What I Want in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

With Captain America: The Winter Soldier having been the last Marvel film that will directly tie into the next Avengers movie till Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters in just a little over a year, I decided now would be as good a time as any to say the things I most want to see, hear, or experience in the next adventure featuring the Avengers.

With the movie already shooting, most of what I want more than likely wont happen, but that doesn't mean that if writer/director Joss Whedon and Marvel don't deliver on these five points below that I wont probably fall head over heels for Age of Ultron.  In a way, this is more a wish list of some geeky, fanboy things that me, being a comic book fan, would love to experience in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Regardless as to whether my wishes come true, you can bet on one thing, Age of Ultron is gonna be off the chain.  Joss Whedon has said multiple times that even before he agreed to do the first Avengers, he knew that the sequel had to have Ultron as the villain, so if he delivers anything half as awesome as what he did the first go around, we're all going to be giddy with Avenger excitement again come May 1st 2015.

However, enough chit chat.  On with the things that I most want in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

****

Hank Pym, Creator of Ultron

While Joss Whedon has said that Ant-Man wont be in Age of Ultron, it would be odd for Hank Pym, the first Ant-Man and creator of the titular android, not to be involved in some way shape or form in the creation of the big baddie.  Really, it is head scratching for me as to why Pym isn't included, with Michael Douglas set to play the character in the Ant-Man film coming out two months after Age of Ultron.  If Pym is as old as Douglas, and has already been a superhero and retired, prior to the Avengers arriving on the scene, why the reluctance to include Pym, the rightful creator?  Perhaps Marvel and Whedon feel it might make things too overcrowded to try and introduce audiences to Hank Pym and say who he is and why we should care that he's created this android, rather than simply having Tony Stark or Bruce Banner build Ultron instead, however I can still hope that Douglas will wind up in the movie and be Ultron's maker.

"Avengers Assemble!"

Throughout Avengers history in the comic books, they have had the same rallying battle cry.  From Stan Lee to modern day, whenever an Avenger (very often Captain America raising his shield) yells, "Avengers assemble,"  the Avengers all rally together and go on the offensive.  While the first film, being the origin of the Avengers, didn't ever find a good place for this classic line to be said,  I desperately want to see it and hear it in Age of Ultron.  Nothing would make me feel more like a five-year-old kid again than if Cap holds his shield up in the air and summons the Avengers, yelling, "Avengers assemble!"

Agent Phil Coulson Lives

Agent Coulson's death in The Avengers was one of the biggest gut punches of that entire film emotionally, giving the Avengers something to actually fight for, and in many ways being the defining moment that made them put aside petty differences and team up to avenge their fallen friend.  As anyone who has been watching the TV show, Agents of SHIELD, knows, is that Agent Coulson was brought back to life by Nick Fury in the wake of his demise in The Avengers, forming a mystery that has still yet to be settled as to why Fury did this.  The one thing that the show has not done yet, though, is address what happens when the Avengers find out that their friend is alive and kicking.  While Coulson has his own show, and Joss Whedon has said that Coulson is not going to appear in Age of Ultron, how much of that is a smoke screen trying to keep something a secret and how much of that is truth?  I personally would love to see Thor, Iron Man, and especially Captain America, not only discover that Coulson is still alive, but actually interact with him, asking him what happened and such.  Perhaps they'll save this stuff for a special guest appearance on the show some point in the future, but Age of Ultron seems as good a place as any for the Avengers to get closure on Coulson's death and resurrection.

A More In-Control Hulk

At this point, after two films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring the Hulk, with both of them focusing on how Bruce Banner is trying to control his transformations, I think it's pretty safe to say he's mastered the transformations to where he can do it on will and change back whenever he desires.  While both Bruce Banner and the Hulk can be unpredictable, the Hulk we saw at the end of The Avengers was a heroic Hulk, not the mindless bringer of destruction that tore through the helicarrier, suggesting that Banner had finally figured out how to channel himself through the Hulk's actions. I want to see that expanded upon in Age of Ultron.  I don't want Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner to try and avoid turning into the Hulk anymore, he knows that when he does it he can help people and be a hero, so I think his storyline needs to reflect that change.  While Banner will never be fully in control of the Hulk, perhaps he'll have more control this time.

Explanation for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's Powers

Here's the big one.  We already know that in addition to featuring the returning cast members from the first film, Age of Ultron will be adding three new eventual Avengers in the form of the Vision (an android built by Ultron), and the brother sister pair of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.  Here's where things get tricky.

While Vision is a cut and dry case, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are both mutants, and not only are they mutants, they are the son and daughter of X-Men nemesis, Magneto.  While I don't feel it's necessary for Magneto to even be mentioned, I do feel it's necessary for Scarlet Witch's hex powers and Quicksilver's speed powers to have been genetic mutations.  The reason this is a problem, is 20th Century Fox currently leases the film rights from Marvel for the X-Men characters and therefore currently own the rights to Magneto and the word mutant.  The reason Marvel Studios is getting to use Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver is because they are in the gray area where they were both Avengers and X-Men, allowing both Fox and Marvel to use them, but Marvel can never say the word mutant or mention Magneto, and Fox can never mention the characters are in the Avengers.  It's a tricky legal situation, so if Marvel cannot use the word mutant to describe Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's powers via genetic mutation, how will they explain the powers?

My theory stems from the post-credits scene for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where Hydra baddie, Baron Strucker, is holding Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver prisoner and says it's, "the age of miracles."  I think that they'll simply say that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were  both born with their powers.  To me, that's what that line from Baron Strucker made me think.  While I can be wrong, I think this would be the easiest way to explain their powers without saying the word mutant.  Not to mention the fact that it would appease fans who don't want some false new origin created for the characters.

****

And those are the things I want and wish for in Avengers: Age of Ultron.  What do you want?