50 Fun Facts About Avengers: Age of Ultron

Who wrote and directed Avengers: Age of Ultron?

Joss Whedon wrote and directed Age of Ultron, returning after The Avengers (2012); he also co-created Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for ABC under the same deal.

Age of Ultron was which numbered film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Age of Ultron was the 11th MCU film, released in May 2015 after Guardians of the Galaxy; Ant-Man then closed Phase Two that July.

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 the film open and close?

Its destruction leads directly to the Sokovia Accords that split 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, played by Thomas Kretschmann, commands the Hydra base in the opening raid; he first appeared in The Winter Soldier's mid-credits scene.

Where do Stark and Banner find the artificial intelligence they use to complete 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 in Johannesburg to obtain vibranium?

Ulysses Klaue, the arms dealer who stole vibranium from Wakanda, loses an arm to Ultron's temper in Johannesburg and returns in Black Panther.

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?

Ultron forces Helen Cho to build his new body in her Seoul laboratory; the production filmed the truck chase and bridge scenes in the South Korean capital.

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

The AI had been hiding inside the internet after Ultron apparently destroyed it in the first act.

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

Vision proves himself by lifting Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and casually handing it over; at the party earlier only Rogers had managed to make it wobble.

What is Ultron's plan for causing human extinction?

Ultron builds a vibranium engine beneath Novi Grad to lift a city into the sky and drop it like a meteor, mimicking an extinction-level impact.

Which character dies shielding Hawkeye from gunfire?

Pietro Maximoff, Quicksilver, takes the bullets meant for Hawkeye and a local boy during the Novi Grad evacuation; Aaron Taylor-Johnson played him.

Who plays Dr. Helen Cho, the geneticist whose technology Ultron hijacks?

Claudia Kim, the South Korean actress who later played Nagini in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, plays geneticist Helen Cho, whose Cradle regenerates living tissue.

Which four heroes make up the new Avengers roster Rogers and Romanoff prepare to train at the end?

The new roster is Rhodes, Vision, Sam Wilson and Wanda; Anthony Mackie said he only learned Falcon had joined the Avengers when he watched the finished film.

What does the mid-credits scene show Thanos putting on?

Thanos slips on the Infinity Gauntlet in the mid-credits scene, declaring 'Fine, I'll do it myself'; nothing follows the end credits.

Why did Whedon skip the customary post-credits sequence?

Whedon said he felt he could not top the shawarma scene that closed The Avengers, so the film has only a mid-credits Thanos tag and no post-credits scene.

Which actor filmed scenes as Loki that were cut from the film?

Tom Hiddleston shot a Loki cameo for Thor's vision sequence, but it was cut after test audiences took it to mean Loki was controlling Ultron.

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; Whedon shot the effects plates anyway and reused the shot for Wanda's entrance.

An early draft had the Hulk's Quinjet detected near which planet at the end of the film?

It was cut to squash rumours of a Planet Hulk movie, a storyline Marvel later used anyway 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.

Whedon named which two films as inspirations for the sequel?

Whedon cited The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II as the sequels he admired, wanting a smaller, more personal and more painful story than the first film.

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 for Age of Ultron and shares the score credit, weaving Alan Silvestri's original Avengers theme into the new score.

At which English studio was most of the principal photography shot?

Shepperton Studios in Surrey hosted most of the main-unit shoot; production designer Charles Wood built a vast Avengers Tower interior set there.

What was the film's working title?

Age of Ultron shot under the working title After Party; Group Hug, Sputnik and Mary Lou were the code names for The Avengers, Civil War and Infinity War.

Which Italian region doubled as the fictional Eastern European nation, with signs re-lettered in Cyrillic?

Fort Bard and the towns of Aosta, Bard, Donnas and Verrès all appear.

Which English fortress provided the interiors of the Hydra base raided in the opening?

Dover Castle in Kent provided the Hydra base interiors; other English locations included the University of East Anglia and a Metropolitan Police training facility.

In which country did second-unit filming begin on February 11, 2014?

Second-unit filming began in South Africa on February 11, 2014, shooting plates in Johannesburg for the Hulk fight before the main unit started in England.

Up to what share of the production's spending did South Korea agree to reimburse?

South Korea agreed to reimburse up to 30% of the production's local spending; scenes were shot on the Mapo Bridge and in Gangnam.

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

Scarlett Johansson was pregnant during the shoot, so Black Widow's scenes used close-ups, concealing costumes and stunt doubles; Julie Delpy's Madame B. appears in her Red Room flashback.

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

Olsen trained mostly with a dancer instead of doing traditional stunt work.

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

F.R.I.D.A.Y., voiced by Kerry Condon, takes over as Stark's interface for the final battle after he picks her chip from a rack of spare AIs.

Whedon compared Ultron to which classic literary creation?

Whedon likened Ultron to Frankenstein's monster, a creation made in its maker's image that turns on him; Stark's own hubris births the villain.

Which Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World composer replaced Alan Silvestri for the sequel?

Brian Tyler, composer of Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, took over from Alan Silvestri, who had scored The Avengers in 2012.

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 was used to chilling effect in the first trailer?

The trailer leaked a week early, so Marvel released it officially within hours and it drew 34.3 million views in a day.

What was the film's estimated net production budget, making it one of the most expensive films ever made?

The net production budget was about $365 million after UK tax incentives; the gross figure before those credits was roughly $444 million.

Roughly how much did Age of Ultron gross worldwide?

Age of Ultron grossed about $1.4 billion worldwide, the fourth-highest total of 2015 behind The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and Furious 7.

Age of Ultron's $191 million domestic opening was then second only to which film?

The Avengers' $207.4 million debut in May 2012 was the only domestic opening bigger than Age of Ultron's $191.3 million until Jurassic World's $208.8 million six weeks later.

Which sporting event was blamed for the film's opening weekend coming in below expectations?

The fight was on the Saturday of opening weekend, May 2, 2015.

Which country was the film's largest market outside North America?

China was the film's biggest market outside North America, taking about $240 million; the United Kingdom and South Korea each took well under $100 million.

Roughly 700 independent cinema screens in which country boycotted the film over Disney's rental fees?

Around 686 screens in Germany refused to show the film after Disney raised its share of ticket sales from 47.7% to 53%.

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

Harley-Davidson lent its Project LiveWire, the company's first electric motorcycle, for Black Widow's riding scenes; Audi supplied the film's cars.

Which sequence was cut short because test audiences did not respond to a hero being possessed by a Norn?

Erik Selvig's cave scene, in which Thor enters a mystical pool to revisit his vision, was trimmed after test audiences failed to respond to Thor being possessed by a Norn.

Which comic-book Hulk persona did the effects team deliberately avoid evoking under Wanda's spell?

The team considered grey skin and red eyes for the manipulated Hulk but dropped it so he would not evoke Joe Fixit, the comics' grey Hulk persona.

The film's final scene was reshot to include what?

The scene had originally been shot with Falcon in his Winter Soldier suit, but Ant-Man's redesign came out later that summer.

Which Marvel character did Whedon want at the end but couldn't use as the Sony deal wasn't done?

Whedon wanted Spider-Man in the closing roster, but Sony and Marvel only announced their sharing deal in February 2015, in time for Civil War instead.

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

Linda Cardellini, known for Freaks and Geeks and ER, plays Laura Barton; her role was kept secret to protect the reveal of Hawkeye's family.

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

Andy Serkis's performance-capture studio The Imaginarium coached Mark Ruffalo on playing the Hulk; Serkis also has an on-screen role in the film.