Joss Whedon on Avengers: Age of Ultron ‘Something Terrible is Coming That You’ll Love’
By Roth Cornet
We’re just about six months away from the release of Marvel’s highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron. Director Joss Whedon returned to helm the sequel with an idea that he had before he even began production on The Avengers. IGN had the opportunity to travel the London earlier this year to visit the set of the sequel. While there, we were able to sit down with Whedon with a few other journalists to talk about returning to this world and what we can expect from the birth of Ultron.
45 Minutes in a Pub Convinced Whedon to Return for Ultron
Q: What was your head like going into this movie and what did you set out to do differently?
“Before I took the first job, I said in the second one, the villain has to be Ultron, and he has to create the Vision.
Joss Whedon: The first one was raggedy. I was a raggedy man when I made that film. It did take a lot out of me. Going in this time, I was like, I just had to sort of recalibrate my entire existence and, throw myself into it more wholeheartedly and say, ‘Okay, let’s actually make it harder and I’m gonna just invest myself in every part of it: In every production meeting, every location scout, and every question about a prop that I’d like to avoid. I might even work harder on the script. There’s nothing that I’m not going to be a part of. I’m gonna give myself up to it – like a Christian to a lion.’
Q: When did you first start coming up with ideas for the sequel, and were your first ideas the one’s you’re actually making?
Whedon: Before I took the first job, I said, ‘Well, I don’t know if I’m right for this, or if I want it, or you want me, but in the second one, the villain has to be Ultron, and he has to create the Vision.’ And then it took me three years before I could tell Paul [Bettany] that I’d had that conversation, but after that, I stopped. I was like, that would be cool if you have Ultron, and you have Vision and Paul played him. And Scarlet Witch and Pietro, definitely. They’re from my era, they’re very different, their powers are different, it’s not all punching, it gives a different palette, so we can do more interesting things. It’s fun; those things were all those were absolutes. But then I didn’t actually want to make the film necessarily. I was ragged from the first one, and so I just turned off my brain. I was like, ‘Do not think of cool ideas for the next one. Just get through this.’ I thought, ‘Is this something that makes sense in my life; do I have anything to say?’ And so my agent called – I was in London – and he called me and said, ‘There’s a deal that’s worth talking about – time to start to think about whether there’s a movie.’ And I’m going, ‘All right,’ and I went to a pub, and sat down with my notebook, and about forty-five minutes later, my notebook was filled. And I texted my agent and said, ‘Yup, and I have so many things to say.’ And I was kind of surprised. It took me unawares. It was very beautiful.
Q: When you filled your notebook up are the ideas you wrote down the ones you’re doing?
Whedon: A lot of them, a lot of them. And there’s some that you’re like, ‘This is it; this is the heart of the story.’ And then it doesn’t work. But generally speaking it’s character stuff, really. It’s definitely not plot stuff because that’s the stuff that you can pull out of yourself with agony. The character stuff is: Can these people connect? Can we tear them the part and bring them together? Can we have this insight into the character? That’s the stuff that makes me wanna make a film, not like, ‘Oh, and then there’s a cool plot twist.’ Though I have to sort of have a mind for that.
Creating the Characters Who Inspired the Sequel: The Vision and Ultron
“There’s a lot of people, whether they’re trying to do good or bad, who think they have the next big idea. And the next big idea is usually a very bad one.
Q: I’m curious about the look of the Vision and how it’s going to evolve. Are you still working on how it will ultimately look?
Whedon: No, we make them as close as we can. The stunt guy – we make allowances for the shape of his face and padding and things that we’re putting on him. But they’re not meant to look different. One of the guys draws something unbelievably beautiful, and we try to create that in real life, and it takes a long time. The first tests were very Violet Beauregarde [from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]. And it really took a long time to get to a place where we felt like – even though we will work on him in post- that he walks on, and we go, ‘Oh, it’s a Vision – my God.’
Q: That was our reaction walking out there [on set where Paul Bettany was in full Vision gear].
Whedon: Yeah, I wanted Paul to play this part since before I wanted to make Avengers movies. He’s just got, let’s face it, it’s about cheek bones, people.
Q: Is there a kind of a Dr. Frankenstein’s monster thing happening with Tony Stark and Ultron?
Whedon: You know, in the Marvel universe, there’s a lot of Frankensteins. We have Steve Rogers himself, one of the better-looking Frankensteins of our era. And yeah, there’s an element to that. There’s a lot of people, whether they’re trying to do good or bad, who think they have the next big idea. And the next big idea is usually a very bad one.
How is Ultron Distinct from Other Comic Book Villains?
“Hopefully, you will come out of this, if not agreeing with him, then getting him, and getting his pain.
Q: About the character of Ultron. Obviously you have a guy like James Spader playing him who has an incredible presence, which I imagine lends itself to the character quite well. But I’m curious how that kind of translates to the screen?
Whedon: Well, Ultron feels a certain distance from humanity, and the day Spader got here we put on the mocap pajamas, a giant thing with red dots on it for his eye line, and, you know, giant pack, and a helmet with two cameras in his face with lights to record his performance. He then did a scene with Scarlett [Johansson]. But she did not look him in the eye because she was looking up in his eye line, nor could he see her because he had two lights shining in his face, and he had his glasses on. Therefore, he [Spader] has a certain distance from humanity, too. And god bless him, he was wonderful. And very game. And has been the whole time. He’s very interested in the mechanics of the mechanics. And finding the humanity. He and I share a genuine love of this version of Ultron, and he has an innate eccentricity in his delivery that is everything that I had hoped Ultron would be.
Q: How is he different from other villains you’ve seen in super hero movies?
Whedon: You know, hopefully, you will come out of this, if not agreeing with him, then getting him, and getting his pain, which leads to a lot of damage, and some humor. The important thing for me is he’s not this external thing. He’s not, you know, Independence Day. I’m not criticizing that movie, but I’m saying that when he’s in his scenes, you want to feel like he will never understand that he’s not the hero.
On His Empire Strikes Back Comments and Making a Complete Film
“You don’t want people to think ‘Wow, that’s part one of something or even part two of something.
Q: Introducing characters like Pietro and Scarlet Witch, are you thinking, ‘I’m inserting this character and now I’m building this huge arc that is going to play out over Marvel’s Phase Three or Phase Four?’
Whedon: Yeah, I mean, you’re aware of that, but you sorta can’t be slavish to it. One, I think the biggest mistake in the world of franchising is thinking ‘We can do something next time.’ It’s like, whatever you want, get it in there. Not that we can do everything with every character, but you know, you wanna get an arc that’s complete. You don’t want people to think ‘Wow, that’s part one of something or even part two of something.’ I have been lambasted for criticizing Empire Strikes Back. I wasn’t criticizing the film, which I love very much. I was saying, the experience of having a movie not end is weird for me and kind of disturbing. I need to get everything in that I need from him [Quicksilver]. And then if he continues, either I or somebody else will need [to develop] more. And these characters have existed in their iconic narratives for longer than I’ve been around which is just really long.
Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and The Age of Miracles
“Strong but damaged by power describes every person in this movie. It may, in fact, describe what the movie is about.
Q: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch — you brought them in and you have the Vision. That’s like a second team like Hakweye and Captain American in the old days. And they’re not mutants now. Are you bringing them in with the age of miracles? Is there an explanation besides war technology?
Whedon: Well Strucker’s been doing experiments, and he’s got the scepter, and he’s been using alien tech to do them. It’s kind of where I landed with that. But look for an exciting retcon in Avengers 6!
Q: Where does Wanda fall in the sort of tradition of the strong but somewhat damaged-by-powers characters that you’ve written in the past, like Buffy?
Whedon: Well, you know, “strong but damaged by power” describes every person in this movie. It may, in fact, describe what the movie is about. You know, the more power that we have, the less human we are. Her damage pre-dates her power. These kids have — they’ve had a rough history. Is she in an idiom with which I am comfortable? Why, yes, she is! [LAUGHS]
Q : We’ve gotten a glimpse of Wanda and Pietro and we know that Iron Man and the Hulk are kind of tied together. Was there a very organic way to bring those 2 stories together? It feels like they are almost separate stories.
Whedon: They did. They did, and that was a concern for Marvel for a long time. But a lot of the working out of the story was how do we get these things connect. I’m probably not going to explain that, but it’s very important to me that they do feel like part of the same story, and part of the same universe. And they’re all… All their origins are all tied up in each other.
A Tale of Two Quicksilvers
Q: Did the X-Men Quicksilver change your visual approach to anything? The speed shots?
Whedon: Not really. I mean, there’s some things that we now would probably care to avoid. But we were never doing the same version. Obviously at some point we’ll go into slow mo because, you know, that’s what’s fun about a super speedy guy. I mean, for me, what’s fun about Quicksilver isn’t necessarily seeing Quicksilver, it’s seeing the Avengers. They really took to the mattresses with that one scene, but it’s… He’s just a very different guy in ours and I think we’re just kind of proceeding as planned.
To Have Hulk Talk Or To Have Hulk Smash
“The fact that, you know, there hasn’t been a Hulk since that Hulk…it doesn’t suck.
Q: Can you talk about the success of the Hulk in the first film. Did you want to preserve him for the world of the Avengers?
Whedon: Well, I wasn’t the one who said don’t make a Hulk film or anything like that. It was [Marvel head] Kevin [Feige] that said to me, ‘We think right now it’s good to have somebody who we can only see in the Avengers.’ Everybody loves Mark. He’s phenomenal. But the fact that, you know, there hasn’t been a Hulk since that Hulk…it doesn’t suck. I mean, my job is hard enough, you know. Cap’s had a movie, Thor’s had a movie. Everyone’s gone through big changes, Iron Man had a movie. So, you know, I have to juggle everybody’s perception of that while still making a movie that you can see having not seen any except the first Avengers, or not even that.
Q: You talked in the past about how the Hulk is probably one of the harder characters to adapt into a live-action film. I’m curious exactly how are you handling him taking on a bigger role in this film? I mean we know that Bruce Banner has his hands in the creation of Ultron. So I was curious if you can talk about the expansion of the Hulk character and will we hear him talk more this time around?
Whedon: His monologue about his childhood is very poignant and lacks pronouns. No. You know, the talking thing is something that I sort of — I pitch it and I take it away. It’s moment to moment. Done wrong, it could kill ya. So, I’m pretty leery about that. But Banner has a significant role, and the Hulk, you know, we really held back on him for a long while in the first one. That said, there’s something terrible coming that you’ll love. And you know, just what makes the Hulk so hard to write is that you’re pretending he’s a werewolf when he’s a superhero. You want it vice versa. You want to see him, Banner doesn’t want to see him, but you don’t want Banner to be that guy who gets in the way of you seeing him. So the question is, ‘How has he progressed? How can we ring changes on what the Hulk does?’ And that’s not just in the screenplay. That’s moment to moment, because you know that even when they are putting in post mix and temp mix, they have a library of two roars. ‘Aaarrgh! Uuurrgh!’ What if he wasn’t roaring? I’m angry, and I’m not roaring. I’m being very polite to reporters, but I’m filled with rage.
Expanding the World of The Avengers
Somebody will say, ‘Wait a minute. Aren’t I dead already in this scene? Should I have so many lines?’ And I say, ‘Right, good point. Sorry.’
Q: You said that the movie is much bigger this time around. So…how much bigger?
Whedon: I remember saying it was harder. But it is bigger. The cast is bigger. The scope is bigger. You know, we have more to work with. Not that we’re trying to spend more. In fact, we’re trying to avoid bloat. Wherever possible. You know, with this, we’re on a broader canvas. We’re in more countries. We have a bigger world to work with, and a bigger world for them just to be in. Sort of, once they exist as a team, we have to deal with what everybody thinks about that, and what that means to the world. It’s not as simple as it was.
Q: In terms of coming back for a sequel, now that you’ve worked with this cast and you’ve had that first experience. Does that help you find the voice the second time around? Are there things that you knew that you wanted to do specifically because of the actors?
Whedon: Yeah. I mean, most of them had already played the parts before the first one. It’s hard not to hear Robert Downey Jr. in your head. He’s very distinctive. And, you know, it’s been easier. It’s been easier for me to give them what they are comfortable with, and also to let them sort of mold stuff a little bit, you know? There are certain things where I’m like, ‘If you want to make this more your own in some way that I haven’t thought of yet, I’m open.’ We have mutual trust, where if I say, I know this feels weird, but I need it. And they will back me. And if they say, I feel like I could come at this differently, I will back them, because, you know, we’re creating those characters together, and they will always see something that I missed. And they will always have some little insight in there. Especially when all ten of them are in a room. I’ve got all of these enormously interesting actors playing enormously interesting characters. I’m not going to get every nuance of everybody. And somebody will say, ‘Wait a minute. Aren’t I dead already in this scene? Should I have so many lines?’ And I say, ‘Right, good point. Sorry.’ By the way, don’t — please don’t turn that into a headline. I’m so sick of reading about killing people. [LAUGHS] A joke.
Q: Hawkeye wasn’t around very much on Phase 2 and I’m curious if we’re gonna find out what he’s been up to in this film?
Whedon: Um, yeah. We are. ‘Cause somethings up with that boy. That’s all I’m gonna say.
The Whedon/Marvel Marriage
“When the thing shakes out, it’s very much the movie I dreamed of and that’s why I’m back.
Q: Can you talk about the balance between using your own voice and working within the Marvel framework?
Whedon: Well, you know, I’m aware of what I can’t do or say. I know that I work for Disney. I know that I want children to see this film and not have nightmares about it. I understand the parameters and at the same time I don’t know of a place that would let me make a film this personal for this much money. You know Marvel, I feel like they treat the movies, or they have, for me, my experience of it, like they treat comic books, where when a new writer and artist comes, they have their own visual ideas and they respect that. I get to make a movie that’s very much about the things I need to talk about. And sometimes I forget that during the whole process because these characters are so dear to me from before, and they belong to them. But when the thing shakes out, it’s very much the movie I dreamed of and that’s why I’m back.
Q: When making The Avengers, you knew right away that Ultron’s gonna be the guy for the sequel. The same with Vision. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as well. Are you already trying to plan out in your mind that every character leads to something else. Are you already thinking big ideas for how stuff will connect down the road…Avengers 3 and so on?
Whedon: There comes a point in filming when you are writing, filming, and editing, and, you cannot even make a grocery list. I haven’t had a good idea about anything. I’m so excited that I’m wearing underwear, that I got that right…today. Every now and then, it’ll happen, but right now we’re almost… We’re just past the halfway point, and I’m still finessing and finessing and finessing, and I got nothing. So it’s, I do this, I go home, I rewrite, I go to sleep. I do this, I go home, I rewrite, I go to sleep.
We’ll see all of those sleepless nights pay off when Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in April of 2015 internationally on on May 1 in the U.S
Original article at IGN
