched her performance in the 2011 drama thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene. “I met her, and was like, Oh yeah,” he said. “This is not a conversation either. I think she’s unforgettable.” The director added that the actress' demeanor helped to ground the Scarlet Witch's “theatrical” persona from the comics. “She’s not going to wear a giant tiara and a red leotard,” Whedon reassured.
Joss Whedon then went on to discuss how the Scarlet Witch's ability to exploit other people's weaknesses had introduced a new storytelling opportunity for him. “She can make you have a nightmare, is one way of putting it,” he said. “‘Trip balls,’ would be another one. That was something I very much wanted, because it meant we could spend a little time inside the Avengers’ heads — either their past or their impressions of what’s going on, or their fears, or all of the above. And confronting that is very debilitating for the Avengers, but it’s also kind of revelatory. That’s not the movie I made last time. I could never have done that.” Whedon also confirmed to BuzzFeed that the cameos made by Idris Elba (Heimdall) and Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter) will be seen through these nightmare sequences. About getting into the Avengers' minds, Elizabeth Olsen says: “I do get to be a part of strong turning points in the story. If you’re in a group of a lot of men, it’s really easy to make the guys be the turning points. I actually get to charge things, which is nice.”
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 jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, 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. Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., who returns as Iron Man, along with Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen, and Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision. Written and directed by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Feige, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” published in 1963. Get set for an action-packed thrill ride when The Avengers return in Avengers: Age of Ultron May 1, 2015.