Yes, we’re taking any excuse to post the Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer again. Admit it, you’ve been watching it on loop. But there’s actually a lot there, and it’s packed full of hints and mysteries.
Black Widow Is Likely Central To The Story
A fair chunk of the movie takes place in Eastern Europe and likely in Russia itself, although there is a fictional city called Sokovia that pops up a lot in. One of the first shots is of Russian protesters:
A fair chunk of the trailer takes place in a snowy landscape, including a possible fight against HYDRA agents (check out the bitchin’ laser cannon):
Notice, also, that the Hulk calms down a bit around her in the trailer. And there’s ballerinas, which is up there with vodka, “comrade,” and the color red in the pantheon of Russian stereotypes:
We’re assuming this is a flashback to Widow’s past.
The Story Goes Back Further Than You Think
Blink and you’ll miss it, but there’s a shot of Cap in a flashback to what appears to be the 1940s:
We’re guessing that the work that ultimately results in Ultron starts with Howard Stark, especially since Peggy Carter will supposedly be making a cameo. There’s also a sequence where everybody in that isolated villa sees some form of secret that shocks Thor into dropping his hammer, so we’re betting there are some nasty secrets to be uncovered.
Yep, It Really Is All Tony’s Fault
If there’s one thing that this trailer underlines and circles, it’s that Tony is more or less directly responsible for every crappy thing that happens in this movie. Our introduction to Ultron is in the form of a shredded Iron Man suit with a robot in it, who obviously is not a Tony fan if the GIF above didn’t tell you. More to the point, look at the robot Ultron crushes, there, and then take a look at the mooks he deploys later:
It’s especially interesting due to the fact that another theme the trailer lays on rather thick is manipulation and control. As one of our regulars dRail pointed out, you know the song in the trailer better as a lighthearted ditty from Pinocchio, that Ultron straight-up quotes at the end of the trailer.
Oh, and the “strings” in question refer to Pinocchio’s conscience. We somehow doubt that this musical selection was an accident.
Still, why’s Tony stamping out robots? We have a few guesses, that mostly start in H and end with ULK, but that leads us to our first mystery, which is…
What’s Up With Banner?
The trailer seems to hint that Banner, at some point, loses his Hulk powers. Here he is shirtless in the Russian wilderness:
Generally if Banner’s under threat, which he most assuredly is here, he’s big and green. And after he’s rescued, he’s clearly not happy, as we see him huddling in a Quinjet. It could just be that he’s losing control more often. After all, a fair chunk of the trailer is Tony and Bruce going head to head:
More to the point, Tony built Hulkbuster armor, so clearly Bruce’s tantrums are becoming something of a problem.
Who The Hell Is Andy Serkis Playing?
When Andy Serkis was first cast, everybody naturally assumed he’d be doing mo-cap work. Nope, he’s out of the ping-pong ball suit and he’s grown a beard for this movie:
The best guess we’ve heard, from Robo, is that he’s playing Ulysses Klaw. That would line up with Cap’s shield being split, as we see in the trailer, and it would also mean that Wakanda would be in the mix. And it’s not like we haven’t been hearing about a Black Panther movie.
Where’s HYDRA In All Of This?
Notably missing, here, is HYDRA. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ended more or less with a lead-in straight to Age Of Ultron, making it clear that the “miracles” Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were HYDRA pawns. So where’s HYDRA?
That’s just what we found on a first viewing. Anything we missed?