What's in a name? It's a question we often hear asked, and more often hear answered. In the case of a Marvel Studios film, a name is a lot of things. It's a promise of a very specific adventure that sets the tone and tells us who to expect to see on the big screen for the years to come. A title like The Avengers: Age Of Ultron promises all of that and then some in its title -- and once it dropped, there was one important link to Marvel comic history that fans assumed would fall into the "then some" category: the introduction of Ant-Man, and the creator of Ultron himself, Hank Pym.
Unfortunately for some, this was denied by Age Of Ultron writer/director Joss Whedon from the beginning, as he stated that he was, "...crafting [his] own version of it where [Ultron's] origin comes more directly from the Avengers we already know about." So of course, who's the first Avenger everyone turns to when it comes to technological advances gone wrong? Everyone's assumptions naturally turned to Tony Stark's technical know how as being the "new" catalyst for Ultron's rise to power. However, judging by the new synopsis for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, there's a possibility that the origins of the latest menace to The Avengers might be a little closer to the comics than we thought.
As you'll recall, the synopsis for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron has the following nugget in its opening.
"When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance.
It sounds like Tony Stark isn't going to create Ultron, so much as dust him off from the archives and create him anew in his own image. This right here could mean two separate possibilities for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron: it means that not only do we have a possible origin story for The Vision, we also have a possible tie to Ant-Man that could minorly tweak the origins of Ultron, but not so much as to say that Tony Stark created him on his own. If Whedon's previous statement is correct, and this Ant-Man casting scoop is any indication, Hank Pym and Howard Stark may have created Ultron together.
With John Slattery in Ant-Man, and a casting call for a young Michael Douglas lookalike probably being fulfillled as we speak, it's not hard to connect the dots and assume that flashbacks will be a part of Ant-Man's origin story. Of course, considering the film quite possibly might be set in 2008, before or during the events of The Incredible Hulk, the whole film might amount to a flashback in the grand scheme of things.
There are more knowns than unknowns when it comes to Ant-Man, and The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is just warming up when it comes to telling the public what it's all about. We'll find out a lot more about both films in the months to come, but with all of the information available to us right now, this seems to be the most entertaining theory as to how the comic origins of Ultron will be only be a slight departure from what happens in the films.
The Avengers: Age Of Ultron will be released on May 1, 2015; with Ant-Man following its lead on July 17, 2015.
