- In Avengers: Age Of Ultron news (a LOT of quotes incoming): When speaking of actress Elizabeth Olsen’s role of Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch and the possibility that the character could be a launching point for the elements of magic and mysticism in the Marvel Studios film universe (Dr. Strange, anyone?!?), Marvel’s Kevin Feige said (POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER WARNING FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, SHOULD YOU NOT HAVE SEEN THAT FILM YET), “I would say that the Age of Miracles, as [Baron Wolfgang von] Strucker says at the end of that tag, could be a part of that, but the key to their origin is in that tag.”
- When asked about the Iron Man/Hulkbuster armor concept art that was shown at the end of the recent ABC 1 hour special, Marvel Studios: Assembling A Universe, Feige added, “That little tease was very intentional on our part. We found it a very compelling image to throw out there. The specifics around it we don’t have to do for a while. It’s a piece of armor we’ve wanted to see on screen for a long time, let’s put it that way. What is the Hulkbuster suit built for? “Obviously, legions of fans are frothing at the mouth to see Hulk SMASH against the Hulkbuster Iron Man armor with more ferocity than the world devouring Galactus can burp up a Mars-sized planet with a side of fries and a chocolate shake!
- Feige also chatted about the upcoming Edgar Wright directed Ant-Man film slated for next year. For those not in the know, that project has been in the works since even before the 1st Iron Man film hit in 2008. When asked if the Ant-Man project had been changed in any way to fit the current and highly successful Marvel Studios film universe, the Marvel Studios president said, “A little bit. Not much. There’s been a little bit of connective tissue that wouldn’t have been there in in his draft ten years ago. We changed, frankly some of the MCU to accommodate this version of Ant-Man. Knowing what we wanted to do with Edgar and with Ant-Man, going years and years back, helped to dictate what we did with the roster for Avengers the first time. It was a bit of both in terms of his idea for the Ant-Man story influencing the birth of the MCU in the early films leading up to Avengers.”
- Feige added about the role of Michael Douglas’ Hank Pym in Ant-Man and the changes made to the character in the coming movie, “It was two things – a story Edgar wanted to tell that we’ll see with Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd, and now we’re 11 films in, it’s looking at the characters we’ve already introduced who already have the technology and the brains to do…certain things.” When it came to the point of Paul Rudd’s character, Scott Lang, Feige offered, “Look at that origin of the petty crook who comes into contact with a suit and does his best to make good, and then look at someone like Paul Rudd, who can do slightly unsavory things like break into people’s houses and still be charming and who you root for and whose redemption you will find satisfaction in.”
(More on the next page!)