The Avengers: Age of Ultron is Live. Don't forget the Spoiler Tags, Damnit.Movies 

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prisonermonkeys
I appreciate the idea that Thanos is the kind of villain who bides his time, but I feel the risk Marvel runs is that they will make him the kind of genius villain who can not only accurately predict complex responses from the heroes, but actually integrate them into his own plans so that they actually support his plan. For example, it would be like Ultron setting up the Iron Man vs. Hulk fight so that they will specifically destroy the half-finished skyscraper because he needs it to be demolished, but doing it himself would reveal his plans. I actually find that kind of complex, multi-faceted adaptive planning to be pretty cheap.

If Marvel really want to sell us Thanos as a villain, they can't just say "he's Thanos" and rely on his reputation from the comics to sell it. My second cousin loves the films, but he hasn't read the comics too extensively, so he won't appreciate the idea of Thanos being the villain.

Also, it makes sense that Thanos has to reveal himself earlier than he would have liked. The Power Gem is currently in the possession of the Nova Corps, and Vision holds the Mind Gem. Thanos won't get either - much less both - without revealing himself sooner than he might like. So I think he will take a much more active role in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which would allow the audience to see him in action in advance of Infinity Wars without necessarily revealing him to the Avengers. And he may pop up in Thor: Ragnarok, since Vision was part of Thor's hallucinations.
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There are two things that I believe you are overlooking from the comics that play a huge roll and still have yet to be introduced:

Dr. Strange and Adam Warlock. As Guardians 2 is supposed to get into Quill's father, I am sure that will lead to knowledge of Thanos for audiences without interacting with the Earth heroes, as Gunn has said that he didn't intend to have them interact in the GotG films. If they meet Adam Warlock, or have him be Quill's father (a not unpopular theory, and fitting the his mother's description of his father as an angel and why Quill could hold the gem), then we will have a chance to learn a lot. James Gunn said that Guardians 2 will introduce new characters that are important to the MCU as a whole. If not Warlock then someone who will play a similar role. With Dr. Strange six months in front of Guardians 2, I can already see a post-credits scene where Strange is visiting another realm, or however they portray it, and is approached by Adam Warlock.

How I see it going: Dr Strange has a post-credits with Warlock. Guardians 2 introduces him to us and he introduces the audience to Thanos' plan. Somehow things get tied into Thor: Ragnarok (I need to see AoU before I can make an intelligent guess), then Infinity War part 1. And this is the bigger key. Infinity War is two parts. Part 1 could easily be Thanos going after the gems and collecting them, introducing the audience to him and his overall plan. I can even see the cliffhanger being him making half the population of the universe disappear. I imagine we will meet Carol Danvers and see the Kree pay a visit to Earth, or Mar-Vell warns about Thanos coming (Kree agents have already come to Earth to intervene with events in AoS), setting up Captain Marvel. The sudden disappearance of billions on Earth leads Black Panther to leave Wakanda to find answers, and eventually offer aid with their technology and access to vibranium. Perhaps Danvers even plays a role if the Kree are interested. Then in Captain Marvel we see Mar-Vell die and Danvers obtain his powers, setting us up for our new line up. Then in Infinity War 2 we deal with Warlock gathering Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop Thanos.


But that's all just guessing how the story could go and deal with the issues that you have.
 
prisonermonkeys
My issues have more to do with the medium than with the content.
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Um, welcome to Hollywood?

I can't tell you how many great stories I've seen Hollywood stumble over due to the medium, the business, and just blatant narcissists in charge of production.
 
prisonermonkeys
No, I mean the difference between the media - there are things the comic books can do, but films cannot and vice versa.
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That's what I meant by Hollywood stumbling over it due to the medium.

That said, I feel that Marvel has done the best job of making the comics work on screen without trying to change the tone. No one is dark that wasn't before, battles are equally fought in broad daylight, it doesn't have to be raining or overcast, and it feels close to how the comics portray the events.
 
Just saw it... And I am conflicted. Overall, I did like it, and I will definately get it on Blu-Ray when released. However, I felt like the movie introduced way too many new characters and plot points, and as such, couldn't properly flesh it all out.

It also seems to have completely forgotten about the existance of Iron Man 3, which is mostly a good thing, as that movie was awful.

In the end, I liked the 1st movie more.
 
Jawehawk
Just saw it... And I am conflicted. Overall, I did like it, and I will definately get it on Blu-Ray when released. However, I felt like the movie introduced way too many new characters and plot points, and as such, couldn't properly flesh it all out.

It also seems to have completely forgotten about the existance of Iron Man 3, which is mostly a good thing, as that movie was awful.

In the end, I liked the 1st movie more.
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While it's nice to have a sense of continuity among every single movie in the MCU, Extremis was a thing that Stark dealt with himself and wouldn't cross-over very well considering the stakes are far higher. It could be referenced offhand but that's about it.
 
Terronium-12
While it's nice to have a sense of continuity among every single movie in the MCU, Extremis was a thing that Stark dealt with himself and wouldn't cross-over very well considering the stakes are far higher. It could be referenced offhand but that's about it.
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The problem isn't Extremis - it's the suits. Stark obsessively builds suits, trying to plan for every contingency as a means of dealing with the Chitauri invasion over New York. At the end of the film, he destroys the suits, coming to terms with his place in the universe and the idea that he can't protect everyone from everything.

But then here he's building Ultron as a kind of global defence system. It feels like an extension of the suits that he was building in IM3, even though IM3 ends with him moving on from it.
 
What Prisoner said. It makes no sense in context with what happened at the end of IM3. But again, I hated the 3rd Iron Man movie, so I am basically okay with pretending it never happened ;)
 
prisonermonkeys
The problem isn't Extremis - it's the suits. Stark obsessively builds suits, trying to plan for every contingency as a means of dealing with the Chitauri invasion over New York. At the end of the film, he destroys the suits, coming to terms with his place in the universe and the idea that he can't protect everyone from everything.

But then here he's building Ultron as a kind of global defence system. It feels like an extension of the suits that he was building in IM3, even though IM3 ends with him moving on from it.
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I'd hazard a guess that he wouldn't have built Ultron if it weren't for Scarlet Witch showing him that vision of the Avengers all dead/dying and Earth getting invaded again.
 
DK
I'd hazard a guess that he wouldn't have built Ultron if it weren't for Scarlet Witch showing him that vision of the Avengers all dead/dying and Earth getting invaded again.
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That's what I was thinking, too.

Just got back from seeing it. Other than the hypocritical Hulk/Widow relationship thing (Whedon takes shots at Jurassic World's stereotypes, then shoe-horns an awkward, forced relationship into his movie where it really doesn't need to be), I liked it a lot. Rewatching the films this week, Avengers 1 feels very light. Despite Loki threatening with an army, it never felt like the world was truly at risk of losing. If anything, it felt like humans were the biggest threat, what with the nuke and all. Maybe Ultron's on to something...

This movie felt bleaker, sure. But it felt like everybody could actually lose something, which pulls me in far more. The first movie might've been more fun, but I was more invested in this. Ultron is a hell of a bad guy; funny in all the ways Loki is - and more, like the "oops" with Klaw - but is also far more intimidating. Fleshing out Hawkeye was a good move, and it was a genuine surprise to see his family. While they had to introduce a lot of characters, it never felt too threadbare IMO; the good thing about the MCU is that they can flesh people out more in the next film. Using Klaw as an example again, he didn't need anything more than what we saw, and the strings will be tied together in Civil War and/or Black Panther. I'm very happy with how much more time Cheadle got to do his thing this time, too.

Quicksilver's death seemed too convenient when I think about it: the movie showed us he could essentially see things in bullet- time, so no reason to think he couldn't have avoided that.

Again, like the last movie, Hulk is the one tasked with physically demolishing the baddy. Sure, Wanda got to the heart of the matter, but it was Hulk that put Ultron there. I don't really get the inconsistency with Hulk's moods, but that's probably my lack of in-depth knowledge of the source material.

The Vision is so freaking cool, he stole the show for me. I do worry what will happen to him with that stone in his head, though. This new team should be interesting to watch; a wide range of powers, but with far smaller egos.

Oh, and that mid-credit scene: Yesssssssss.
 
Now that I've seen the movie and can act on that and not book know-how:

However, I felt like the movie introduced way too many new characters
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I didn't get this before seeing the movie and after having seen it, I still don't get this particular criticism. The only genuinely new characters introduced were Ultron and Vision. Quicksilver and Scarlet were introduced in The Winter Soldier.

If you're referring to Clint's family, sure, that was a surprise in and of itself, but I'm more interested in the fact, and I have no idea why I didn't piece this together before (wasn't paying attention), that he's not married to Mockingbird. It doesn't alter things too much as she's playing her role in AoS, and rightfully so, but that just.. bugs me. :lol:

and plot points, and as such, couldn't properly flesh it all out.
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I'll need some examples here. I had no trouble keeping up with things, but I will concede with things not being as fleshed out as they could, but it's the price paid for movies like this where there are multiple main characters - everyone doesn't get enough screen-time.

And I'm okay with that. Not really, but let's pretend that I am...

It also seems to have completely forgotten about the existance of Iron Man 3, which is mostly a good thing, as that movie was awful.
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I see where both you and pm are coming from with this now, but the way I see it is there is a sense of continuity there but it's subtle: Stark wants Ultron to ultimately serve as a buffer, a means for them to not get involved unless absolutely necessary. Does it contradict 3? Yeah. I won't pretend that it won't, but that's how it came across to me.

I'd have to watch 3 again as everything after the original isn't exactly... memorable. I like 3 by itself and a hell of a lot more than 2 (and I actually dig 2), but wasn't the Christmas protocol or whatever he called it just a show-to for Potts that he wasn't going to obsess over it night and day, night and day, night and day, and be more focused on her?

The movie itself... I loved it, but right off the bat I have to address the silly continuity with Mjolnir. Vision lifts and wields the hammer with ease and that's perfectly fine, but when they're discussing it in the new base one of the explanations given was "he's a robot... so it doesn't count", and that's where my problem lies, because if that's the case when people were gathering far and wide to attempt to move the hammer in Thor, the pickup truck was unable to move it and that's bollocks because the truck has no sentience of any kind but Vision does.

I thought Ultron was done well enough in the MCU that he didn't need to be as powerful as he really is, he posed enough of a threat at it is, so I can do without his coma beam and the likes thereof. His personality was just enough that you feel he steals whatever scene he's in. He's such a dynamic antagonist that he can come back the umpteen times he does in the books and it would be interesting every single time. I enjoyed Vision but there just wasn't enough of him to go around and that's probably the biggest letdown of the entire movie.

And now the scene that made me smile the most: Thanos putting on the gauntlet and exclaiming that he's going to do things himself now.

Oh, and Thor does hand-to-hand stuff!
 
As much as I'd love to participate in the discussion, I don't remember how to do spooiler tags. Why aren't those things there as a visible option, anyway?
 
SlipZtrEm
That's what I was thinking, too.

Just got back from seeing it. Other than the hypocritical Hulk/Widow relationship thing (Whedon takes shots at Jurassic World's stereotypes, then shoe-horns an awkward, forced relationship into his movie where it really doesn't need to be), I liked it a lot. Rewatching the films this week, Avengers 1 feels very light. Despite Loki threatening with an army, it never felt like the world was truly at risk of losing. If anything, it felt like humans were the biggest threat, what with the nuke and all. Maybe Ultron's on to something...

This movie felt bleaker, sure. But it felt like everybody could actually lose something, which pulls me in far more. The first movie might've been more fun, but I was more invested in this. Ultron is a hell of a bad guy; funny in all the ways Loki is - and more, like the "oops" with Klaw - but is also far more intimidating. Fleshing out Hawkeye was a good move, and it was a genuine surprise to see his family. While they had to introduce a lot of characters, it never felt too threadbare IMO; the good thing about the MCU is that they can flesh people out more in the next film. Using Klaw as an example again, he didn't need anything more than what we saw, and the strings will be tied together in Civil War and/or Black Panther. I'm very happy with how much more time Cheadle got to do his thing this time, too.

Quicksilver's death seemed too convenient when I think about it: the movie showed us he could essentially see things in bullet- time, so no reason to think he couldn't have avoided that.

Again, like the last movie, Hulk is the one tasked with physically demolishing the baddy. Sure, Wanda got to the heart of the matter, but it was Hulk that put Ultron there. I don't really get the inconsistency with Hulk's moods, but that's probably my lack of in-depth knowledge of the source material.

The Vision is so freaking cool, he stole the show for me. I do worry what will happen to him with that stone in his head, though. This new team should be interesting to watch; a wide range of powers, but with far smaller egos.

Oh, and that mid-credit scene: Yesssssssss.
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Watching Hulk turn off the monitor in the jet, got me thinking a smarter Hulk is on the way. If he remajns in Hulk form, I wonder if Wanda had anything to do with it(subliminally).
 
I also watched this last night and overall it was a
Jawehawk
Just saw it... And I am conflicted. Overall, I did like it, and I will definately get it on Blu-Ray when released. However, I felt like the movie introduced way too many new characters and plot points, and as such, couldn't properly flesh it all out.

It also seems to have completely forgotten about the existance of Iron Man 3, which is mostly a good thing, as that movie was awful.

In the end, I liked the 1st movie more.
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I also watched this last night at the 7:00 PM showing. I agree with pretty much everything you said. They did an excellent job with Ultron for sure.


The battles in this movie just didn't feel as vast in scale as A1 and something about that just didn't feel quite as rewarding. Everything in A1 was just so enormous and so many huge enemies along with massive environment. A2 just felt smaller IMO. I realize it was a battle with robots but there were several points I was looking around for Will Smith because it was an overwhelming feel of I Robot. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just felt way to familiar. I guess that's just going to happen with an army of robots. Again, enjoyable movie just not as good as Avengers 1.
Overall great movie but I did like the first one a lot better. This one feels a lot more like a "filler" movie while we wait for the next one. Didn't really feel like a true sequel.
 
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I kind of regret seeing it at an 8pm showing, because I had to leave just as the credits were starting just so I could catch the last bus back home. :(
 
DK
I kind of regret seeing it at an 8pm showing, because I had to leave just as the credits were starting just so I could catch the last bus back home. :(
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You didn't miss much at all. About a 10 second clip.
 
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05XR8
Watching Hulk turn off the monitor in the jet, got me thinking a smarter Hulk is on the way. If he remajns in Hulk form, I wonder if Wanda had anything to do with it(subliminally).
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Whedon's interpretation has always been that the Hulk is as afraid of Banner as Banner is of the Hulk.
 
Where in the credits is the post-credits scene? Is there one? Should I wait till the end or is it in the middle?
 
So, in other words, before the traditional text crawl?
 
Yep. I had already read an interview with Joss saying there was no second post-movie clip, so after the mid-point one, we sat around just to talk about what we saw, and laugh at the people that got frustrated waiting for nothing. :D
 
Omnis
So, in other words, before the traditional text crawl?
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Yes. The theater we went to warned everyone just before the movie started that there would only be a mid credit clip. Nothing post credit. So if you are lucky your theater wont say anything and after the mid credits you can escape before they do. haha
 
prisonermonkeys
My issues have more to do with the medium than with the content.
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Once again the two worlds or universes rather are their own artistic license and shouldn't ever have any other direct correlation other than being marvel. Yes there are plenty of similarities but at the end of the day they're not here to mimic earth 616 or the universe it resides in canon wise.

And really the Marvel cinematic universe is its own canon
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Once again the two worlds or universes rather are their own artistic license and shouldn't ever have any other direct correlation other than being marvel. Yes there are plenty of similarities but at the end of the day they're not here to mimic earth 616 or the universe it resides in canon wise.

And really the Marvel cinematic universe is its own canon
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I'm not expecting them to perfectly replicate the comics - quite the opposite, really. I think that Marvel have been a little bit too true to the comics at times, and have done things that have not translated into film as well as they could have if they had relaxed a little and treated it as a film rather than as a film adaptation of a comic book.
 

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