The Avengers Will Assemble … in Dublin

Avengers assemble … in Dublin?

Avengers: Age of Ultron  is set to open in the UK and Ireland a full week before it hits cinemas anywhere else.

While the worldwide release date is May 1st, the film will be screened in Irish and UK cinemas on April 23rd.

 

Speculation has it that the earlier release date is to allow for Marvel’s publicity machine to get the most out of the movie’s stars. “One suspects that the thoughts of the worldwide press bonanza that would be involved in that caused too much chaos and then new date will allow for the actors involved to do all the necessary work and appearances on both sides of the pond before the film’s release,” reports entertainment.ie

 

The movie’s official UK poster also confirms that Idris Elba, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, and Stellan Skarsgard are in the cast, which means that the film’s plot will encompass supporting characters from the Thor and Captain America movies.

The poster also features a caped figure blocking out the sun, which apparently is good news for Marvel fans as it means that Vision is in the movie.

I am not familiar with the comics, so I don’t know what the significance of Vision is. I am more interested in the various positions of the actors in the poster. I don’t usually read too much into a movie’s poster – or at least didn’t used to, but that was before we were living in the age of obsessive deconstruction of Mad Men posters.

 

I think it’s interesting therefore, that Chris Evans is standing in front of Robert Downey, Jr., and that the two are looking in different directions. While Downey, Jr. started off as the definite star of the series (it was his Iron Man that got the ball rolling on this whole things), the two Captain America films were highly successful at the box office, and Evans can rest easy knowing that the franchise would suffer without him.

Which perhaps explains why Marvel is going to pay Evans oodles of money to make a third Captain America film (to be called Civil War), and both he and Downey, Jr. have signed up for another installment of the Avengers, which will be called Infinity War.

Civil War deals with a major conflict within the Avengers, with Captain America and Iron Man finding themselves at odds over the Superhuman Registration Act, and various superheroes lining up on either side of the, er, civil war.

While this might seem silly, even by comic book standards, rumour has it that Marvel is taking the grown-up implications of the plot seriously, with the movie touching on current hot-button issues like data protection and government surveillance.

Superheroes fighting each other? Notice that in the poster for the new Avengers film Thor is on the same side as Captain America, while Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow are closer to Iron Man.

 

Does the poster hint at who takes sides in the upcoming Civil War?

Pals … for now

A sign of things to come

Perhaps. No doubt the films will differ from the comics quite a bit, so it remains to be seen how this will all play out.

 

Yesterday Marvel released a character poster for Iron Man, and Downey, Jr. sent out a teasing tweet to accompany it.

Got a little somethin for ya, folks. Just cuz you’re awesome, check out this new Iron Man poster for Avengers #AgeOfUltron.
And don’t tell ‘em I told you, but there’s a big announcement coming in 8 days… Shhhhhhh… #getexcited

A new trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron? Confirmation that Vision will play a major role in the movie? Or is it something else completely? Has Downey, Jr. agreed to do another standalone Iron Man movie?!?

Honestly, it’s difficult to keep up with all the goings-on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The “big announcement” might be that following the agreement between Marvel and Sony, Spider-Man will be joining his fellow superheroes in either the next Captain America or the Infinity Wars movies; it has been noted that Danny Elfman is providing “additional music” for the new Avengers movie (Elfman composed the score for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man).

In the meantime, if you live in Dublin expect to see a lot of super-excited superhero geeks standing outside the Savoy on April 23rd.