#2:Avengers: Age Of Ultron - the clues in its deleted scenes

abc news - #2:Avengers: Age Of Ultron - the clues in its deleted scenes


The Avengers franchise is surely the jewel in Marvel's franchise crown, yet when Age Of Ultron
 finally landed earlier this year, it's fair to say that nobody was entirely happy with the result, not least director Joss Whedon, who has been notably vocal about the final cut not being representative of the movie he
wanted to release. The film didn't resonate as perfectly as its predecessor with audiences either; perhaps because its construction wasn't as cleanly delineated as the precise three-act structure of Avengers Assemble, or possibly because it was always going to be impossible to match the thrill of seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes together for the very first time. Whatever the reason, it's generally recognised that the sequel didn't quite work as well as the original.

We'd argue, thought, that the film benefits from numerous rewatchings and should be lauded for the efforts of Whedon and co. to fit so much in; Age Of Ultron boasts a level of density that even the Vision's powers would struggle to match. Whilst the movie may have been ultimately hamstrung by its need to further the Marvel cinematic metaplot, its brave attempt to blur the lines between 'good' and 'evil', or perhaps simply by the responsibilities that come with being a tentpole action blockbuster - it still gave us an awful lot.

Whedon, however, had more. The film's eventual running time came in at a shade under two and a half hours so it's no surprise that he was eventually forced to leave more on the cutting-room floor. With the recent release of

 Age Of Ultron onto home formats, (and with the man himself giving some surprisingly candid interviews) we can begin to piece together an idea of what Whedon's final cut would have looked like, and hunt for further clues as to the fate of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you haven’t seen the deleted scenes yet you can get up to speed below...

Quicksilver's heart is made of gold



The first deleted scene to make its way onto the Blu-ray fleshes out the characters of the twins in greater detail, with Pietro Maximoff in particular gaining from a little extra screen time. We see him using his powers solely for the sake of good, speeding all over the planet to bring much-needed supplies back to the seemingly-impoverished citizens of Zerkovia. Whilst by no means essential, this scene would have helped to establish the twins as inherently good characters, showing that their alliance with Ultron develops not because they are 'evil' as such, but rather because their tragic backstory and bitter outlook is exploited by the titular antagonist to serve his own ends.

A residual effect of this scene is the humanisation of the Zerkovian citizens. The boy who Pietro sacrifices himself to save in the movie's climax is introduced here (alongside his sister who also appears later). As with most movies of this ilk, Marvel are still struggling with how to effectively produce a third act without having to resort to the tired 'the-whole-world-is-in-peril-and-there's-untold-destruction' sequence. Adding this moment back into the film's final cut would have at least helped audiences to care a smidgeon more about the fate of these faceless citizens of a fictional nation.

Oh, and before a neat little hook involving the possible presence of their enemy Iron Man (which instead turns out to be Ultron of course), you get to see Quicksilver flirt with a girl and then ask his sister if she's jealous. On reflection, perhaps Whedon left the scene out as it was just a little too Luke 'n' Leia for its own good...