After what must have been months of negotiations, The Avengers: Age of Utron appears to have found the actor it wants to play Quicksilver - and it's the only actor who we've ever heard about being up for the part. The Wrap is now reporting that Aaron Taylor-Johnson - who was first rumored for the part back in June - has signed a deal and is now attached to play the speedy superhero in the Avengers sequel. According to the latest report, the biggest thing holding up negotiations was the need for the actor to work out his promotional schedule for next year's Godzilla reboot. Now that that situation has been sorted Taylor-Johnson will be ready to suit up.
For those unfamiliar with the Quicksilver character from the comics, he is actually the mutant son of Magneto (from the X-Men movies) and has the ability to run at superhuman speeds. He is often found paired with his sister Scarlet Witch, who is also set to appear in The Age of Ultron, but the production has not yet officially settled on an actress to play her (Elizabeth Olsen is seen as the frontrunner for the part). Because of contract deals with 20th Century Fox, the origin story for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch from the comics will need to be altered slightly, as Marvel Studios doesn't have the rights to say that the characters are either Magneto's children or even mutants (meaning that writer/director Joss Whedon will have to come up with some kind of clever idea to explain their powers).
Taylor-Johnson has opened up about the role in the past, and in August he told Total Film all about his approach to the role and how he pitched his take on the character. Said the actor,
"I always thought it'd be quite funny if you saw him eating loads and people asked him why and he'd explain it's because he's burning so much energy all the time. Or ideas that you'd see him come back round - but he's already nipped out and got his lunch somewhere else. He just got bored - his attention span is so fucking quick."
The star does have some comic book movie experience, having starred as the title character in both Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2, but obviously this new material will be a horse of a completely different color. Do you think that Taylor-Johnson is a good pick for the part? Are you upset that he's already been a superhero character before - even if it was a character without any superpowers? Tell us your thoughts on the casting in the comments section below!
