It’s here! The third Avengers 2 trailer is finally here, and it’s everything we could’ve hoped for and more. From our first look at Paul Bettany’s Vision, to Ultron summoning his robot hordes, to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver attacking in full force, to Hulk doing what he does best, this was the most thrilling look yet at the highly anticipated sequel. Now that the dust has settled a bit and we’re giving ourselves time to contemplate all we just witnessed, let’s go back and uncover some secrets hidden within, shall we?
But first, let’s just watch the new trailer one more time…
The first two Avengers 2 trailer that Marvel released weren’t all that different, except for the extended party scene in the beginning a few random tidbits. This, on the other hand, is jam packed with never-before-seen footage. When asked to describe the process of directing a film such as this, Joss Whedon called it a "nightmare" and the greatest "juggling act" of his career, and now we can sympathize.
In addition to new scenes featuring Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), we have more clues as to the task (or, rather, tasks) at hand in Age of Ultron. So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
1. Ultron Unplugged!
Remember what Ultron said? "There are no strings on me!" He proves himself to be a robotic man of his word, as we see him unplug himself and proceed to be a fully independent, sentient being. However, this moment teases the larger and more dangerous implications of Ultron. What makes this being so terrifying is his ability to transfer his consciousness to any computer system, which makes duplicating himself a menial task. This also makes him exceedingly difficult to kill. When we first met Ultron in the previous trailers, he was hobbling out in a robot form that was falling apart at the seams. It wasn’t all that hard for him to make some upgrades.
2. Cap’s Failed Rescue
"I’m sick and tired of people paying for our mistakes."
We know that Avengers 2 will directly set up events to come in Captain America: Civil War, which will see the First Avenger battling with Iron Man over the government’s involvement in superhero affairs. While Stark was busy building "The Ultron Project" behind the Avengers’ backs to stop wars before they started, Cap is tired of watching the world suffer because of misguided ideals like this. Here it seems that this plays out as Cap seemingly fails to rescue two civilian cars from plummeting to their deaths. Knowing how hard Steve Rogers takes human casualties to heart, this moment will no doubt have a major impact on his character moving forward.
3. Go Team!
Now that we have the GIF, all we need now is for Marvel to unleash the still of all these heroes leaping into action in super hi-res. We are in need of new desktop backgrounds. While Ultron is busy multiplying his forces into one massive robotic army, the Avengers are suiting up for battle. Cap has his helmet and badass motorcycle, Hawkeye has his arrows and quiver, Black Widow has her electrical gadgets, Thor has his hammer, Iron Man’s got his suit and Hulk has pure rage. We can’t wait to see these heroes face off against the robotic swarm.
4. Loki’s Scepter
The last time we saw Loki’s scepter was in the clutches of Baron von Strucker during the Captain America 2 mid-credits scene. We learned from a newly released comic book that predates the events of Avengers 2 that Strucker experimented with the item to unlock superpowers in others. The twins, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) Maximoff, were the only survivors of this process. But even though one can wield magic and the other can move at unfathomable speeds, Strucker’s not about to give this item up easily. According to reports, though, one of the Avengers’ missions in the film is to infiltrate Strucker’s lair and obtain the scepter. By the looks of this footage, they succeed.
5. Captain America vs. Ultron
Avengers 2 totes a variety of showdowns. Hulk vs. Hulkbuster, Thor vs. Iron Man and now the new trailer has revealed that Captain America will be facing down Ultron. During production, we saw some bootleg video from the set of some action sequences filmed on a careening truck, and now we know what that’s all about. What’s important to note is that Cap’s shield is made from vibranium, the strongest metal known to the Marvel universe. When he hurls it at Ultron, it seems to only graze him, which can’t be a good sign. According to rumors, Ultron is in search of this precious metal in Wakanda (territory of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther). Could this baddie succeed in upgrading his body with this practically indestructible material? If so, the Avengers are screwed.
6. Hulk vs. Iron Man
We’ve seen a bunch of footage and images of the eagerly awaited showdown between an out-of-control Hulk and a Hulkbuster armor-clad Tony Stark. Though, this has got to be our favorite scene from the ensuing chaos so far! As we saw in the first Avengers, Hulk has no problem leaping and climbing along the sides of buildings. He flourished in the environment as he smashed numerous Chitauri soldiers in their tracks. Though the Hulkbuster armor has flight capabilities, it will not be able to get Stark out of harms reach. Hulk will be on him like white on rice.
7. Ultron’s Army
"Is that the best you can do?!" As Thor learns the hard way in the Avengers 2 trailer, you never bait Ultron into showing you more. He wasn’t kidding around when he went to assemble his minions. Much like the zombies in World War Z, these guys look like a raging army of ants from a distant. But they’re even more ferocious than the zombies because they’re made from metal, they have flight and strength on par with Stark’s armory, and it seems they follow Ultron’s commands without hesitation.
8. Fighting Ultron’s Army
So, how will the Avengers fight Ultron’s minions? With everything they have! At this point, it looks like Scarlet Witch, at least, has learned the error of her ways and has joined up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to fend off the threat. While Black Widow and Hawkeye are firing off rounds, Iron Man is blasting his way through this mess, and Captain America and Thor are hacking and smashing, Wanda is slinging some evil sorceress realness Ultron’s way. We haven’t seen a whole lot of her magic in effect, but when we do (like in the GIF above) it’s spectacular. She stops a barrage of these bastards in their tracks with a flick of her wrist.
9. Hulk Smash!
Then, of course, there’s Hulk doing the only thing he knows how to do. Ultron should’ve researched the team’s battle strengths from the invasion of New York. Then he would’ve known that even surrounding this big, green monster and pummeling him with all you have won’t be able to stop him. The best you can do is get a few jabs in, but that’ll just make him even more aggressive. It’s great to see him getting back to his roots in tearing these metal droids apart like paper, but we’re also eager to see more of this character. Whedon said that Hulk will play a larger role in Avengers 2 than he did in the first installment. Considering we probably won’t be getting another standalone Hulk movie in the MCU, we’ll take what we can get.
10. Meet The Vision
You’ve seen him with his back turned in concept art. You’ve seen him hiding within the sun’s beams in the poster. You’ve seen him lurking just out of the corner of the camera in behind-the-scenes featurettes. But now we get our first look at Paul Bettany’s J.A.R.V.I.S. upgraded to The Vision. Though it’s only a close up of his moment of conception (can we call it that?), it is glorious. Since Stark made Ultron, Ultron in turn wants to prove to his creator that he too can create life. By taking pieces of Iron Man’s helpful and hilarious A.I., he creates The Vision. As Bettany teased of the character, his powers include flight, super strength and durability, and mastery overall his molecules. Bettany also teased that he’s very protective of Scarlet Witch, which is a nod to the two’s romantic history in the comic books. We can’t stress enough how amped we are to see this character fully realized on screen.
