by Kim Filchak, Senior Reporter

Hello again world! This is Rampant Speculation here today with a metric crap ton of Avengers: Age of Ultron dish and a bunch of other stuff that I thought was worthy of typing up. Seriously, was there nothing else going on this week? Talk about one studio absolutely dominating an entertainment news cycle. Anyways, with no alien abductions to explain this time around and no further adieu, here is this weeks roundup of stuff that happened.

Ant-Man- The Immortal God King of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige spoke to ING about the film Marvel Studios hopes will have the proportion strength and box office success of at least Thor, while bearing the name of a much lesser known hero. Ant-Man has been a source of both off screen drama and intense fan speculation ever since the original director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) abruptly quit the project and Marvel Studios had to do a last minute scramble to find a replacement. The replacement was found in Peyton Reed (Bring It On) and now things seem to be moving forward much more smoothly, with one would assume fewer teary eyed recriminations, passionate disavowals made on social media, and flaming sacks of poo being left on door steps. (That is how studios/talent break ups work, right?) All seems rosy with Marvel Studios and their new love if Kevin’s gushing is to be believed.

“Number one – thank you for asking the question in that way, which is doing what we’re doing which is thinking about the movie and the end result of the movie. Peyton is someone that I’ve been a fan of for a long time. People may not remember, though probably your readers remember, that he was attached to Fantastic Four more than 10 years ago. We spent a lot of time together… and I got along with Peyton very, very well and he had awesome ideas and an awesome vision for the movie, and for various reasons he ended up leaving that movie…
“He’s come in to meet on a lot of our movies over the years, in particular Guardians. He had a lot of awesome things to say on Guardians. But James [Gunn] had a slightly more solid take that was of interest to us. But Peyton was always on our lists, and so when this happened and Edgar [Wright] said ‘Not for me’ we met with a handful of people, but Peyton was always one that I thought would be great.
“It was not a slam-dunk that he would just step into it and do it. He wanted to be sure that he was wasn’t just inheriting something or following someone else’s lead. Or wasn’t inheriting something that the evil studio had watered down to be something bad. I kept saying, ‘You can either read what’s online, or come in and talk to us and look at all this stuff.’ He looked at everything, he talked with us, and he said ‘Number one, I agree with the direction you’re going in. And number two, I can add to it.’ And he has – the movie is in as good a shape as it’s ever been right now.
“It’s still very much in the spirit of what Edgar’s original pitch was and the entire template of the movie is what Edgar set out and originally came and pitched us maybe eight years ago now. But it’s on its way to being the absolute best version of what that movie could have been.
“Peyton is really, really wonderful, and will be proving that soon enough. As I said to the Comic-Con audience a few years ago, ‘You might not have heard of [Captain America: The Winter Soldier directors] Joe and Antony Russo, but you’re going to be big fans of them soon.’ And I’d say the same thing about Peyton Reed now.”

Avengers: Age of Ultron- And so it begins. In the unavoidable foreplay leading up to the main event next Saturday in the infamous Hall H at Comic Con for a movie that does not come out until next year. Talk about your tease. Entertainment Weekly has released a bunch of awesome photos from Marvel Studios juggernaut of a Mega franchise as well as a bunch of hints about just where Avengers: Age of Ultron finds the heroes of humanity.

EW spoke with Avengers: Age of Ultron director and Marvel Studios conciliary Joss Whedon (Avengers) about the how “Age of Miracles”, aka the addition of not mutant mutants, will effect the Avengers as well as the special role two specific “miracles” play in the film.

“With the [first] Avengers, everybody pretty much had the power of being able to punch somebody,” Whedon says. “And now we have a woman who can get inside your head and move objects, and a boy that can move faster than anything, and a robot [Ultron] who can self-replicate and is out of his mind. So all of sudden, it’s a darker, weirder, tougher world that they’re living in.”

The one known as Joss not only spoke about the big picture aspect of what these new elements add to the cinematic universe but also about what might be motivating the twins on a more personal level.

“They’re on Team Ultron, which makes things really hard for the Avengers because all of sudden they’re dealing with powers that they’re not used to,” says director Joss Whedon.
The two are orphans, who harbor a secret grudge against the Avengers. Their lack of family and any other connection to the world fuels their rage. As Whedon puts it, “I’m interested because there’s familial issues with that kind of resentment. You can sort of go deeper and I can play with their relationships and I can play with attitudes. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver hate them with a fiery hate…”

 

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick Ass), who plays Quicksilver in the film, talked about his character and his relationship with his sister Wanda who is played by Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene).

“They’re gypsies in a way. They’re romani. They’re sort of like travelers,” the actor says. With no ties to the world, naturally they couldn’t care less if it burns.
The core of this version of Quicksilver is his short fuse. “There’s a lot of clashing. He’s quick tempered. He gets agitated. He’s impatient. But he’s super protective,” Taylor-Johnson says. The one thing he does care about: his sister. “They’re very yin-and-yang in that twin sense. In his power, he’s physical and she’s psychological. My character is very much on the frontline, but he can be quite emotional. You see this beautiful tenderness between them.”

“When you look in the comic books, you see a lot of the time that she’s always sort of mothering him,” Taylor-Johnson says. “He’s like the father figure and she’s like the mother figure. Emotionally, she can stabilize him, and he protects her physically, vice-versa. So they have this beautiful connection and it’s kind of them against the world.”

Let’s just hope they never read “The Ultimates” because I really don’t need that kind of subtext, or even full on actual text, in my comic book movies, that is what we have Game of Thrones for.

Elizabeth Olson talked about the Scarlet Witch and how her powers in many ways define her, my impression is that Whedon is having the character go full River Tam, which is not a bad call.

“The reason she’s so special is because she has such a vast amount of knowledge that she’s unable to learn how to control it,” Olsen says. “No one taught her how to control it properly. So it gets the best of her. It’s not that she’s mentally insane, it’s just that she’s just overly stimulated. And she can connect to this world and parallel worlds at the same time, and parallel times.”
She also talked about her twin relationship with Quicksilver,
“My understanding of twins is that they always balance each other out,” she says. “When one’s high, the other one’s low. When one’s sick, the other one’s healthy. That happens, I think, a lot more often than not when people are really close as twins.”
Olsen and Taylor-Johnson were last seen together as a romantic couple in this summer’s Godzilla remake, and there’s a hint of uncomfortable closeness between the brother and sister. It’s a mainstream action film, so don’t expect any major taboos to be broken. But… there may be creepy little allusions.
“In the comics, every time you see an image of them, they’re always holding each other’s hand and looking over each other’s shoulder,” Olsen says. “They’re always so close, it’s almost uncomfortable. Aaron and I have been playing a little bit with those kinds of images just for ourselves.”

Great. They did read “Ultimates”. God Dammit Whedon.

Joss Whedon also  talked about the character of Ultron and how he works as a villain within the context of the world of the Avengers.

“Ultron sees the big picture and he goes, ‘Okay, we need radical change, which will be violent and appalling, in order to make everything better’; he’s not just going ‘Muhaha, soon I’ll rule!’” Whedon says, rubbing his hands together.

“He’s on a mission,” the filmmaker adds, and smiles thinly. “He wants to save us.”

Additionally in Avengers: Age of Ultron News- Empire magazine also has transcribed a few of Whedon’s thoughts on the subject of his latest “Big Bad”.

“…last time I had all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versus one British character actor, and I needed more conflict.”

So what of his uber-bad, then? “I’m having a blast with Ultron,” Whedon said. “He’s not a creature of logic – he’s a robot who’s genuinely disturbed. We’re finding out what makes him menacing and at the same time endearing and funny and strange and unexpected, and everything a robot never is.”

Which I am sure surprises no one, Joss does love his affably complex villains.

Also in Avengers: Age of Ultron News- ING talked to Marvel Studios grand poobah Kevin Feige about what up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and their sweet crib as designed as bankrolled by Tony Stark. So you can guess that subtly and austerity are not on the menu.

“Last time we saw Stark Tower, from The Avengers, it had gotten beat up a little bit thanks to Hulk and thanks to Loki and the Chituari, and Pepper and Tony were standing over a table looking at plans” he explained. “That’s where we pulled out and all the letters had fallen away except the ‘A’ in Stark. So what they were doing was retro-fitting for The Avengers. And that’s what we see in this next film.
“S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone – for people who are following along. S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded and brought down at the end of The Winter Soldier because it turned out to not be the best organization ever. So Tony’s bank-rolling The Avengers now. And he’s bank-rolling their headquarters. So it’s now Avengers Tower.
Tony designed it so in addition to a hanger for a brand-new Quinjet, laboratories, places where he can build and store his Iron Man suits, there are I believe two bars. Beautiful multiple space living rooms which are perfect for parties and social gatherings. But it’s a primary location in the film this time around.”

I am honestly surprised there is not a grotto. Where do they hold the orgies?

He also talked about the rumored epic Hulk vs Tony Stark in the legendary Hulk Buster armor.

“There are a lot of scenes that you should be getting excited about” he explained. “That is certainly one of them. I think I said a long time ago when Joss [Whedon] first did his six-page or 10-page outline for Avengers, there was a lot of work and the movie’s adapted quite a bit since then, but there were like six or seven signature things just in that. I said ‘Joss, even if we don’t do anything else. Just do these seven things, that’s enough for the movie. Now let’s get to work and put it all together.’ Those things are in the movie and are amazing, of which that sequence is one.”

And finally in Avengers: Age of Ultron- ING also talked to Scarlett Johansson (Iron-Man 2, Avengers, We Bought a Zoo) about the upcoming film and where it places Black Widow in her evolution as a character.

“Of course in ‘Avengers 2,’ it’s very much a continuation, a maturation, of this universe, of this reality,” Johansson told IGN. “It’s not a sequel in the sense that it feels like a rehash. ‘Hey, remember this old thing you loved in the first one? There’s even more in the second!’ It’s nothing like that. Joss has lived with these characters now for a couple of years, and he is, as you can imagine, obsessed and tirelessly worked to help these characters evolve. Of course, I’m very fortunate that Joss has an affection for female characters in the work that he writes, and an understanding of them. To me, the Widow is a part of Joss. It really is. I think about Joss, I think about him being part Hulk and part Widow. [Laughs] I don’t know if he would agree with that, but I’ve really thought a lot about, ‘What is Joss?’ He’s all of his characters, of course, like every great writer. At this stage, when you see the Widow, she’s — especially in Avengers, these characters all have a past, and hers is a very complex one, where she’s realizing — and it’s kind of a continuation of ‘Cap 2’ — ‘I’ve never made an active choice. I’m a product of other people’s imposition.’ That’s going to catch up with her. That’s bound to have a huge effect. There’s got to be a result of that realization. I think that in ‘Avengers 2’ you’ll see that. You’ll see her actively making some choices in her life, for better or worse. You know, when she splashes, the wave is big — all these characters have that effect. So it’ll be interesting to see what the audience thinks of what kind of wave we’re sending their way.”

Daredevil- We can breathe a sigh of relief, the mysterious character Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Clerks 2) will be playing in the upcoming Netflix series Daredevil will not be Karen Page; secretary, possible future drug addict and perpetual damsel in distress, because someone else will be playing her. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Deborah Ann Woll (Axe Cop), who is best known as newbie vampire Jessica from True Blood, she of the epic puppy dog eyes and terrible decision making skills, will be the one to bring Matt Murdock’s first love to life. This casting is kind of perfect, because Woll is so good at keeping Jessica sympathetic not matter what horrible decisions she might make or quartet of adolescent fey she might accidentally devoured so she may actually be able to turn Karen Page into a character that does make me throw things at my TV. Mostly shoes and pillows.

Deadline is reporting that another name has joined the cast as well, Peter Shinkoda (Falling Skies) has been brought on to play a character by the name of Hachiro.

Gotham- Fox has released a new promotional video on the mythology of Gotham, which if ever there was a city who’s history deserves to be called a mythology it would be Gotham.

Video via of io9.

Also in Gotham News- Here are some behind the scenes photos.

Pictures via CBR.

Guardians of the Galaxy-There is a new featurette that introduces everyone’s walking tree who acts as valet and muscle for the furry woodland critter with anger management issues and multiple class b and c felonies. Groot, this is everyone. Everyone, meet Groot.

Also have some posters courtesy of io9, you can find the rest here.

Powers- For those who know of the comic “Powers” the news that it was finally going to be available some form of watchable media was amazing. The comic by Brian Michael Bendis (“All New X-Men”, “Avengers”) follows the lives of two cops in Chicago as they work the cases involving powers, aka the super powered beings that live, work, and dress up in garish spandex outfights to battle the forces of equally badly dressed evil in the city,  instead of binge watching Vampire Diaries on Netflix and eating their weight in cookie dough ice cream like sensible people. (I would be the most ineffective superhero ever, why fight crime when you have a freezer full of ice cream and wifi?) Powers has been languishing in developmental hell for what seem like forever but now finally someone is going to make it real, granted it is the Playstation Network but that is still better than acting it out with sock puppets in you room on lonely nights. Not that I did that or anything….errr… moving on!

Deadline has reported that the powers that be on Powers have cast Susan Heyward (The Following) as Deena Pilgrim, partner to Christian Walker the main character of the comic who is a cop who used to be a Power himself. Heyward joins Adam Godley (Breaking Bad) who will be playing the head of the Powers division Captain Cross and Max Fowler (The Killing) who has been cast the son of Walkers deceased former partner.

Also in Powers News- “Powers” creator Brian Michael Bendis (“All New X-Men”,”Avengers”) has a tumblr (BENDIS!) of which I am a follower of and has been very excited about the project.

“…it’s being produced by Sony television the studio behind breaking bad and the blacklist and many other things.

 it’s being directed by the guy who directed Hannibal TV show

 the network model is new everyone behind the scenes knows how to make good television”

Star Wars: Episode VII- Another lady has been added to the ever expanding cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. Variety is reporting that Christina Chong (24: Live Another Day) is playing a small role in the film that the entire known universe has been waiting for since the moment the end credits rolled on Return of the Jedi for the first time. Whatever role she is playing, if blasters are involved? I hope she gets to shoot first.

And finally in Star Wars News– It is finally settled and we can all breath a massive sigh of relief for no longer will the darkest of questions hovers over our head. In a battle of fans Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert have finally established who has bragging rights over as the biggest Star Wars fan of all time.

Which is all meaningless as we all already know who the biggest Star Wars fan of all time is.

Did either of them get MARRIED dressed as Princess Leah? I thought not. Plus Jon, you have paired Princess Leia’s classic New Hope hair with what is CLEARLY Padme’s outfit from the end of Attack of the Clones. And you call yourself a Star Wars fan. Have you no shame man?

And with that bit of justice and shaming delivered I am bringing this Rampant Speculation to a close. I am still planning on spending my weekend like a slug, though I have actually looked at my calendar at this point and noticed that Comic Con is not until next weekend so instead of lighting a candle and praying for your souls I will just wish you fun times as those of you going as you madly prep from the yearly pilgrimage to the Geek Nexus.

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