Trailer Anaylsis: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Gavin Gronenthal ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Executive Editor
Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. The trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron has hit the internet. Emertainment Monthly is going to take you through the trailer, frame by frame, and tell you what you need to focus on now that the trailer has been officially posted by Marvel.

Here we go.

The opening of the trailer, showing us a lot of death and destruction, also gives us a glimpse into the mind of our titular villain, Ultron, portrayed by James Spader. He claims, in a haunting monologue, that he would show the Avengers “something beautiful…everyone screaming for mercy.” In the comics, Ultron is a robot that was designed to protect the world, but eventually became sentient and decided to only way to protect people was to kill everyone. Here, we can see something being constructed, molded into armor: is it Ultron’s creator (more on that later), or is it Ultron, improving and perfecting himself? We’ll have to wait and see.

Also in the opening, we see a brief glimpse of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but they look a little different than the rest of the trailer, most notably the Quicksilver’s hair is not white. Our theory is that this is from before they’re captured and imprisoned, as we see at the end of Captain America 3. They also seem to be protesting…something. Maybe the Avengers themselves? I guess we’ll find out.

Considering the overall dark tone of this trailer, dissent among the team should come a surprise to no one. Shortly before this short, Ultron claims that although our heroes want to protect the world, the “don’t want it to change.” Perhaps these heroes are out dated? And we can only speculate what’s wrong with Bruce (Mark Rufallo), writhing against a wall: are his out breaks getting worse? Did Ultron do something to his brain? Perhaps he shouldn’t stay angry all the time if he ends up like that.

And here it is: our supposed birth of Ultron. In the comics, Ultron is created by Hank Pym, but Hank won’t be showing up until Ant-Man this coming July. So, as you can see above, his creator will be changed to none other that Iron Man himself, played by Robert Downey Jr. The idea that Ultron was created out of Iron Man’s own armor is unique to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it honestly makes the threat a lot more personal. If Iron Man started the Cinematic Universe, then Ultron, his own creation, will bring it crashing down.

The one thing that hasn’t been shown yet is how Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver escape from their holding cells seen at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But my money is that the mysterious prison (which also has Loki’s staff, by the way) is right here in the mountains. We can later see Captain America (Chris Evans) busting open tow huge doors in a similar looking locale, so perhaps Cap is trying to get his kooky quartet into play.

Bruce Banner wandering alone in the snow, lost from his team, is not a good sign. It’s pretty clear that something bad will happen to the Hulk, and it’ll lead to his attack on the Avengers seen later in the trailer. This particular scene was actually showed during the Comic Con footage, which was also set to the scariest rendition of “I’ve Got No Strings” form Pinocchio that anyone has ever heard or will ever hear.

Okay, so maybe that jail break wasn’t such a great move. In a bit of a surprise, we see the shadow of Ultron turning towards two other figures, who are none other than new Avengers Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. What does this mean? It wouldn’t be completely out of the question for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to be villains, as they started as villains in the comics as well, but then they were working directly under their dad, Magneto. Would they work for Ultron, the sentient robot who has no relation to them? Maybe – but my money says not for long.

In one of the coolest, most intimidating moments of the trailer, we get to see Iron Man get into another giant Iron Man suit. And, for those who don’t know, that suit has one rather foreboding name: The Hulkbuster. So, when Iron Man and Hulk battle it out in the trailer, you better believe Iron Man prepared for this before hand. If these two are beating this much crap out of in the trailer, we can’t even imagine what’ll happen when we see the full fight.

This isn’t as important to the plot, but certainly important none the less: here we get a good look at how Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will look in the new movie. Though we don’t really get too good a look of what Scarlet Witch will be doing save for a red glow, but for the record, her power is to manipulate Chaos Magic and effectively change probability in the world, which is a confusing enough power in comics. Quicksilver, on the other hand, looks to work the same a most super speed superheroes, including his counter part in the X-Men movies. Whether he’ll have a much fun as Evan Peter’s and his silver leather jacket remains to be seen, but at least now we know they’re both fast.

Maybe some of you caught this shot, maybe you didn’t. And some of you may not know who it is, because most of the time he’s behind motion capture technology. That’s right, ladies and gents: that is Andy Serkis, of Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes fame. When he was spotted on set a few months ago, everyone assumed he was on to help Mark Ruffalo with some of the Hulk’s motion capture. But now, we know that’s not the case: he has a live action role, and there’s no sign of who or what that bearded role will be.

An angry Thor is not a Thor anyone wants, especially Tony Stark. With the recent conformation of his appearance in Captain America 3, and the dissent this film is already causing the team in the trailer alone, all things are pointing towards what people have been hypothesizing for months: The Civil War. Will Ultron be the reason the Avengers split and begin to fight each other? From the looks of it, they’ve started already: and it’s not pretty.

And here he is: the big bad, the man (well, machine) the movie is named after: Ultron. Looking far more humanoid than his normal form in the comics, he also just happened to look way scarier. James Spader does a killer job giving the most intimidating voice for a robot with a killer streak. He’s free, he’s mean and the Age of Ultron has arrived.
And those are the most important things to look for in the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer. Make sure to catch all your Marvel News right here at Emertainment Monthly. Avengers: Age of Ultron premiers May 1^st, 2014, directed by Joss Whedon, and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Serkis, and James Spader.
All images are from the official Marvel Entertainment Youtube Channel.
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