Marvel Studios made an information dump tonight with its primetime TV special Assembling a Universe, which detailed the company’s industry revolutionizing interlocked film franchises. But it’s not like them to leave fans without a treat.
As Avengers: Age of Ultron revs into gear, the special revealed new concept art for some longtime fan-favorite characters: the Scarlet Witch, featured above, and her brother, Quicksilver, featured below …
In the Avengers sequel (or perhaps fans will see them much, much sooner), these two roles will be played by Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House, Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Nowhere Boy). Scarlet Witch is, as her names suggests, able to manipulate energy, and specializes in harnessing magic and chaos to unleash her hexes. Quicksilver, her twin, is able to move at supersonic speeds.
As created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, the pair were mutants in the Marvel universe, but that term won’t be popping up in the Avengers sequel. The rights to all the comic-book company’s mutants is held by Fox as part of its X-Men license. So we also won’t be hearing about their father, Magneto, in this iteration.
Some characters straddle the rights of both Marvel Studios and Fox, like these two, and as a result you’ll also see Quicksilver turn up in X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 23, with Evan Peters in the role. (Director Bryan Singer says there won’t be a Scarlet Witch in X-Men, except for perhaps “a reference.”)
It’s now a battle between the rival studios to establish the definitive version of the character in audiences minds, which is most likely why Marvel is releasing some images now, more than a year before Avengers: Age of Ultron is set to open.
The TV special also revealed this piece of Avengers 2 concept art featuring the Hulk and Black Widow. But …
It kind of resembles this old image from the original movie. But hey, at least we know a building is coming down on them in the next movie. That’s something.
Here are some other images revealed in Marvel’s Assembling a Universe …
Concept art from Guardians of the Galaxy, out Aug. 1, of Star-Lord, a.k.a. Peter Quill (played by Chris Pratt) and Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper.)
Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon again, feeling frisky while perched on the shoulder of tree-warrior Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel.)
Then we were treated to a whole heap of Ant-Man, the post-Avengers movie being made by filmmaker Edgar Wright, with Paul Rudd in the lead role of thief Scott Lang, who gets his hands on a suit that can shrink him to tiny size, while still preserving all the punching and lifting power he’d have at full form.
That film is slated for release July 17, 2015.
Those who attended Comic-Con two years ago already saw the short film Wright created to test the visual effects of Ant-Man’s “Size Fu,” a term coined by Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci. These are all shots from that footage, but it provides a look at what the hero/anti-hero’s costume will look like.
Here he is in the midst of a size-morph.
The little guy peeks through a ventilation duct, eyeing that elevator at the end of the hall …
Here is Ant-Man, front and center. Having knocked out some tough-looking customers, he is now safely inside that elevator as the doors slip shut.
He is small. It’s the picture that got big.
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