50 Fun Facts About Avengers: Age of Ultron

In Age of Ultron, Tony Stark creates Ultron hoping it will serve as what?

A global peacekeeping program was what Stark hoped to jump-start; once awake, Ultron decides the surest route to world peace is to wipe out humanity.

Age of Ultron belongs to which phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Phase Two opened with Iron Man 3 and was planned from the start to build to a second Avengers film; Ant-Man, released two months later, closed the phase.

Who voices and performs Ultron via motion capture?

James Spader voices and performs Ultron through motion capture; Whedon called him his first and only choice, citing his eerily calm, hypnotic voice.

In which fictional Eastern European country does Age of Ultron open and close?

Sokovia's devastation leads directly to the Sokovia Accords, the UN oversight plan that splits the team in Captain America: Civil War.

Which Hydra leader commands the base the Avengers raid at the start of the film?

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker had been experimenting on human volunteers, the Maximoff twins among them; the Avengers capture him in the raid, and Ultron later kills him.

Where do Stark and Banner find the artificial intelligence that completes the Ultron program?

Stark and Banner find the AI inside the gem of Loki's scepter; the gem is the Mind Stone, later set in Vision's forehead.

Which arms dealer do Ultron and the twins visit to obtain vibranium?

Ulysses Klaue, a black-market dealer who knew Stark in his weapons-selling days, has the vibranium; the Avengers catch up with Ultron at his base, where Wanda's visions turn the fight against them.

Where do the Avengers hide after the Hulk's rampage in Johannesburg?

The team regroups at Hawkeye's farmhouse, where Clint Barton's secret family lives; Whedon fought Marvel executives to keep the farm scenes.

In which city does Ultron enslave Dr. Helen Cho to build his new body?

Seoul is where Ultron takes over Helen Cho's mind to make her build his new body; as he uploads himself into it, Wanda reads his thoughts and the twins turn against him.

Whose consciousness do Stark and Banner upload into the synthetic body, creating Vision?

J.A.R.V.I.S. had only seemed to be destroyed: he had hidden inside the internet, out of Ultron's reach, until Stark found him and uploaded him into the new body.

How does Vision earn the Avengers' trust moments after he is created?

Vision wins them over by lifting Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, which only the worthy can move; the newborn android simply picks it up and hands it across.

What is Ultron's plan for causing human extinction?

Ultron uses his remaining vibranium to build a machine to lift a city into the sky and drop it like a meteor, an impact big enough to cause global extinction.

Which character dies shielding Hawkeye from gunfire in Age of Ultron?

Pietro Maximoff, the speedster Quicksilver, takes the bullets meant for Hawkeye; to give his running some life, most of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's scenes were shot outdoors, not against a green screen.

Which actress, later Nagini in Fantastic Beasts, plays Helen Cho in Age of Ultron?

Claudia Kim plays Helen Cho, the geneticist whose tissue-building technology Ultron hijacks; Marvel announced her casting early in 2014 but kept her role secret until that December.

Which hero joins Vision, Wanda and Sam Wilson in the new Avengers line-up at the end of Age of Ultron?

War Machine, James Rhodes, completes the new roster; Anthony Mackie said he only learned his own character had become an Avenger when he watched the finished film at the premiere.

What does Age of Ultron's mid-credits scene show Thanos putting on?

A gauntlet: Thanos pulls on a metal gauntlet and vows to collect the Infinity Stones himself, the film's only extra scene, since nothing follows the end credits.

Why did Whedon give Age of Ultron no post-credits scene?

Whedon said he felt he could not top the shawarma scene, 'a jewel and a weird little quirk'; his first rule for a sequel was to take the best moments and then do something else.

Whose cameo was cut from Age of Ultron after test audiences thought his character controlled Ultron?

Tom Hiddleston filmed a return as Loki, but test audiences read too much into it and assumed Loki was behind Ultron; Whedon said the scene 'didn't play' and dropped it.

Which heroine flew into Avengers HQ at the end of an early script draft, before being cut?

Captain Marvel flew in at the end of an early draft, but Kevin Feige did not want her arriving fully formed before audiences knew who she was; the effects shots were reused for Wanda.

Age of Ultron left the Hulk's destination vague to quash rumours of which comics storyline?

Planet Hulk was not in Marvel's plans in 2015, so the Hulk's fate was left open; two years later the studio adapted the storyline after all, in Thor: Ragnarok.

Which two characters' film rights did Marvel share with Fox when making Age of Ultron?

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were also covered by Fox's X-Men deal, so Whedon avoided the word 'mutant'; Fox's own Quicksilver, Evan Peters, appeared in Days of Future Past in 2014.

Besides The Empire Strikes Back, which sequel did Whedon name as a model for Age of Ultron?

The Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back were his models: Whedon wanted a sequel that was smaller, more personal and more painful, not a rehash of what had worked the first time.

Which comic-book character, Ultron's creator in the comics, was deliberately kept out of Ultron's movie origin?

Hank Pym created Ultron in the comics, but Edgar Wright had claimed him for Ant-Man and Whedon felt a third scientist beside Stark and Banner was one too many.

Which composer shares the score credit on Age of Ultron for writing its additional music?

Danny Elfman wrote additional music and shares the score credit; he reworked Alan Silvestri's theme from the first film into a new hybrid theme for the team.

At which English studio was most of Age of Ultron's principal photography shot?

Shepperton Studios in Surrey was the base for the shoot; Whedon said the British locations gave him new looks and moods, helping him avoid, as he put it, making one movie twice.

What code name does Tony Stark give the system that launches his giant anti-Hulk armour in Age of Ultron?

Veronica is Whedon's joke: Bruce Banner used to be in love with a girl named Betty, and in Archie Comics Veronica is Betty's opposite number.

Which Italian region doubled as Age of Ultron's fictional Eastern European nation?

The Aosta Valley's Fort Bard and the towns of Aosta, Bard, Donnas, Pont-Saint-Martin and Verrès all appear, their shopfronts refitted with Cyrillic lettering for the shoot.

Which English fortress provided the interiors of the Hydra base raided in Age of Ultron's opening?

Dover Castle in Kent supplied the interiors of the Hydra base; a month later a Metropolitan Police training ground in London was dressed as a city in the same fictional country.

Age of Ultron's twins, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen, had played husband and wife a year earlier in which film?

Godzilla cast them as a married couple who spend almost the whole film apart; a year later the same pair were playing brother and sister.

Which actor plays Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron?

Paul Bettany said he was surprised to be asked, because an actor already cast in the Marvel films is rarely given a second character; his make-up took two hours to apply.

Which Age of Ultron actress's pregnancy was hidden with close-ups, concealing costumes and stunt doubles?

Scarlett Johansson was pregnant during the shoot, so the production kept at least three stunt doubles on hand, about triple the usual number, and leaned on close-ups.

Whedon was inspired by what kind of performers in designing how Wanda Maximoff moves?

Dancers were the model, Elizabeth Olsen said: Whedon wanted Wanda to move unlike a fighter, so she trained with a dancer in place of the usual stunt work.

Which AI does Stark switch to as his new assistant during the final battle?

F.R.I.D.A.Y. proved no stopgap: the stand-in assistant with the Irish accent stayed at Stark's side through four more films, up to Avengers: Endgame.

Whedon compared Ultron to which classic literary creation?

Frankenstein's monster was Whedon's model: he called Ultron 'our new Frankenstein myth', in which we create something in our own image and the thing turns on us.

Which Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World composer replaced Alan Silvestri for Age of Ultron?

Brian Tyler took over from Alan Silvestri and said his score would salute John Williams's music for Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark, because 'you have to build in nostalgia'.

What is Stan Lee's cameo in Age of Ultron?

Stan Lee appears as a military veteran at the victory party, insisting Thor's Asgardian liquor is no match for him; he is carried out moments later murmuring 'Excelsior'.

Which classic Disney song plays to chilling effect in Age of Ultron's first trailer?

"I've Got No Strings", Pinocchio's song about being free of his puppet strings, is sung in the trailer; it leaked online days early, so Marvel put out the official version within hours.

Which actor makes an uncredited appearance as Thanos in Age of Ultron's mid-credits scene?

Josh Brolin, who had first played Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy the year before, appears uncredited for a few seconds, long enough for the villain to vow to gather the Infinity Stones himself.

Age of Ultron was 2015's fourth-biggest film worldwide; which was the biggest?

The Force Awakens took more than $2 billion despite opening only in December; two other 2015 releases also out-earned Age of Ultron's $1.4 billion.

Age of Ultron's $84 million opening day ranked second only to the finale of which film series?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 had the bigger first day, in 2011; Age of Ultron's total, swollen by $27.6 million from Thursday-night previews, was a record for a superhero film.

Which sporting event was blamed for denting Age of Ultron's North American opening weekend?

The Mayweather–Pacquiao boxing match on Saturday, May 2, 2015 drew viewers to the pay-per-view, and the film's takings fell more than expected from Friday to Saturday.

Which country was Age of Ultron's largest market outside North America?

China took about $240 million, even though some filmgoers there complained that the Chinese subtitles were so literal they garbled the dialogue; some joked that a translation app had written them.

Roughly 700 independent cinema screens in which country boycotted Age of Ultron over Disney's rental fees?

Germany's small-town cinema owners refused to show the film after Disney raised its share of ticket sales from 47.7% to 53%, a rise they said could put some of them out of business.

Which manufacturer supplied its first electric motorcycle, Project LiveWire, for Black Widow to ride?

Harley-Davidson used the film as a showcase for Project LiveWire, a prototype making its screen debut; a production LiveWire did not go on sale until 2019.

Which Age of Ultron sequence was cut short after test audiences rejected a hero being possessed by a Norn?

Erik Selvig's cave scene once ran far longer: in a 195-minute early cut, Thor stepped into the pool, a Norn spoke through him and Selvig put the questions to her.

The effects team dropped a grey-skinned look for the enchanted Hulk to avoid evoking which comics persona?

Joe Fixit is the comics' grey Hulk: the character was grey in his first issue, but the colour printed so unevenly that Stan Lee switched him to green, and later writers brought the grey back as a separate persona.

Age of Ultron's final scene was reshot to include what?

Falcon's new suit from Ant-Man was designed after the scene had been filmed in his old Winter Soldier outfit, Kevin Feige said, so the ending was shot again to match.

Which hero did Whedon want in the final Avengers line-up, though the rights deal came too late?

Spider-Man had to wait: the deal with Sony was announced only in February 2015, so he first appeared the next year in Captain America: Civil War.

Which actress plays Laura Barton, Hawkeye's wife, in Age of Ultron?

Linda Cardellini's casting was confirmed only weeks before release, and even then the filmmakers would not say whom she was playing, which kept Hawkeye's family under wraps.

Which motion-capture specialist's studio, The Imaginarium, helped Mark Ruffalo prepare to play the Hulk?

Andy Serkis's studio The Imaginarium coached Mark Ruffalo, who called the new capture process 'more of a collaboration' that frees a performer from his own age, weight and size.