We saw it in an unfinished form at San Diego Comic-Con, but that didn't stop the first footage of The Avengers: Age of Ultron from becoming one of the highlights of the event. It included the awkward first meeting between Ultron and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a giant-sized battle between Iron Man and The Hulk, new heroes and new costumes - all playing in front of intensely creepy narration by a robotic voiced James Spader. Most of that made its way into the first official Age of Ultron trailer, which is now available to watch a week early, after leaks saw a low-res version spread across the Web.
Let's put aside the leaks and take a closer look at the first official footage from The Avengers: Age of Ultron to see what Marvel Studios and writer-director Joss Whedon are up to in the sequel to their flagship franchise.
There were rumors about the story and certain sequences that play out in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and many of those proved to be true in the teaser footage we saw over the summer. Now you can see too - from a certain party scene and a new relationship to different versions of Ultron and a new ride for the team.
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The Castle In The Snow
Dating back to when Thomas Kretschmann was cast to play Hydra officer Baron von Strucker in The Avengers sequel with a multi-picture deal, some reports pointed to his involvement in the intro sequence of the film. We know from the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that Strucker has a secret base with Loki's scepter and the "Twins" (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch) in it, so we're going to guess that the large castle-esque stronghold in the snowy mountains is Strucker's Castle in Bavaria (from the comics).
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If that's the case, all of these shots in the snow - including Hulk transforming back into overly exhausted Bruce Banner, Hawkeye with his cold weather outfit and the high-tech enemy tank - could all be from the first act of the movie. Is that a Hydra tank? Is that Cap kicking in the doors to the same fortress?
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Harley-Davidson
Unveiled in full at Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con booth this summer was Project LiveWire – Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle – as the ride of choice for Natasha Romanoff. "The bike will star in an epic scene with Captain America in the film," according to the official description and you can see a glimpse of it with Cap's shield mounted on the front.
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Quinjet 2.0
In The Avengers we saw the first Quinjets, high-tech aircraft that launch from the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. We saw a more militarized one that seemingly had more space in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and a stealth one that can go invisible in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In Age of Ultron however, the team has their own new Quinjet that has its own parking space (landing pad) near the top of Avengers tower. This one's even bigger, and unlike the other Quinjets, features just one pilot seat in the cockpit for Hawkeye. It also carries Black Widow's bike.
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Quinjet Aftermath
Here's a good look at the interior of the new Quinjet, which gives a good example of just how large it really is. In this shot, however, the team is not just exhausted, they are emotionally wrecked, especially Banner. Most interestingly, of the core six original Avengers only Stark is not in the jet, since Hawkeye is in the pilot's seat.
Is Stark flying outside? On another mission? Or does the team assume the worst - and if so, is that what has Banner in this state?
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WWII Flashback
Leaked set photos revealed scenes shot in WWII which may or may not involve Paul Bettany, and we know Hayley Atwell is returning as well. With the timing of her show Agent Carter launching its miniseries early next year on ABC, it wouldn't be a stretch to see it setting up or tying into historical scenes of The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The same can be said for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which stars the man (Phil Coulson) who Whedon killed in the first Avengers. Coulson must reveal himself to the team and let them know he's alive, right? If Fury's in the sequel, that could very well happen.
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Fury's In It
Look who's back and rocking an eye patch again. Samuel L. Jackson previously described his role in The Avengers 2 as a glorified cameo of sorts, but we can at least hope to learn what he's been up to since heading to Europe at the end of Captain America 2, and since appointing Phil Coulson as his replacement to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. The Avengers are - after all - still his baby, and we bet his mission isn't over yet taking down Hydra.
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Earth's Mightiest Party
Some needed downtime after a successful mission can be a good thing. For fans, this means seeing The Avengers in plain clothes (finally, in Thor's case) and socializing. And in case you missed it from previous official photos, Don Cheadle does make a guest appearance - although we don't think he's going to be suiting up as War Machine. Maybe in the next Avengers?
In the wide shot of the party you can see the six main Avengers, Maria Hill (who now works for Stark) and another new character played by Kim Soo-hyun a.k.a. Claudia Kim who's rumored to play a doctor in the film. Romanoff and Banner look cozy, don't they? More on that later.
Of course the party is cut short by an uninvited guest...
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Ultron Introduction
Ultron is created by Tony Stark as a way to police and protect the world after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's an artificial intelligence of sorts, similar to JARVIS, that can control his drone-like armor suits. As the official one-liner for the film states, "when Tony Stark jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry..." and that begins at the end of this party, where Ultron shambles in, constructed of leftover bits from different Iron Man suits.
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A brawl breaks out here and this next shot could be of the aftermath, judging by their clothing, with Stark reflecting on what he's created. Note the Avengers logo on Ultron's chest piece above.
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The Twins
During the world premiere of Iron Man 3, Joss Whedon first let slip his intentions to include the "brother-sister act" of Quicksilver (real name: Pietro Maximoff,) and Scarlet Witch (real name: Wanda Maximoff) in The Avengers sequel, and this trailer provides our first look at them in action. We know they're characters who don't agree with what The Avengers stand for, and their role involves messing with them, according to Whedon.
Above we see them taking part in a protest or riot in what we're assuming is Eastern Europe. Their history of being both villains and heroes in the comics shines through in the trailer, since we clearly see them standing alongside Ultron in what we're assuming is his secret lair.
Since Ultron is also responsible for the creation of Vision, this villain might just be forming his own team. But it doesn't last, since we also see glimpses of Quicksilver crashing through a bus/train car to bodycheck an Ultron robot and save Captain America:
Pietro's ability of super speed is easy to understand and describe, but his sister Wanda is a different story. From Elizabeth Olsen and Whedon's previous hints and descriptions of the character, she can touch objects and see their history, she can mess with people's minds, and as this image indicates, she can blast hex bolts just like in the comics.
And she's very upset:
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Hulk Smash
Wanda's emotional issues pale in comparison to Banner's - and despite his feelings about it, we love it when he's angry. It's difficult to confirm given the way the trailer is edited and spliced together, but if all these shots are from the same sequence, it appears as if local police and military units are dispatched against a raging Hulk.
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Note the sad, red eyes of Mark Ruffalo shining through to the Hulk's face in the top image. The animation detail on the "other guy" continues to improve by leaps and bounds, and his softer emotions are readily apparent. Part of making this animated creature more lifelike is capturing Ruffalo's body and facial movements and to do that the best way possible, Marvel brought in the best: Andy Serkis.
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NEXT PAGE: More Villains & Team Conflict
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Andy Serkis (Klaw?)
From Gollum (Lord of the Rings) to Caeaser (Planet of the Apes), and acting and directing in between, Andy Serkis is the Oscar-deserving king of motion capture performance. He even has his own studio, The Imaginarium Studios, for digital animation based on performance capture. Not only has he assisted in the process of improving the realizing of Hulk in live-action, but he's playing a character in Age of Ultron as well.
There's one shot of Serkis in the trailer which confirms he's playing a human character with a unique beard and look similar to that of Ulysses Klaw - a supervillain in the comics who battles The Avengers and Black Panther. He's mastered control over sound in such a way that he uses it as a weapon and to change his physical form. Our guess: If Serkis is indeed Klaw, and since Ultron makes The Vision, perhaps he enlists the help of Klaw to use vibranium to improve The Vision (who we know can also change his physical form like in the comics, from what Paul Bettany told us).
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Hulkbuster
First revealed in concept art during an ABC special last year, teased with a prop of its arm at Comic-Con this summer, and leaked before the official trailer release, The Avengers: Age of Ultron is the first Marvel Studios film to make use of Iron Man's biggest suit: The Hulkbuster. Inside the Hulkbuster armor is a full normal-sized Iron Man suit with what we're assuming is Tony Stark inside of it (that or Ultron is controlling it).
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We're curious if Banner helped in the creation of armor specifically designed to take him down - or if this was a secretive project by Stark and a major breach of trust. Note the extra repulsors on the knees and other areas to help the massive suit move, and the reinforced arm to punch the Hulk.
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Hulk and Black Widow
There's the briefest of shots in the trailer which shows Hulk gently put his hand down to Black Widow's, confirming what we heard a while back about the pair having a relationship in the film. In the Comic-Con footage there was more to this scene where you could see Hulk's face as well.
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Thor vs. Tony
Whedon has said all along The Avengers will be tested and potentially torn apart and here we see the Asgardian Avenger rage against Tony Stark as Black Widow (in sweats) watches in the background. What Stark decision set Thor off? Does Thor simply blame Stark for Ultron? Is this foreshadowing events of Captain America 3 and its adaptation of Civil War?
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More Thor
Thor not only rages against Stark, he also rages against his rock bath - topless, of course. We don't know what's going on there, but in other scenes we see him so distraught he drops his mighty hammer Mjolnir.
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The Ruins
The Avengers: Age of Ultron is the most international Marvel movie yet, and production took place in South Korea, South Africa, Italy, London, etc. We're not entirely sure what other locations some of these could double for, but Eastern Europe has a big role to play where destruction ensues, it seems.
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The Twins seemingly originate from here and perhaps have been released - with their powers - by Strucker. It's all very unclear and we still don't know where their powers originate from.
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Ultron Evolution
First we see Ultron stumbling around, pieced together from seemingly random old suit parts from Stark's workshop. Then we see the Ultron army version from the EW cover (above) which features a design that crosses between a modern movie iron man suit and the traditional comics design.There's an army of those units and there's a sequence of them invading a compound, some flying, some climbing walls.
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Then there's this almost organic metal version with detailed human-esque eyes, a moving mouth and more moving parts. If you can't see it you can certainly feel James Spader moving in that face.
Perhaps this version is a vibranium version that gives him the strength to break Captain America's shield. That's our only explanation for this scene of melted metal being poured all over a robotic hand:
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Operation
Ultron might not be the only one getting a few fixes or alterations. There are two shots in the trailer emphasizing medical tools and a gurney in a bleak room and hall. Who could that be for?
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Terminator
AI going rogue and attempting to eradicate humanity - sound familiar? There are numerous similarities to the story and themes of Terminator and the music at the end of the trailer hammers that idea home. There's also of course the imagery above of the robotic arm molten steel although again, we're thinking that's intentional and plays into the idea above about Ultron's evolution.
Perhaps he's pouring a more powerful metal on his arms in an effort to upgrade himself to be more formidable against The Avengers - an idea Chris Hemsworth shared with us at Comic-Con when name-dropping vibranium. Vibranium is the super rare metal from the fictional African nation Wakanda (Black Panther!) that Captain America's shield is made of. More on that later.
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Broken Shield
The dramatic music and terrifying Ultron painting a dark picture for the future of The Avengers couldn't be emphasized more than in the final shot of the trailer, featuring Captain America's shield broken in two. Yes, this happens in the comics too (several times, in fact); in the Comic-Con footage, however, this was a much bigger scene and featured all of The Avengers lying seemingly dead on the ground, with Tony Stark standing over their bodies. There's just a hint of that here with Thor's arm seen below:
We can only assume this is a dream sequence or vision of Stark's - a very, very grim one (an effect of Scarlet Witch's powers?). Could such false realities also explain this out of context ballet shot with Steve Rogers playing piano?
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Black Panther
Chris Hemsworth mentioned to us at Comic-Con that Ultron could only handle Thor by upgrading himself with Vibranium, the same super rare metal Captain America's shield is made of. That material is only found in the fictional Marvel Comics African nation of Wakanda, the home of Black Panther. Quinjets in the comics are a co-creation of Black Panther and as you saw up top, we get another new version here. Even Ulysses Klaw shares some of his most momentous history with the Black Panther family and uses vibranium in his weaponry. So, how long until we see Wakanda and meet Black Panther?
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More Stills & Official Synopsis
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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.
If you noticed something we missed, share in the comments and we'll add it in!
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NEXT: The Avengers 3 Could Be A 'Setup' Movie
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The Avengers: Age of Ultron releases in theaters on May 1, 2015, followed by Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, Captain America: Civil War on May 6 2016, Doctor Strange on November 4, 2016, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on May 5 2017, Thor: Ragnarok on July 28, 2017, Black Panther on November 3 2017, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1 on May 4 2018, Captain Marvel on July 6 2018, Inhumans on November 2 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2 on May 3 2019.
Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes for your Marvel movie and TV news!