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Avengers: Endgame Spoiler-Free Movie Review

Lolli — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 23:36:32 +0000

Although I was invited to an early screening of Avengers: Endgame, I was unable to attend earlier this week because of schedule. So I ended up taking my daughter and myself to an early morning showing today, thinking that I’d have more than enough time to come home and write a quick review. I didn’t factor in a migraine. So while this movie review is coming to you fairly late, I figure that most people who saw the movie within the first 24 hours weren’t waiting around for a movie review, anyway.

Just to be clear, this is not a sponsored post. I paid for my tickets. This discussion is 100% spoiler-free and safe to read before seeing the film.

“We lost, all of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost part of ourselves. This is the fight of our lives.” —Steve Rogers/Captain America

About Avengers: Endgame (Official)

From Marvel Studios comes the most highly anticipated film ever in the Marvel Cinematic Universe—“Avengers: Endgame,” the 22nd Marvel Studios film to date and the climactic
conclusion to the cataclysmic events that unfolded in the top-grossing film of 2018, “Avengers: Infinity War.”

The Avengers franchise has had an unprecedented cinematic journey, spanning several galaxies over the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 11 years. Now the newest entry, “Avengers: Endgame,” brings to the big screen the highest stakes and deadliest showdown ever between the Avengers and the universe’s most powerful and deadliest villain, Thanos.

“Avengers: Endgame” picks up with the Avengers having been soundly defeated by Thanos, who, after collecting the six Infinity Stones, imposed his twisted will on all of humanity and randomly wiped out half of the world’s population, including many of the Avengers. In the aftermath of the destruction, the remaining Avengers are faced with their biggest challenge yet—finding the resolve within themselves to get off the mat and find a way to defeat Thanos once and for all.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), War Machine/James Rhodey (Don Cheadle), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” is the most anticipated superhero film of all time and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

Gwyneth Paltrow also returns as Pepper Potts, along with Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. Josh Brolin also returns as the film’s infamous villain, Thanos.

Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Endgame” is directed by Emmy Award®–winning directors Anthony and Joe Russo from an original screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. Kevin Feige is producing the film, with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Michael Grillo, Trinh Tran, Jon Favreau, James Gunn and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s creative team also includes director of photography Trent Opaloch (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); production designer Charles
Wood (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Matrix”); editors Jeffrey Ford, ACE (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”), and Matthew Schmidt (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”); three-time Oscar®–nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Dan DeLeeuw (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain America: Civil War”); six-time Oscar nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther”); and stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Atomic Blonde”).

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Thor (Chris Hemsworth)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

Based on the Marvel comic franchise first published in 1963, “Avengers: Endgame” continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man 3,” “Thor: The Dark World,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Ant-Man,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Doctor Strange,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Panther,” “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Captain Marvel” and the upcoming release “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” on July 5, 2019.

My Avengers Experience

Way back when the first Avengers movie came out in 2012, I was invited to attend the press event in Los Angeles. The press event happened to land on the weekend of some kind of performance for one of my kids, and I was already in the dog house for missing something in the past month. I declined the invitation (and have regretted it ever since). I wasn’t a die hard Avengers fan yet.

When Avengers: The Age of Ultron came to theaters, I got another invitation to attend the press event and this time I didn’t hesitate to say yes. By that point, I was a fan and my teenage kids were obsessed (for the record, the kid who I declined that first invitation for has regretted it too). Meeting the Avengers in person was a highlight of my life, alongside giving birth to my children.

What I thought about Avengers: Endgame

Endgame had a different feel from the other Avengers movies, but that’s to be expected after the way Infinity War ended. There is a very somber feel to the entire movie and much less of the Avengers humor that I’ve become used to with this series (don’t worry, there is a little bit of comic relief coming from Thor, of all characters….just wait).

I don’t know if it was my migraine (probably so) or the fact that the theater was uncomfortably hot or a combination of fatigue, hunger, headache, and everything put together that made the 3+ hours seem REALLY long. I was not bored. I enjoyed every minute. But I was uncomfortable. My daughter said the same thing. I recommend getting a drink and popcorn to break things up a bit, but take a good potty break before the movie starts because you’re not going to want to leave the theater during this movie.

Be aware: there is no end credit scene, so don’t bother staying until the last credit rolls. I had heard that this movie didn’t have the typical end credit scene, but I decided to stay until the end to make sure it wasn’t a rumor. It was not a rumor.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Nebula (Karen Gillan)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

I’m assuming that if you’re interested in seeing Endgame, you’ve already seen the previous Avengers movies and all of the Marvel franchise movies (including Captain Marvel). If you haven’t caught up with the previously released movies, do yourself a favor and have a binge weekend and get up to speed. Knowing who the characters are and why they’re important in the story line is going to make a huge difference. This is not a movie you can appreciate if you see it out of order.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..L to R: Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), War Machine/James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

If you’re caught up and ready to see Endgame, I’m guessing that you have questions. And since this is a spoiler-free post, I can’t answer many of them except to say that your questions will be answered and situations will be resolved. After the movie, my daughter and I chatted for a bit….this really did feel like an ending. Unlike all of the other movies where there was always an opening for the next part of the story, this movie felt final.

My recommendation: see the movie in theaters (after you’re caught up on all of the Avengers movies, Black Panther, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant Man, Spiderman and Captain Marvel). See it soon before everyone is talking about what happens like everyone else already knows.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: ENDGAME..Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2019

One more word about the movie: I feel like I could write a college paper on the way people react to grief based on the different character’s reactions to the grief that they all experienced in Infinity War. It was very interesting to see the varied reactions – from anger to sadness to staying busy to moving on and making the most of the new situation.

You’re going to enjoy it, but be prepared for an EMOTIONAL ride.

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Avengers: Infinity War Movie Review

Lolli — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 16:39:29 +0000

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is now playing in theatres everywhere. My husband and I saw it in theaters last night – no payment or free tickets have been received for this post. NO SPOILERS!

“It’s all been leading to this.” Tony Stark

About Avengers: Infinity War – An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

“The story of “Avengers: Infinity War” is the result of everything we’ve ever done to this point,” says producer Kevin Feige. “It is the unprecedented culmination of a series of storylines interlinked together over 10 years and 18 films.”

There is so much I want to say about Avengers: Infinity War….but so much of it I can’t. Until you’ve seen the movie.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Wong (Benedict Wong)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018

I bought our tickets early on Thursday because I knew that the 7:00 showing would be packed. I was right. We arrived at the theater 30 minutes before show time and had plenty of time to get popcorn and chat about our predictions for the movie. My husband was trying to keep his expectations low. He didn’t think that Marvel could pull off combining SO many characters and so many story lines into one movie.

He laughed throughout the 2 1/2 hour showtime, and apologized for his pessimism on the way out. He gave it a solid A. I was easily convinced that this was THE BEST Avengers movie to date. Scratch that. This was the best Marvel movie to date.

One of the things that we both thought was so brilliant about Avengers: Infinity War was the way that so many beloved characters were so perfectly woven into the story together. The chemistry between characters we’ve never seen together before was insane. My two favorite combinations were Iron Man/Doctor Strange and Thor/Guardians of the Galaxy. Be prepared for a lot of laughter, despite the deep and foreboding story line.

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), b/g Drax (Dave Bautista)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

Screenwriter Christopher Markus explained it this way: “This film is not one long scene with thirty-five people in it. The characters are woven in the story in a particular way so it allows us to take smaller bites at telling the story in the film. You make someone fightable and beatable by making them human with complexities and emotional life. This allows you to poke and dissect them in ways that aren’t just, ‘I can punch you in the face really hard.’”

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Wong (Benedict Wong), Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018

Producer Kevin Feige said, “What’s always the most fun about an ‘Avengers’ film is seeing characters that have never before interacted with each other interacting for the first time. So now in ‘Infinity War,’ we will have for the very first time some of the Avengers meeting Spider-Man, the Avengers encountering Doctor Strange, a character that wasn’t on their radar, and they also meet the Guardians of the Galaxy for the very first time.”

Director Anthony Russo said, “What happens when you take different sets of heroes who all have a sense of primacy and leadership within their own groups, and you put them together? Who’s the leader? And who’s going to listen to whom? We felt like the real job of the film was to exploit the personalities, put them into scenes of high crisis together and see how they would respond. And with Thanos, you can’t ask for higher crisis.”

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Okoye (Danai Gurira), Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlet Johansson) and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan)..Photo: Chuck Zlotnick..©Marvel Studios 2018

I was surprised by the character of Thanos. He was much more complex than I was expecting. He’s not “just a villian,” and I found myself really feeling conflicted about him by the end.

Kevin Feige said, “In our story, Thanos had to deliver a threat far beyond anything the Avengers had ever seen before. That’s not just making him strong and powerful. It’s about having a villain who’s charismatic and who you surprisingly begin to feel for. More so than any of our other movies, this is very much a story about Thanos and his drive, goals and past. This is the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that a film is really told from the villain’s point of view.”

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Thanos (Josh Brolin)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

“In time, you will know what it’s like to lose. To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet to fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives.” Thanos

Who should see Avengers: Infinity War

If you’ve seen and loved any of the previous Marvel movies, you should see Infinity War as soon as you can. I highly recommend this movie!

If your kids have seen any of the other Marvel movies, this is right in line with what you’d expect. Yes, there is intense fighting. Yes, there is some language (PG-13…not terrible). Yes, there is some kissing, but not overly sexual or awkward for kids. I’ll be taking my family, for sure!

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..L to R: Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

Special note: I do think that you will get more out of the movie if you have seen the individual Marvel franchise movies: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider Man, Black Panther, and the previous Avengers movies. Will you still enjoy Infinity War if you haven’t seen all of the movies? Of course. But knowing the personalities and back stories of all of the characters brings a wonderful depth to the dialog and the story.

And now for something fun…

THE INFINITY STONES PRIMER

SPACE STONE (Tesseract)
Color: Blue
Power: Used to control space and create advanced weaponry
Currently in possession: Asgard

REALITY STONE (Aether)
Color: Red
Power: Ability to warp reality at will, immense strength, durability, powers, and subjective influence over the universe
Currently in Possession: The Collector

POWER STONE (Orb)
Color: Purple
Power: Increases physical abilities, allows manipulation of energy. Can obliterate an entire planet when unleashed.
Currently in Possession: Nova Corps

MIND STONE (from Loki’s scepter)
Color: Yellow
Power: Subjugate the minds of others, bending them to the will of the user. Increased intelligence.
Currently in Possession: Vision

TIME STONE (Eye of Agamotto)
Color: Green
Power: Able to control the flow of time.
Currently in Possession: Doctor Strange

SOUL STONE
Color: Orange
Power: Unknown
Currently in Possession: Unknown

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR..Thanos (Josh Brolin)..Photo: Film Frame..©Marvel Studios 2018

Like AVENGERS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers

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Visit the official AVENGERS website here: https://marvel.com/avengers

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is now playing in theatres everywhere!

The Avengers: Age of Ultron On Blu-ray Plus Q&A with the Actors

Lolli — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 02:00:12 +0000

Avengers: Age of Ultron is finally on 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital SD and On-Demand. I received a digital copy of the movie last week when I met with Disney Movies Anywhere, but all thoughts are my own. Note: all photos courtesy of Marvel.

ABOUT MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: Marvel Studios reunites Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the unprecedented movie event, Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Iconic heroes are forced to reassemble and face their most intimidating enemy yet – ULTRON. Pushed to the brink of their physical and emotional limits, the team must recruit both new heroes and familiar allies to face an escalating danger that threatens the entire planet.

Bonus Clip: Concept of Vision

Vision was my favorite new character in Avengers: Age of Ultron, especially after meeting Paul Bettany in LA before the film came to theaters.

And now for a few “bonus” Q&A with some of the Avengers!

Q&A With the Avengers

What’s new about your characters in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron?

CHRIS HEMSWORTH: In Age Of Ultron, we see a more grounded, earthly version of Thor than we have in the past. It is nice because there are a few more opportunities to showcase some humor and see him in some casual gear instead of the red cape and armor.

How does it feel to portray a different version of the character compared to the Thor we’ve seen in previous movies?

CHRIS HEMSWORTH: I wanted to get back to the fun he had in the first film. I wanted to make him a little more grounded. I wanted to humanize him a bit. It’s very easy for these characters to become un-relatable and exist off in the stratosphere – but this was about making him more human. You can see this in one of the first scenes where the rest of The Avengers are trying to pick up his hammer in casual clothes. You think, ‘What do these guys do when they’re not saving the world?’ Well, now you know. That was fun for me. Any time we got to do things like that and to play around, that was the best part for me.

How does it feel to play a female superhero in a male dominated world, Scarlett?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I just go through the script and look at my parts – and those are the only parts I read. What’s great about playing this character is that she is based on something deep and something I could hold onto. She’s very real. She’s experienced a lot of trauma and she’s never really been able to make active choices for herself – but now she is and she’s ready for it.

You were pregnant when you shot the movie. How did you prepare for the physical role and the challenging motorcycle scenes?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: I don’t think you’re allowed to ride a motorcycle when you’re pregnant. I embarrassingly rode some sort of mechanical bull-type of motorcycle, which goes nowhere and doesn’t look cool at all! But we had some very professional and amazing motocross work being done that makes Black Widow look like a total badass.

Every Marvel movie brings something new and different to its audience. What does Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron bring to the world this time?

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Having new people in the cast is great. We now have Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. We have Paul Bettany, who’s been the voice of Jarvis all along, but now he gets to do something new with a character named Vision. And I think James Spader was a brilliant piece of casting for Ultron.

What’s it like to work with James Spader?

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.:There are a lot of full circles going on with this movie. Probably the most personal one is James Spader. He was the first person I saw when I came to Los Angeles and he really took me under his wing. He’s just a couple years older than me, but I think it was a very inspired casting choice [to have him in the movie]. Not just because he’s on everyone’s lips and minds again, but he really is a bit of an American treasure. I’ve certainly borrowed from his style more than a few times over the years.

What was it like to have Paul Bettany on the set of the movie this time?

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Another great full circle moment in this film is Paul Bettany coming in as Vision. Paul’s been essentially with me from the beginning and it was so nice to actually get him on set instead of at the premieres. He’s an amazing actor and it’s a fantastic character.

Buy Avengers: Age of Ultron now to add to your movie collection! **Includes Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes, Making-of Featurettes, Gag Reel and Audio Commentary**

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James Spader and Paul Bettany on Avengers: Age of Ultron #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Thu, 07 May 2015 14:52:26 +0000

In case you haven’t already seen my other #AvengersEvent interviews and behind-the-scenes looks, I was invited to Los Angeles to participate in the Avengers: Age of Ultron press event, where I got to see the movie early and interview the people involved in making it, including James Spader (“Ultron”) and Paul Bettany (“Vision”). Travel and accommodations were covered by Disney and Marvel, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.

Note: This post does discuss spoilers. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet seen the movie.

And, really, if you haven’t seen Avengers: Age of Ultron in the theaters, what are you waiting for?

I read a press release before the movie came out that discussed the decision to make Ultron the villain in this new Avengers installment. Despite the fact that Thanos was featured in the end sequence in the first Avengers (note: he makes another quick appearance in the credits of Age of Ultron!), writer and director Joss Whedon explained that “it was always going to be Ultron for this film.” Now I’m just excited to see what they have in store for Thanos in the 3rd Avengers…or should I say, what Thanos has in store for the Avengers?

Creating Ultron

As soon as James Spader and Paul Bettany walked through the door into our interview room, I was convinced that Marvel made the right choice in casting both men in their parts as Ultron and Vision. The first thing that became almost instantly clear? James Spader loves to talk. He is an entertaining, thoughtful man of many words…and although he is much more upbeat than the character he plays, I could see how his personality came out in Ultron.

James Spader | Photo by Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

Because James Spader doesn’t actually act in an Ultron suit (he’s had to be pretty tall and skinny to fit into that costume!) his part consisted primarily of voice over recording in a studio. However, they analyzed James’ movements and expressions to develop the computer-generated character and it’s very apparent that a lot of James’ personality carried over.

James said, “I was amazed that I saw with this magnificent body and made out of vibranium and all the rest of it, this sort of technological wonder. To actually see my 55-year-old sort of ‘very comfy’ physique, and to see all of my gestures and posture and movements and expression…All of it was there.

My son did see the film a couple of days ago. And I said, ‘But how about the face?’ And he said, ‘You know, I see you in the face.’ He said, ‘Amazingly enough, considering it doesn’t really have a nose. I really saw your eyes and your expression and certainly head movements, everything. I saw it all there.’ So it was worth it, I guess, to go through all of the arduous process of motion capture, which is fascinating actually.

The very first day that I walked onto the studio lot, before I ever hit a set or anything, within a half hour, I walked into a room and they had cameras set up around the room and there was a bunch of guys with a whole bunch of laptops and women and so on all sitting around.”

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron…Ultron (voiced by James Spader) | Credit: Marvel

“And they put me in a fractal suit, which is just a sort of two piece, you know, looks like you’re gonna go for a run, but has shapes and colors and things and all over it. And then they dotted up my face and they put a big rig on my back and a big headgear rig that had two sort of antenna that come down that are cameras that are right here with headlights right here, so I’m lit right here.

And they had me go through a range of motions and fingers, everything, head turns and all the rest of it. And then they put it into some program on the computer or something and I stood around for about ten, fifteen minutes and fifteen minutes later, I could walk in my outfit into the center of the room and turn my head, move my fingers, go like this, and I could look at a monitor and see a sort of formative stage of Ultron doing everything I was doing.

So right from the very first moment I arrived there, I could start getting a sense of what sort of physicality would be appropriate for that eight foot robot. And there was a guy there, quite small, who would’ve been proportionate to my height. I’m five-ten. He was very small. He is sort of proportionate height to what an average height Avenger might be in proportion to me if I was eight feet tall.

He was a stunt guy, and he was wearing a fractal suit and all the gear as well, and they made him do the range of motion and everything else and within 15 minutes he and I would go move around the room and he was as a different character, and so I was able to see right away me as an eight foot Ultron with another actor who’s a proportionate height to what an average size person would be. It was really amazing.”

From Jarvis to Vision

Paul Bettany | Photo by Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

Paul Bettany has been the voice of Jarvis, the loyal Butler to the Stark family…and now a “virtual butler” to Tony Stark, since the first Iron Man movie. Although we never see Jarvis but only hear his voice, I’ve always considered him one of my favorites. He’s so likeable and loyal…a constant. I was curious how I’d react to the body-less Jarvis “becoming” the physical Vision. My husband put it best after he saw the movie last weekend, “He looks exactly the way I pictured his voice.” The transition from Jarvis to Vision is flawless.

Paul Bettany told us about the day that he found out about his new role as Vision. “It was a sort of vindication really because I had just come out of a meeting with a producer who told me my career was over. This is a true story. And I sat on the curb in Hollywood with my feet in the gutter and my phone went and I looked at it and said, ‘Hello?’ I didn’t recognize the number…it was Joss Whedon. He said, ‘Do you want to play Vision?’ And I went, ‘Um,’ it’s so quick these days, ‘yeah, I kinda do.’

True story. So it was lovely.”

We wondered how different different this latest movie was for Paul, since he was interacting with the other actors in a totally different way than he was in previous movies as a voice character.

Paul explained, “(In previous movies) I was brought in at the last moment to solve any clarity issues the film had…which was my superhero power as Jarvis. What was the difference (with Age of Ultron)? The difference was I had to go to the gym. I had to stop eating carbs. I finally got to be on set with a bunch of really lovely, creative, talented people. However, it also means that I have to show up at junkets now, you know? The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

James piped in, “I did not have to cut back on carbs. Somehow amazingly enough, those animators were able to slim me right down.”

Paul Bettany and James Spader | Photo by Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

One of our bloggers asked James if he had to be convinced to play Ultron of if he was excited about the role instantly.

James said that he had met with Kevin Feige and Jeremy Latcham 2 or 3 years prior to receiving the call from Joss Whedon about the part. And since his agent is also Samuel Jackson’s agent, she is very in tune with what’s going on in the Marvel world. He said his 3 sons were also a factor in deciding to play this role.

“I have never in my entire career ever chosen a film to work on for the sake of my children,” James said. “And most of the films that I’ve done they really shouldn’t watch. I remember I took my mother when she was in her eighties to go with me to Sundance to see this film I did called Secretary….”

Paul laughed, “What a schoolboy error that was!”

Paul Bettany and James Spader | Photo by Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

James said, “Both my mother and father…they’re both passed away…but they both have sat, lovingly, through an array of perverted little movies that I’ve made. But in any case…my son loved comics and loved superhero movies and fantasy and all that stuff. He just loved it. And then, by circumstance I also at the time had a three-year-old son, again, and he was already sort of raiding his brother’s little figures and little things like that and was excited about it. And I just thought, I just want to make a film for them, you know? So I went in and I sat down with Kevin Feige and Jeremy Latcham and they had reached out to my agent and said, ‘You know, we’d love to sit down with James.’

Those sort of meetings are always just so brutal and fruitless. But my agent said, ‘Kevin doesn’t really meet with anybody unless there really is a genuine interest. And I said, ‘Great. Then I’d love to talk to him.’ So I sat down with him and I said, “I just would love to do one of these things and just be such fun.’ And I told him the reasons why and I think he really responded to that ’cause that’s his fan base, you know? And so we were sort of looking for…the right thing.

There’d be things that came along along the way over the next two years or so and he would be like, ‘I just don’t know if it’s what James is looking for. He wants a really great bad guy.’ And so all of a sudden, about two or three years after that meeting, Joss Whedon walked into their offices and said, ‘You know, I don’t really have anyone else for this role except for James Spader.’

And they said, ‘Well, funny you should mention that ’cause we’ve been trying to find the right thing.’ And so the next thing was a phone call from Joss and as soon as I spoke to him and he… (I’m sorry. I’ve never been able to answer anything in a short and precise…) But anyway I said, ‘What the hell can I bring to an eight foot robot, you know? That’s not my skill set.’

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron (L to R:) Ultron (voiced by James Spader), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) | Credit: Marvel

And he told me what he was looking for in terms of the character. ‘You know, let me send you something to look at so you can get a sense of what this character really is.’ And he said, ‘In the comic books, the guy’s just sort of this raging robot. ‘I am going to destroy you’ He said, ‘I really want to extrapolate on that.’

It was just such a weird, complex amalgamation of things. And as it turns out, Kevin Feige told me, a couple of days later he said, ‘You know, Joss, those aren’t even scenes from the movie. Joss wrote those scenes just to send you, just so that you’d have a sense of the character.’ I thought, what a lovely thing to do, that he just wrote these scenes as this is what this character’s going to be like, an example of sort of who he is. And they were really tailored for that. And he was absolutely right. It was all of that. Just a weird mix of crazy, scary, funny, poetic, you know, just a weird guy.”

Creating Vision

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that Vision has quite a unique, not-quite-human look. We asked Paul how much of Vision was makeup and CGI?

Paul said, “It was a lot of makeup, ha ha. I would sit in the chair and then would wait for eternity to come and then they’d be… done. So it was all real.

They would have tracking dots on so that they would then move the circuitry could be on my face and my musculature could move and you could still see me express things, ‘Cause we tried having full prosthetics that went over everything and we lost a lot of expression in the face. So thankful…because that was really, really uncomfortable.”

And perhaps the best quote from the entire interview, after we had taken our quick group photo:
James Spader: “Is that it? It seems like we should dump something else and just stay here for a little bit.”

And then James Spader clapped for us. Way to make a bunch of bloggers feel pretty cool.

Paul Bettany and James Spader with the #AvengersEvent bloggers |Photo courtesy of Disney

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts:

Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler-free Review
Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders Dish on Avengers: Age of Ultron
Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers nofollow
Visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers nofollow

Like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers nofollow
….and then be sure to catch it in theaters NOW!

Behind The Scenes: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Set Tour #AgentsOfSHIELD

Lolli — Tue, 05 May 2015 15:11:08 +0000

I am totally engrossed in the world of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. So it goes without saying that I was ecstatic when I got to spend an afternoon on the set of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during my recent press trip to Los Angeles as part of the #AvengersEvent | #AgentsOfSHIELD | #ABCTVevent. Travel and accommodations were covered, but all thoughts are my own.

Behind the scenes set visit on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I remember when I was little, I would read books and watch TV shows or movies and imagine myself visiting the places described in the stories. I’ve always been one to become emotionally invested in the stories I read and watch.

It’s hard to describe how cool it was to walk through the set of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – one of my favorite TV series. The characters are alive for me. The places real. To be there, walking among the sets and the costumes, talking with the actors and the crew involved in putting it all together? Incredible!

Buckling up on the Quinjet? Done that.

In the Quinjet – MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – Bloggers event (ABC/Adam Taylor)

Hanging out in the S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ? Totally.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters – Bloggers event (ABC/Adam Taylor)

Walking down the halls of the old S.S.R. (Strategic Scientific Reserve) headquarters? Been there.

The old S.S.R. HQ – MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – Bloggers event (ABC/Adam Taylor)

Walking up to Chloe Bennet (“Skye/Daisy Johnson”) in the hall while she was getting the finishing touches put on her costume for the season finale…and having her reach out and hold me hand while she talked to me? Yes, that happened, too. After chatting casually with Chloe and Luke Mitchell (“Lincoln”), we even got to see them film one of the scenes from the season finale. Mind blown!

ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Chloe Bennet as Skye. (ABC/Florian Schneider)

Now I can be the geek who watches each new episode and says, “Hey! I remember when I was there! I walked through that lab! I talked with her! Oh, look! Those couches are SO soft! Coulson’s office? Oh, yeah. I totally sat at his desk…”

This is the stuff that geeky dreams are made of.

After we had interviewed the cast and then toured the set, we had the chance to meet with Ann Foley, costume designer for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Meeting with Ann Foley, costume designer for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

She started us off in her main office, the walls of which were covered with vision boards. I could see the styles of each of the characters I had come to know so well through both seasons of the show reflected in her vision boards. Ann said that the vision boards were created before they began filming the first season to show the producers and the cast where she envisioned going with each of the characters. Her goal was to create six really strong, identifiable characters.

Ann mentioned, “I have a few things up there for Season Two, and as most of you guys know, there was a big progression in the cast from Season One, towards the end and the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., we went a little darker and everybody grew up. So Season Two, it was a little darker. It was a little edgier. And, it was actually fun, it was kind of a nice change.”

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – Bloggers event (ABC/Adam Taylor)
ANN FOLEY (COSTUME DESIGNER)

Ahead of us there were racks and racks full of clothes, sectioned off according to characters: the regulars and the day players. Ann told us that the Working Closet is where she pulls clothes for each episode. There is also a Permanent Closet, which houses the clothes from last season and some items from the current season that have already been shot. We saw Bobbi/Mockingbird’s custom-made jacket from the first time we met her on the show as well as Hunter’s fabulous leather jackets and a host of other clothing items for every character, big or small.

Every actor comes through Costuming

The main cast members probably spend quite a bit of time in and out of costuming, especially when they go off the usual set. Ann mentioned one of her favorite episodes…. “was when we were in Russia and we did a little Russian bar. That was amazing.”

She obviously has measurements for each of the main actors, but even the day players must come in for a fitting. Ann said, “Every single person on the show pretty much, whether they have one line or they have a big arc, they come in and I dress them all.”

Ann then showed us her workshop, where a lot of the custom costumes are made. Ann told us, “This is where we build a lot of the costumes on the show… Raina, the girl in the flower dress, is probably one of my favorite characters. We actually print (her) fabric and then we make each one of our dresses. What I did with her is I really worked with the writers and we sort of went into her head, and depending on where her head was in that episode. We tried to choose that color wisely. So, they’re all 100 percent custom made and that’s special to our show.”

We wondered if any of the costumes presented an extra challenge for her team. Ann remarked, “There’s always gonna be a challenge, even if they’re in street clothes. But I never really look at it as a challenge. It’s always just another aspect of it. I love building costumes. I love shopping them as well. So I’ve been very lucky in my assistant designer career. I’ve worked on some amazing films that all we did was build. We were in completely different worlds. And so it’s just kind of second nature to me.”

Costuming – MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – Bloggers event (ABC/Adam Taylor)

Why Agent May needed five custom-made silver dresses

Ann then pointed out Agent May’s silver sequin dress from earlier in Season Two. Ann explained, “We made that in-house, too, which was so much fun. It was so much fun putting her in that. We had about a week to make five of those dresses. Those tiny sequins that you see on there? We were finding those sequins all over studio. They were everywhere.”

We made five because May was fighting herself in the episode, so we had one beautiful one for May, then we had one that she could fight in, so we sewed stretch panels inside so she could fight and do all of her movement. She had two stunt doubles and then Agent 33 was in one as well.”

After seeing May’s custom-made silver dress and Mockingbird’s custom suit, we asked what percentage of the costumes are custom made. Ann said that it varies a lot by episode, but she guessed around 30% or less. “It does feel like we’re making a lot of stuff back here, and I love to do that. It just depends on the needs of the character, ’cause sometimes you just can’t find it at Bloomingdale’s.”

How does costuming accommodate for stunts and doubles?

Ann said that because there is a lot of action on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that making sure that the costumes are stunt-friendly is a huge consideration. She said, “That’s one of the most important things to me for the show. I always take the actors considerations into account when we’re building. They have to be able to do their stunts. They have to be able to fight. They have to be able to move really freely, do high kicks. And I mean with the (silver) dress, the challenge was making sure Ming could punch, so she could move so that nothing would pull here, and she could flip over a table. You don’t ever want the costume to get in the way.

And even with Deathlok’s costume, the base of it is a four-way stretch, very similar to what Mockingbird’s is made out of. So it’s a four-way stretch, and I print on top of it. It’s an ink, so the costume still moves with the actor, and that’s super, super, super important.”

Professional shoppers

Ann talked briefly about her system for finding pieces for each character. She said, “I have some fabulous shoppers on the show. And also I am a big online shopper. I’m gonna give a big shout out to Shopbop and Net-A-Porter and Mr. Porter. It’s great, because, we know the characters now, and I think the bigger challenge was at the end of last season and starting, and this season when we started going darker and edgier was trying to find that idea of all of the characters, for example Elizabeth Simmons, to me is probably one of the more challenging characters to shop for on the show because she is eclectic.

So it will be one piece from this store, one piece from that store, and it’s just about styling her and bringing her together without any of them going over the top, ’cause the challenge for me, I guess, going back to your original question is keeping it believable, keeping it real, and not having it be over the top. And (you never want) people getting distracted by what the cast is wearing.”

ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars B.J. Britt as Antoine Triplett, Chloe Bennet as Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter, Henry Simmons as Alphonso ‘Mac’ Mackenzie, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons and Brett Dalton as Grant Ward. (ABC/Florian Schneider)

Who is the easiest cast member to dress?

Ann said that she has gotten to know the cast members so well at this point that none of them are very hard to dress. She said, “I guess the harder part is maybe finding those pieces that identify each character, because, if you ask my shoppers, I can be a little picky. They’d probably be able to answer that question better than me.”

Then, speaking about dressing Coulson, Ann said, “I mean, and that’s the fun part, because, you know, Coulson is always in a suit, so when I get to get him out of the suit, it’s funny because Twitter loves it. They love seeing Coulson undercover. I think that’s probably one of the most fun things for me, is when I get those episodes and everyone’s under cover.

And, sometimes it makes me laugh. Last season, when Coulson and May went undercover as Fitzsimmons, (that was) probably the best fittings I’ve ever had in my life because Elizabeth has a very specific way of standing in her fittings, and Ming did that in the fitting photos for the cast. And you could hear her laughing across the studio. It was wonderful. I was really fun.”

Now that I’ve spent time in costuming, I am much more aware of what the characters are wearing each episode. How would you like a job to shop all day and dress actors?? Pretty amazing, if you ask me!

**Tune in for the latest Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Scars!”**

NEW EPISODE: “Scars” – May 5

“Scars” – Skye is torn between her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and her connection to the Inhumans as tensions rise between the groups — and Coulson reveals a secret he’s been hiding from even those closest to him, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, MAY 5 on ABC (ABC/Kelsey McNeal)

WAR TEARS SKYE APART, ON “MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.” ON ABC

ABOUT THE EPISODE: “Scars” – Skye is torn between her loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. and her connection to the Inhumans as tensions rise between the groups — and Coulson reveals a secret he’s been hiding from even those closest to him, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” TUESDAY, MAY 5 (9:00-10:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Agent Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse.

Guest starring are Henry Simmons as Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie, Ruth Negga as Raina, Patton Oswalt as Sam/Billy Koenig, Kyle Maclachlan as Cal, Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales, Jamie Harris as Gordon, Christine Adams as Agent Weaver, Mark Allan Stewart as Agent Oliver, Maya Stojan as Kara/Agent 33, Dichen Lachman as Jiaying, Luke Mitchell as Lincoln Campbell, Alicia Vela-Bailey as Alisha, David Douglas as Michael and Crystal Coney as scientist.

“Scars” was written by Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc and directed by Bobby Roth.

Follow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on: Facebook www.facebook.com/AgentsofSHIELD and Twitter @AgentsofSHIELD or @ABC_Publicity and Follow Ann Foley on twitter @AFoley24

Be sure to read my interview with Iain De Caestecker (“Leo Fitz”), Elizabeth Henstridge (“Jemma Simmons”), Brett Dalton (“Grant Ward”), Henry Simmons (“Alphonso ‘Mack’ Mackenzie”) and Adrianne Palicki (“Bobbi Morse”) and stay tuned next week (May 12) for my exclusive interview with Clark Gregg (“Phil Coulson”), Ming-Na Wen (“Melinda May”)!

Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders Dish on Avengers: Age of Ultron #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Mon, 04 May 2015 19:35:21 +0000

If you were to ask my 10-year-old son who his favorite Avenger is, he would not hesitate to say HAWKEYE. In fact, Jeremy Renner is his favorite actor. He has a Hawkeye action figure in his room and he decorated his journal with Hawkeye photos. So when I told him that I would be meeting and interviewing Jeremy Renner, he was pretty stoked. As was I. I was invited to Los Angeles to participate in the Avengers: Age of Ultron press event, where I got to see the movie early and interview the people involved in making it. Travel and accommodations were covered by Disney and Marvel, but all thoughts and experiences are my own. Movie images provided by Marvel.

Note: there is a spoiler discussed at the very end of this post. If you have NOT seen the movie and want to avoid spoilers, do not read past the question “Where do you want to see each of your characters go in the subsequent movies?” Everything else is general and spoiler-free!

Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders and the bloggers | Photo courtesy of Disney

Ooh, I feel like a fox in the hen house. – Jeremy Renner upon entering a room full of bloggers

What is it like to be a strong female agent surrounded by a bunch of men?

Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill | Photo credit: Marvel

I can only imagine how intimidating it would be (at least at first) to be surrounded by the cast of the Avengers day in and day out on the set. Not only are there a lot of physically tall guys in the group, but they are…The Avengers. I’ve met Cobie Smulders one other time and know she’s got the perfect personality to hold her own, but it was still interesting to hear her perspective.

Cobie: “It’s very fun. It’s interesting because people talk about that a lot with these films that there are few females. And it’s a male driven film. But maybe it’s because this is our second one. We all get along so well. I don’t feel that divide on set. All the guys are really great and nice and….handsome, every single one of them, some more than others. I mean we have some strong female– Scarlett and now Lizzie. And it’s just nice seeing more women coming into these films.

Jeremy: “It’s good for us, too. Seriously. I mean I love Hemsworth. But, um, you know–“

Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders | Photo Credit Jana Seitzer of MerlotMommy.com

Cobie talked about what it has been like to play Agent Maria Hill. When she first got the part for the first Avengers movie, she thought that she was just going to be serving coffee…

Cobie: “In the comic books Maria Hill has her own story line. And she’s very smart. She’s very independent. She’s very controlling. And it’s cool to see how now that this team is sort of under Tony’s protection and sort of funded by him how that’s working in terms of privatizing security and and her dealing with that.

It’s fun to be a part of the team but also to be like managing everybody as well or trying to anyway.”

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron | Photo credit: Marvel

She always hits him. I mean it’s like magic. That’s the great thing about being in these movies. You can shoot over here and that guy dies. Always hit your mark. It’s very exciting. – Cobie Smulders

What were your favorite scenes to shoot for Avengers: Age of Ultron?

I know what MY favorite scene in the movie was to watch (the after-party scene with all of the Avengers hanging around casually), but it’s interesting to see what the actors enjoy making (and then watching later). Often times, their favorites scenes are scenes that they’re not even in!

Jeremy: “Oh, no, I don’t believe in favorites. I think they’re all equally and torturous and wonderful.”

Cobie: “I shot all of my scenes in Stark Tower, in the Avengers Tower now it’s called. And I’m sure you guys all saw the movie. How amazing was that set? And it was all one set. I mean anytime that anyone was in the lab that was still on the same set. And where Tony was working on his suits was right below it. And then the bar was just a few feet away, thank goodness. And so that was really cool to play all these scenes out in one location. And it really sort of helped with performance as well.”

How did you physically prepare for an action movie like this?

I can only imagine that there is a huge physical aspect to preparing for a movie like the Avengers. We wondered how Jeremy and Cobie get ready to film, and then what the hardest scene was to film.

Jeremy: “We train. We’re in the gym lifting weights, hurting our bodies. The hardest scene to film…they’re all quite difficult, I think. The first scene we shot was the end of the movie in Italy where the chaos is going. When there’s a lot of moving parts that’s where it gets a little tricky. And then the moving parts aren’t really there in real life. So that’s a little trickier. You’re stabbing things with arrows that don’t exist and then firing arrows that don’t exist to things that don’t exist.

It’s a little tricky to be precise with it and the camera angles. It’s just technical. That makes it quite difficult ’cause of all the moving parts. But to me I think it’s fun because it’s like a dance. And there’s a technique to all that stuff. But it is quite arduous.”

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron | Photo credit: Marvel

Cobie: “Training….every time these movies come up, you know, a couple months before you start working out. And I did a few stunts in this one, not as the super heroes in the film. But it’s good to get in shape. And in terms of the most difficult scene, I feel like in this movie there’s a lot of scenes where we’re all in the scene together–“

Jeremy: “Those are all difficult scenes, right?”

Cobie: I”Yes, we have a lot of fun together. But it’s a hard group to wrangle as well. But, these scenes, we take multiple days to shoot them ’cause there’s so much coverage. So on the third day you’re like, wait, what are we doing? And what is the scene? And what did I say? And you sort of feel like you’re in this Groundhogs Day where you’re doing the same thing over. But you’re trying to remember exactly how you did it the day before. And so that’s challenging.

I mean that’s not a hard thing. But it can get a little bit tiring at times.

I did a lot of (target practice) for the first one. I did a lot of training ’cause I was actually quite terrified of guns. I kind of got over that fear through doing the first one. And then the second one you always have a day or two with whichever crewmember is sort of in charge of that, to do some training beforehand. And, you know, I hope I look like I knew what I was doing.”

Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders | Photo Credit Jana Seitzer of MerlotMommy.com

Where do you want to see each of your characters go in the subsequent movies?

Cobie: “You know, there’s so many different directions. There’s a plethora of comic books and cartoons and all these things that they could pull from. So for me personally it’s hard to say. I mean it’d be cool to learn more about Marie Hill’s past and sort of how she came to be where she is. It’s very much under Marvel’s control. And they’re very great at choosing great storylines. So we’ll see.”

Jeremy: “Yeah, for me, I have a lot of ideas. But it doesn’t really ultimately matter. I think the relationships are kind of what are interesting in this world with others. And I’d just like to see the new ones start and others fade or deepen. I think that’d be interesting. That’s what I’d be curious about with the next films.”

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron (L to R) Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Dr. Cho (Claudia Kim), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)| photo credit: Marvel

Do you see Hawkeye as a good role model for dads?

Jeremy: “As far as like a role model I don’t know. Those are always hard to talk to. I think you’d have to ask my daughter if I’m a good daddy role model.

I think it’s a cool aspect to the character that was brought up. It was brought up actually for the first Avengers but not even nearly as cool because they were gone. But in this one, it’s a fantastic sort of reveal that he’s just… he’s a daddy. And that’s what he fights for ’cause I think it’s a very emotional thing — for me personally it’s a very emotional thing. I think just in general that audiences can kind of grab on to that. ‘Cause it’s something very real.

As soon as a five year old ran up to me that changed the game. I’m like, oh, wow, I have a five year old. And that’s amazing…. But when the little kids come on up to you, it just crushes me. And I mean I’ll stop and do anything for a little creature, man. I’m crazy about them.”

I was excited for my family to see Hawkeye’s family, and was eager to hear their reactions after they saw the movie this weekend. They all LOVED the family aspect of Hawkeye’s character in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I thought the fact that Clint Barton/Hawkeye is a loving husband and involved dad added an amazing dimension to his character. I was a little surprised to see that he had kept his family a secret even from the rest of the Avengers (besides “Aunt Nat,” of course), but I know he kept them a secret to protect them.

Jeremy Renner and Cobie Smulders | Photo Credit Jana Seitzer of MerlotMommy.com

If you’ve seen Avengers: Age of Ultron, what did you think about Hawkeye’s “secret” family?

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts and stay tuned as I add more exclusive coverage in the coming weeks!

Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler-free Review
Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers nofollow
Visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers nofollow
Like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers nofollow
….and then be sure to catch it in theaters NOW!

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron Review #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Fri, 01 May 2015 12:00:26 +0000

I saw an early screening of Avengers: Age of Ultron while on a press trip with Marvel and Disney in April. My travel and accommodations were covered but all thoughts about the movie are my own. Photos courtesy of Marvel. This post DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS. Read on without worry!

I was never a comic book reader when I was younger. While I enjoy a good action/superhero movie, it wasn’t until the first Avengers movie came out a few years ago that I became a die-hard fan of the Marvel world. Once I saw the Avengers cast together – Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow (along with a host of other amazing supporting actors) – I was pulled in to the Marvel world, and there’s simply no going back.

Photo credit: Marvel

About Avengers: Age of Ultron

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 Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and Chris Evans as Captain America. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, 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, Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen 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, p.g.a., Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963.

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron..Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) | Photo credit: Marvel

The Newest Chapter in the Avengers Story

As I prepared to leave for my trip to LA to see the new Avengers movie and meet the actors and filmmakers, I was challenged to re-watch all of the Avengers movies – from the Hulk to Iron Man 1, 2, and 3, Captain America and Winter Soldier, Thor and Thor: The Dark World, to The Avengers, where they all come together for the first time – and I was reminded again of the amazing job that Marvel has done in bringing the classic Marvel comics characters to life.

I’ll tell you this straight off: Avengers: Age of Ultron will not disappoint fans of the Marvel Universe, and I think it’s strong enough to gather a whole new wave of Avengers fans on its own accord.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is full of action and adventure, and probably the most humor in any Marvel movie so far. It was obvious that the cast got along well (a fact that the actors confirmed after talking with them after seeing the movie) and the natural chemistry was very apparent on the big screen.

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. L to R: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) | Photo credit: Marvel

I love that director Joss Whedon started our beloved Avengers out together – united and working as a team – from the opening scene of the movie. They don’t waste any time getting started on the action in the second Avengers.

The character development was fantastic in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I loved getting to know the crew better, and there were some amazing surprises that I can’t wait to talk about once everyone has seen the movie. I have had the hardest time staying quiet about the big secrets, but I promised a spoiler-free review.

Introducing Ultron, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. L to R: Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) | Photo credit: Marvel

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron…Ultron (voiced by James Spader) | Photo credit: Marvel

Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were perfect in their introductory roles as twin brother and sister Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (a.k.a. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver). And after meeting James Spader, the voice of Ultron, I am convinced that they cast THE perfect Ultron. Not only does he have a fantastic voice, but he captured the personality of Ultron brilliantly. Now when I see James, I “see” Ultron (it’s incredible – and maybe a little creepy – how well they captured James’ movements and facial expressions in the robot Ultron).

Who Should See the Avengers: Age of Ultron?

One of the first questions that I’m usually asked when I see a movie early is whether or not it’s appropriate for the whole family. Avengers: Age of Ultron is rated PG-13 for action and violence, so parents of younger kids should use their own judgements based on what their kids are sensitive to (or maybe just see it first without the kids to see what they think). I don’t hesitate to take all of my kids; my youngest is 9 1/2 and has seen all of the Avengers movies and I know he, along with all of my other kids, are going to love it!

Like any good action movie, I recommend seeing it at least once in the theaters to fully enjoy the spectacular action scenes. I didn’t see the movie in 3D, but I’m really looking forward to catching a 3D show now that it’s finally out in theaters. Oh! And I am thrilled that I can finally talk to my family about the surprises! It’s been hard keeping so many things a secret for so long!

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. L to R: Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) | Photo credit: Marvel

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts and stay tuned as I add more exclusive coverage in the coming weeks!

Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. L to R: Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) | Photo credit: Marvel

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers
Visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers
Like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers
….and then be sure to catch it in theaters NOW!

Producer Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 12:30:08 +0000

Sometimes my job is pretty cool. Like when I get invited to Los Angeles to participate in the Avengers: Age of Ultron press event, get to see the movie early and interview the people involved in making it. Travel and accommodations were covered by Disney and Marvel, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.

It’s not everyday that you get to sit down with the president of Marvel Studios, but we got to do just that when we met with Kevin Feige during our recent #AvengersEvent trip. In his role as producer and President of Marvel Studios, Feige “oversees all creative aspects of the company’s feature film activities.” He is currently producing “Ant-Man,” which is scheduled for release this summer (July 31, 2015). His other films include the first Avengers movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, all 3 Iron Man movies, Thor and Thor: The Dark World, The Incredible Hulk, among many others. This guy knows his super heros.

Want to hear what he had to say?

Why is there no end-credit scene?

FEIGE: “Well, there’s a mid-credit scene, as we call it, and we’ve always really said it’s not a fast and hard rule that there must be something after the credits. And Joss was a firm believer that we shouldn’t do something that seemed like we were aping the Shawarma scene at the end of [The Avengers] and, you know, his version of the story really culminates where it does at the end of the film and with the mid-credits. And everything we were thinking of just felt like an add-on that wasn’t worth doing. But that’s one of the reasons why he wanted to get it out there so people didn’t sit there for seven minutes and go, what?”

Kevin Feige: Photo Credit Jana Seitzer / https://whiskynsunshine.com

How does it feel to have a fan base that can’t wait for the next release from the studio?

FEIGE: “It feels great, obviously. At Marvel, their big story is about everyone that go back fifty years and through hundreds of comic issues. What’s really exciting is that the comic fan base was one thing – it’s the solid foundation of everything we do – but now it’s increased dramatically with the film base and with the film fans, it gives us a certain amount of pressure and sleepless nights to deliver on expectations, each time. But it’s also knowing that people are so excited for what’s next.

Age of Ultron is our eleventh Marvel Cinematic Universe film. And we want each of them to stand alone whether you’ve seen the other ten films or not. We believe each film works as a beginning, middle, end in and of itself. And we worked very hard to do that. All we’re interested in is making one singular great movie at a time.”

Photo credit: Marvel

Which character in the Marvel Universe would you like to see next?

FEIGE: “Well, I used to say Guardians of the Galaxy to that question. I used to say Vision to that question; I used to say Falcon; I used to say Doctor Strange a lot and obviously we’re deep into that with Benedict Cumberbatch now. We start Doctor Strange filming in November. So it’s really been amazing. Now, it does come down to very individual and specific characters, but if I say too many of them, it’ll give away exactly what we’re doing with Guardians 2 or with the future ones.

But it’s a testament to the Marvel comics, and how deep its bench is that there’s still hundreds of great characters that we haven’t even touched yet.”

Avengers: Age Of Ultron – Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) Photo credit: Marvel

What was it like to bring Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch into this movie?

FEIGE: “It was great. They’re key Avengers characters in the books. They have a great backstory that we really wanted to explore; and they have a great relationship, the two of them, that we really wanted to explore together, and it was one of Joss’s very first notions – probably second notion after Ultron – to bring them in, who have a very different viewpoint of the Avengers and who come into the team from a very different angle than any of the other characters.

The other characters were sort of assembled together by Nick Fury in the first movie and Thor obviously came into the mix because of the presence of Loki, and now having characters come in from a totally different side – which is also a very Marvel thing to do. There are a lot of Marvel characters who start on the other side of a disagreement, or the other side of an argument or the other side of the law that through a great Marvel redemptive arc, become heroes. And, and we wanted to do that in an Avengers movie.”

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Photo credit: Marvel

Did you read a lot of Marvel comics as a kid, and did you have a favorite character?

KEIGE: “I was more into movies as a kid. I had a lot of favorite movies. I remember a story in particular when I was in the backyard with a bunch of friends of mine when we were, I don’t know, say eight years old- ten years old. And we were playing super heroes, and somebody had chosen Batman, somebody had chosen Superman, and somebody had chosen Spiderman and, I remember going, well, I’ll be Iron Man. I’ll play Iron Man because I’d seen him in the reruns of the old ’60s cartoon. And some kids didn’t even know who he was. I was like, he’s cool. He’s Iron Man. Trust me. So that was fun bringing him to life after some kids hadn’t heard of him when I chose him in the backyard thirty-two years ago.”

Kevin Feige and our group of bloggers in Los Angeles | Photo credit: Disney

Check out one of my favorite scenes from the movie:

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts and stay tuned as I add more exclusive coverage in the coming weeks!

Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Review
Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers
Visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers
Like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers
….and then be sure to catch it in theaters this coming weekend (opens May 1!).

When Joss Whedon Says Cross Your Arms, You Cross Your Arms (And Other Cool Things) #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 12:34:04 +0000

I met Joss Whedon. The legend. The brilliant mind. And when he said “Let’s cross our arms” for a group shot, that’s exactly what we did. Because…Joss Whedon.

I was invited to Los Angeles to participate in the Avengers: Age of Ultron press event, where I was able to see the movie and interview the people involved in making it. Travel and accommodations were covered by Disney and Marvel, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.

**Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters May 1! NO SPOILERS BELOW**

It still blows my mind that I met Joss Whedon, writer and director of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Have you looked over his resume lately? Take a look at a few of his career accomplishments: Scripted Marvel’s “The Avengers” which set the all-time 2-day box office record at $207.4 million (that’s JUST opening weekend). Creator of the hit tv series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” (a Buffy spin-off), and “Firefly.” Earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for “Toy Story.” And so much more.

Joss Whedon on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron {Photo credit: Marvel}

Not only does Joss Whedon have a brilliant, creative mind, but he is a fascinating person to talk to and very down-to-earth and approachable.

We started off asking him about another famous family member – his brother, Jed Whedon, is the co-creator of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and we had just interviewed Jed the day before.

Do Joss and Jed have late night phone calls and strategizing sessions?

WHEDON: “Well, I just made a movie and he just had a baby, so not lately. But, we did, when we were first starting out, but at some point this movie consumed me not unlike a whale.”

Joss Whedon and Jeremy Renner on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron {Photo credit: Marvel}

How did the iconic shot of the Avengers jumping in slow motion come to be?

WHEDON: “We just caught it by accident. I hadn’t even said action yet. They were just clowning around and somebody had a phone, so that was great. (He was joking!) [In reality…] that was the last shot we got finished, ‘cause it’s over a minute long and I wanted to create some frames that were just unabashedly comic book frames that would speak to our love of the thing and that one took longer to create than anything else.

But it was important to me to have that right away, like first up in the movie. Not to say, now we’ve got to get everybody back together and let’s go find them, now we find Captain America and he’s digging in a trench and now we find… instead just go boom, we’re back. This is what you love. Are you having fun? Good. Now we’re going to tear it apart.”

Betcha didn’t know that I got a part in the movie…. {Photo from the press event}

There are so many amazing characters with great stories in The Avengers. Was it hard to give everyone enough screen time?

WHEDON: “Um, yes. [LAUGHS] Yeah.

It’s hard. What’s important is making everybody integral to this story and not just have it sort of be a roll call where it’s like, ‘and I’m also in the film.’ Making sure that the twins’ story was part of Ultron’s story and making sure that their perspective on the Avengers had something to do with Ultron’s and so that there was always a reason for everyone to be together.

The good thing they worked so well against each other so when you’re giving somebody their moment, it’s usually with somebody else. It’s usually playing against somebody else, either arguing with or having fun with or teaming up with and so it creates its own little web, so it’s difficult.”

Photo Credit: Jana Seitzer / https://whiskynsunshine.com

What were the challenges with filming the epic Hulkbuster versus Hulk battle?

WHEDON: “There is some slight enormous difficulties in the fact that neither of those people exist, so there’s a lot of ‘guys, we’re here. Now he’s over there.’ We had the thing mapped out very carefully, so it was, in a way, simpler because they weren’t like I need another. I need to go again, but, uh, you shoot all of this stuff sort of with the faith that this will work physically and then the hard work comes, up at ILM where they’re dialing in this action you’ve described in a way that looks human and believable, yet completely over the top, and the work they did with those guys and with the Hulk, in particular who’s not just the Hulk there, but he’s angry even for the Hulk. He’s unhinged and it’s a different performance than he’s given before and the way they captured that, to me, was breathtaking, but it took a little time.”

Joss Whedon with Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron {Photo credit: Marvel}

What was it like to film in various countries?

WHEDON: “Fun. I mean, I got to (visit) a lot of countries I’ve never been to and see these beautiful cities and these places and eat really good food and generally, I don’t get to take vacations. Location scouting is definitely the next best thing.”

What was it about Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen that made them perfect for the roles of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch?

WHEDON: “I didn’t want anybody else. I just wanted them. Aaron is too pretty to live, but I’ve dealt with the Hemsworth problem, so I can forgive. He’s somebody that I just saw, even in Kick-Ass where he’s playing kind of a weak character, that he just commands the screen and it was, I think, Nowhere Boy, where I just said, ‘oh, this is my guy’ because he’s an old school movie star. He’s that commanding and beautiful.

But he also looks like he could be kind of arrogant. He’s not. He’s the sweetest puppy I know, but he’s great at playing (an arrogant character). Quicksilver is always hotheaded, he’s always being a pain for everyone, but is essentially very cool. And Lizzie, I sat down with Lizzie ‘cause you spend two minutes with Lizzie and you not only don’t want anybody else for the role, you think maybe she should play all of them.”

Joss Whedon and Scarlett Johansson on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron {Photo credit: Marvel}

What was the hardest scene to shoot?

WHEDON: “I would say probably after the first attack by Ultron. Everybody’s in the lab kind of trying to figure out what’s going on. It was just very difficult for me to put together. It’s hard to explain why. There’s something about the way the light in the room, I could not find the focus of where everybody should be and how they should move and Robert had to do something really difficult which was start laughing in the middle of this scene, and sincerely like, become a little unhinged.

And getting there and making that work, that was one that I struggled with. I struggled very much with the party scene. The after party scene, we shut down during shooting early one day because I was started shooting it and I hated everything I was doing and then was like what should I do? What’s wrong? And then I realized, wait a minute. Didn’t I just make an entire movie where people sit around and drink? Wasn’t that Much Ado About Nothing? Ohhh, and then I called. I was like ‘give me some, I need cards, I need beers.’

Anyway, I get all these things and we’ll do it all handheld and we’ll just let them go and as soon as I remembered how to shoot a party, it became a party.”

Joss Whedon on the set of Avengers: Age of Ultron {Photo credit: Marvel}

Was the party scene completely scripted or were the actors ad libbing at all?

WHEDON: “There’s a little, they’re throwing stuff out. With Robert in a situation like that, I’ll usually give him five or six options just to see what tickles his fancy and he’ll sort of run through them. Most of it is scripted, but I like to leave a little room for those guys. First of all, they’re all funny, articulate people who really know their characters and second of all it sort of helps the flow particularly in something like that. You don’t want to feel camera moves or dialogue. You just want to feel like you stayed at the party. I’m glad.”

Ultron says, ‘Upon this rock, I shall build my church,’ and The Vision says, ‘I am.’ Was there a significance to having these forms of artificial intelligence speak those Biblical terms?

WHEDON: “Yes. It’s not necessarily specific in the sense of we are saying this about this person. To say Ultron has a bit of a God complex is….and that was all James, by the way. We are talking about new life and we are talking about the Vision in particular as something sort of more than man and that iconography is deliberate, but it’s open to interpretation. I’m not saying that they are one thing or another. I’m saying that our response to them contains some element of that understanding of ourselves and our history.

I mean, it’s a Frankenstein story as much as its anything else and the Frankenstein story is, ‘Who made me? Why am I here? And I guess I’m kind of pissed about it.’ So that iconography rolls into that very naturally, I think.”

When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms… {Photo credit: Disney}

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts and stay tuned as I add more exclusive coverage in the coming weeks!

Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Review
Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers
Visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers
Like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers
….and then be sure to catch it in theaters this coming weekend (opens May 1!).

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen #AvengersEvent

Lolli — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:08:32 +0000

Note: Movie still shots and group photos are courtesy of Marvel. Interview shots are by Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com.

Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters May 1!

Meet Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (Pietro and Wanda Maximoff), twin brother and sister duo played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen: two of the new characters to join the Avengers cast.

Producer Kevin Feige said about Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, “They have a very interesting introduction to The Avengers, which is why we wanted to use them in this film. They are not fans of The Avengers at all. They’re from this Eastern European country known as Sokovia that used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D post, but Hydra has been operating out of and it’s not the nicest organization.”

Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver have a sort of yin and yang thing going on. They can’t do without each other, especially since they were orphaned several years prior to the events of this movie and they have learned to rely on each other. Their powers (his: super fast speed and hers: telekinesis) as well as their personalities (his: protective and fatherly and hers: nurturing and motherly) balance each other out. After sitting down with Aaron and Elizabeth, I could see the actor’s easy and natural way with each other. They were perfectly cast in their roles!

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen during our Avengers: Age of Ultron interview. Photo by Louise of Momstart.com

Speaking of being cast in the new Avengers: Age of Ultron film, we asked Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen about the casting and preparation process as they got ready to make the movie.

What was the audition process like

OLSEN: “We actually didn’t have an audition process. We both met with Joss separately. You (Aaron) met with him before I did, I think, and we were about to Godzilla when we both met. We finished filming Godzilla and then we both that summer got a phone call that was like you guys got the parts and we’re like whoa, okay and that was kind of it. It was really crazy and exciting and Aaron and I were really excited that we got to work with each other again more so because in Godzilla we didn’t really get to work with each other as much.”

JOHNSON: “Stepping onto the set (of Avengers) seemed kind of daunting, you know, it was such a big ensemble. (But) to step on with Lizzy who we already had that kind of work relationship which made it feel a lot more comfortable.”

What attracted you most to the roles?

OLSEN: “Well, I’m a fan of Marvel already. I didn’t know who (Scarlet Witch) was before hand and Joss was telling me about her and then we both asked for a lot of research on our characters and they gave us every comic book page that both of our characters have ever been on basically and it was this huge stack. And I think she’s one of the coolest characters in the entire universe of Marvel, largely because of the House of M series because she’s the most powerful person in the entire universe, X Men and Avengers combined. I think she’s really nuts too and I just find her to be really …”

JOHNSON: “There’s like a lot to play with.”

OLSEN: “It’s a lot to play with because it’s a lot of psychological stuff to play with instead of just it being physical.”

JOHNSON: “I was really excited about (it). Obviously they have really cool super powers but I really wanted to explore who the character was behind Quicksilver.

Quicksilver needed Scarlet Witch because they balance each other. They’re twins and they’re very much yin and yang in the way their personalities are. He might be quick in speed so he’s kind of quick in temperament, I think, and hotheaded and impatient and all those things. I wanted to play around with (that) and especially balance against her more thoughtful, slower, more emotional sort of nurturing side with him.

So we kind of played around with everything that we could visually see, what we could read and that was kind of fun. And Marvel was really open to suggestions and ideas and wanted to do those characters justice, so it felt very collaborative very early on.”

Did you have to do a lot of running as Quicksilver?

JOHNSON: “Yeah. That was pretty much what I did all day long. …If in doubt, run. We’d shoot the scene like if Lizzy was in the scene I’d run up to her. We’d shoot that. We did the dialogue and then we’d have to do a plate afterwards where she’d step out and I’d do the run up and then they would speed that up. You wouldn’t really know because it goes so quick. But yeah, all the running where there’s a blur it was me behind it.”

What was the most emotionally challenging scene to shoot?

OLSEN: “The one that was the hardest one for me was when Scarlet Witch can see what’s gonna happen if Ultron has control over the Vision. A lot of times my character just had to respond to something that is not existent ‘cause it just like popped into her head and no one else felt it but I did. So I have to have some humongous reaction that is coming from nothing and so that always just kind of feels stupid until you really just go for it.”

Group shot with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen during our Avengers: Age of Ultron interview. Photo by Disney

What was it like joining the established Avengers cast?

Aaron said that initially the idea of joining the Avengers cast was very daunting, where these actors had already portrayed their characters in multiple movies and were both comfortable in their roles and with each other. But he said, “you’re a small piece to the rubric’s cube and they said that you just have to trust with these guys. You’ve seen the quality of movies they’ve done before so you can have trust….”

Luckily, he said, “it very quickly becomes like a very kind of family environment (that) they’ve set up over the years. They’re very comfortable with one another so it feels relaxed and chill and the way they are here is the way they were on set. It’s just a lot of fun and once you have a laugh with that then you know it’s cool and you can think about what you’re doing rather than observing like ‘wow, this is pretty cool and overwhelming and surreal.'”

What was it like going from playing a vigilante in Kickass to an Avenger with actual superpowers?

JOHNSON: “It’s a lot more fun having powers for sure. They’re both really different characters with different dynamics but it’s a lot of fun having powers and doing these fight sequences. Like just visually anyway it’s the most exciting for me to see all of your favorite superheroes all fighting together as a team and they all have their different skillsets and they also collide into set with each other. It’s amazing to watch but also it’s amazing to do.

The final fight sequence was this epic like two or three week long shoot where they found a site that they were gonna bulldoze anyway with these towers and they pretty much did exactly that for them: blew up buildings and smashed up cars and the stunts that are involved are hard core… it’s just the most incredible thing to be around and you just live off of that high. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Aaron Taylor-Johnson during our interview. Photo by Louise of Momstart.com

Having already seen the movie, I have to agree with Aaron. Avengers: Age of Ultron IS a lot of fun, and the fight sequences are pretty amazing. But more on THAT later this week, when the movie is out!

Be sure to check out the rest of my Avengers posts and stay tuned as I add more exclusive coverage in the coming weeks!

Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Review
Producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Chats About Avengers: Age of Ultron
When Joss Whedon says cross your arms, you cross your arms (and other Avengers-speak!)
That Time I Was Sandwiched Between Thor and Captain America (Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans Interview)
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch Join The Avengers: Exclusive Interview With Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen
Avengers: Age of Ultron Coloring Pages #Printables
Avengers Easter Eggs

Follow Avengers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/avengers, visit the official website: https://marvel.com/avengers and like The Avengers on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avengers….and then be sure to catch it in theaters this coming weekend (opens May 1!).