14 DAY TRIAL // Almost the entire cast of “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” was in Hall H over the weekend, for the San Diego Comic-Con 2014 Marvel panel, which also included the first screening of footage from next year’s blockbuster.
You can see the entire panel below: the first video is for “Ant-Man,” the other two are for “Avengers.” They don’t include any footage from either film because, while attendees are allowed to use their cameras during the panel, they’re asked to turn them off during screenings.
Even so, the “Avengers” panel is a blast to watch. Up on stage came Marvel President Kevin Feige in lieu of director Joss Whedon who couldn’t be there, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner (who couldn’t stop cracking jokes), Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Colbie Smulders, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Paul Bettany, James Spader, and Elizabeth Olsen.
Each said a few things about the film and what the experience of shooting for it had been like for them, with newcomers to the franchise James Spader (Ultron) and Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlett Witch) saying the most touching things, both about their fellow castmembers and the Comic-Con fans.
“It’s fun to bring a new element to the game,” Olsen said of the film. “There’s now magic, mutated people. It adds something kind of epic to the fights that there a new element. It’s not just awesome punching. We get to do something different. It brings up where marvel’s goes with their other films as well. It’s just the beginning. It feels like the beginning.”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is also a new addition to the franchise, but unlike these two, he was too nervous to actually be able to say much. Though his appearances include leads in this year’s “Godzila” and “Kick-Ass” 1 and 2, Taylor-Johnson is not exactly accustomed to the spotlight, so he gets a pass this time.
Robert Downey Jr. showed up with roses, and like Renner, couldn’t stop cracking jokes. If these guys are having this much fun on a panel, can you imagine what it’s like when they’re together on set? They must be having a blast whenever they’re not working.
Scarlett Johansson couldn’t come, with Feige confirming her pregnancy, which has actually been known in the press for some time. However, she recorded a message to the fans and was actually the one to introduce the first footage from the film.
It got a standing ovation, with the audience absolutely loving what they saw on screen.
However, Marvel wasn’t done. Right before all these stars walked out, Robert Downey Jr. said that, even if Ultron seems like the ultimate villain, the kind that you can’t possibly top, “we’ve got Thanos.” And Josh Brolin walked on stage and then ate the rose that RDJ offered to him.
Brolin has a cameo as Thanos in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” another Marvel film, but it’s uncredited. RDJ’s comment was a joke also linked to the previous “Avengers” film, in which his Tony Stark / Iron Man told Loki (Tom Hiddleston) that he wasn’t afraid of him because “We’ve got a Hulk.”
In other words, keep an eye out for a Thanos cameo in “Age of Ultron,” which will be out in theaters in May next year.
