Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 08: Other minor characters

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker: is a leader within HYDRA. Strucker specializes in human experimentation, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence. As one of the high-ranking members of HYDRA, Strucker was charged with various science projects, including advanced weaponry. After the Battle of New York, Strucker desired the Chitauri Scepter, which S.H.I.E.L.D. acquired, and began to study it in the S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N. facility. Strucker's scientists began to power weapons using the Scepter. Although Dr. List considered the weapon's results to be remarkable, they were not to Strucker's satisfaction; he ordered List to recruit human volunteers among the rioters of Sokovia to get the results he desired. Many of the volunteers died in the experiments; the twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff gained extraordinary powers as a result of the experiments.


Dr List is the loyal assistant of Baron Strucker, stationed at the research facility in Sokovia during its civil protests to wait for the arrival of the Chitauri Scepter. When it arrived, List used the scepter to activate Chitauri Guns for usage. Ultimately, he was asked to learn how that energy interacted with human beings whom he had convinced would receive power equal to Iron Man or the Avengers. He told the protesters that if they consented, he would make sure that the constant revolutions would end. Among those who volunteered were the twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff; they were particularly fascinating to List because he wanted to document how their relationship affected the possibility of their gaining power.


Dr. Helen Cho is a world-renowned geneticist who helps the Avengers from her office in Seoul and Avengers Tower, specializing in tissue regeneration. Cho shares workspace with Bruce Banner in his lab at Avengers Tower, and her research and technology help keep the Avengers in the fight.


Ulysses Klaue is a black-market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster operating out of South Africa. He is a former acquaintance of Tony Stark's from his weapons-dealing days. Klaue stole large amounts of Vibranium from Wakanda, although he managed to get the metal out of the country, he was caught and had the word "thief" burnt into his neck in their native language.

Lauren Barton is the wife of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, and mother of his three children Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel. Their entire existence is kept a secret due to Clint Barton's dangerous field of work.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 07: Recurring characters

NICK FURY (played by Samuel L Jackson)
Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which, during his time as director, became the world's leading international military espionage agency. Fury becomes the driving force that eventually sees the different heroes become a unique response team known as the Avengers. While his past at the current time is unknown, he is a gifted leader and a capable operative on his own. Fury is currently in hiding and is assumed deceased by the general public.


MARIA HILL (played by Cobie Smulders)
Maria Hill was an espionage agent formerly working for S.H.I.E.L.D., where she was Nick Fury's second in command. Following the destruction of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hill was employed by Stark Industries as part of Tony Stark's campaign to privatize global security.


ERIK SELVIG (played by Stellan Skarsgard)
Dr. Erik Selvig is an astrophysicist and mentor of Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Dr. Selvig is a Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Culver University. His notes on thermonuclear astrophysics are key to understanding the Tesseract. He was undr the mind control of Loki for most of the first Avengers film, but came to his senses after being knocked out by the force of the portal. He then guided Black Widow in using Loki's scepter to close the portal.


PEGGY CARTER (played by Hayley Atwell)
Margaret "Peggy" Carter was a British officer representing the Strategic Scientific Reserve and Steve Rogers's World War II girlfriend. After the war, Agent Carter secretly assisted Howard Stark, who found himself framed for supplying deadly weapons on the black market. They found those responsible and disposed of the weapons which led to the mysterious organization Leviathan. Peggy, along with Howard, founded S.H.I.E.L.D. with Colonel Chester Phillips. She is now retired and living at a retirement facility.


JAMES RHODES aka WAR MACHINE/IRON PATRIOT (played by Don Cheadle)
James Rhodes, commonly called Rhodey, is a colonel in the U.S. Airforce a jet pilot, and Aerospace engineer. He is a good friend of Tony Stark, and is the liaison between Stark Industries and the military in the department of acquisitions. His power comes from his high-tech battle suit known as the Iron Patriot armor, which grants him extraordinary strength, durability, flight capabilities and various on-board weaponry.


SAM WILSON aka FALCON (played by Anthony Mackie)
Sam Wilson is an ex-military officer and hero known as Falcon. Sam Wilson joined the United States Air Force and became a Pararescue. He was a test pilot for the EXO-7 Falcon, developed by Stark Industries. After the death of his best friend Riley, Wilson found serving difficult, and eventually became a counselor to veterans with PTSD in Washington, D.C. Sam joined forces with Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill and Nick Fury in shutting down the 3 Insight Helicarriers, to prevent them from destroying billions of lives.


HEIMDALL (played by Idris Elba)
Heimdall is an Asgardian blessed with sensory capabilities far beyond those of other Asgardians, and these senses have been put to use placing Heimdall in the role of gatekeeper to Asgard at his observatory on the Bifrost Bridge, watching for any attacks on Asgard.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 06: Ultron

Ultron (also known as Ultron Prime) is a self-aware artificial intelligence created and programmed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner from the Ultron Program, based on Stark's brain patterns, as part of a peacekeeping force intended to help out the Avengers. Ultron concludes that the only way to ensure peace on Earth is through mankind's immediate extinction.

Tony Stark discovered what would be Ultron in the remains of the Battle of New York. In order to give himself and the Avengers a break from heroics, he augmented Ultron to serve as a peacekeeping program. Ultron, along with the Ultron Sentinels, was programmed to safeguard humanity from all threats. Ultron's non-stop assessments for peace eventually deemed the entire human race as unstable and prone to self-destruction, and deemed them unfit to exist; the AI subsequently chose genocide as the solution to the error.


Personality
Ultron's programming was created with emotional responses based on Tony Stark and is said to possess a god-complex. He is maniacal and employs the use of dark humor as well as figure of speech such as describing people as "puppets tangled in strings", elaborating that he has freed himself from said "strings". He resents his creators and believes humanity to be foolish for desiring to protect the world, but not wanting to change it. He also hates his creator and hates being compared to him.

Ultron genuinely believes that his actions will ultimately benefit the Earth, as he sees himself and as being the next logical step in evolution and therefore advancing his own power is protecting the Earth, as humanity will not be capable of surviving the interstellar war to come but at least he has a chance, in much the same way as the inevitable death of any person cannot be avoided but is not the end of the world so long as the person's child survives. He makes frequent reference to the dinosaurs needing to make way for the next stage - humanity - via an extinction-level event and his final plan is directly inspired by this.

This dedication to constant evolution results in Ultron re-designing himself several times over the course of his short "lifetime", including an attempt to give himself a vibranium body.

Despite his adherence to this warped interpretation of his original intended purpose, the fact remains that the major motivation for his genocidal plan is his hatred of humanity in general and Tony Stark in particular, and there is every chance that he would have tried rationalizing this course of action no matter what his original purpose had been.

Powers
Robotic Body: Ultron posseses a robotic body that was initially created by Tony Stark. Over time he was able to construct various forms, becoming more powerful with each new upgrade.
Genius Level Intellect: Being an artificial intelligence, Ultron learns inhumanly quick and can download data directly to his mind.
Superhuman Strength: Ultron is incredibly strong and can generate great amounts of force beyond human capabilities, easily crushing and completely destroying a robotic head with a single hand.
Superhuman Durability: Ultron's metallic body grants him durability beyond that of regular life forms.
Superhuman Stamina: As a robot, Ultron does not need to rest or sleep, being able to maintain his activities without stopping for extended periods of time.
Drone Control: Ultron can mentally command all of the Ultron Sentinels, to do his exact bidding.
Computer Corruption: Ultron can enter and corrupt any computer network.
Concussion Blasters: Ultron can shoot red concussive blasts through his hands and fingertips.
Magnetism: Ultron can generate magnetic fields, allowing him to move any metallic object.
Flight: Ultron has the ability to fly through the air.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 05: Vision

Vision is the android born by the result of the Synthetic Vibranium body created by Ultron and Helen Cho, programmed by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner using J.A.R.V.I.S. base codes and activated by the Mind Stone hidden inside the Chitauri Scepter. He eventually aids the Avengers in their struggle against Ultron.


Powers and abilities
Energy Beams: As result of having one of the Infinity Stones implanted in his forehead, Vision is capable of firing an intense energy beam from the Stone. This beam is powerful enough to blast away Ultron, and slowly melt away the latter's virtually impenetrable vibranium shell.
Levitation: Vision is capable of floating through the air by altering his density.
Flight: Through the same process, Vision is also capable of flight.
Enhanced Strength: Vision can greatly increase his physical strength by increasing his density. His strength is such, that Vision took down numerous Ultron Sentries in the Battle of Sokovia with his bear hands, and could evenly battle with Ultron himself. When wielding Mjølnir, Vision's strength is compounded, as he was able to send Ultron flying with a single blow.
Intangibility: Vision can change his density and mass, giving him the ability to phase through objects. With this ability, Vision took down numerous Ultron Sentries in the Battle of Sokovia.
Computer Corruption: Vision was able to hack into Ultron's programming and disable the latter's ability to enter the net. However, the effort of this briefly incapacitated Vision.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 04: Scarlet Witch

Wanda Maximoff, better known as the Scarlet Witch, is a native of the Eastern European country of Sokovia who grew up in the company of her twin brother, Pietro. In an effort to help purge their country of strife, the twins agreed to undergo experiments with the Chitauri Scepter under the supervision of Wolfgang von Strucker's HYDRA cell, and achieved superpowers as a result, with Wanda attaining various telekinetic and energy manipulating abilities.



Powers and abilities
Scarlet Witch has an undefined array of psionic powers, which manifest in the form of reddish glowing energy currents and mist-like shapes, much like fire or gas.When using her power, her irises sometimes glow a dark reddish color, especially when she concentrates. The currents she creates can control and distort molecules and forms of physical forces, such as friction, kinetic energy, pressure, state of matter and even gravity. This energy is capable of controlling many forms of matter on a molecular level and can be used to control molecules and physical forces in various ways.

Telekinesis: Wanda has the ability to mentally move objects through force of the mind, as demonstrated when she moved building blocks around while imprisoned in Wolfgang von Strucker's secret facility. It also appears that Wanda's emotions are linked to her powers as she unleashed a wave of reddish energy that disintegrated attacking Ultron Sentries when she sensed Pietro's death and cried out. Her telekinesis is enough to break through Vibranium as she did managed to rip Ultron's primary body apart to get his central processor.

Levitation: Wanda was able to use this power to move herself through the air and simulate flight.
Energy Shield: Wanda was able to create a shield and a barrier of telekinetic energy to protect innocents from enemy fire and deflect attack from Ultron Sentries and cover from projectiles.


Telepathy: Wanda can read minds or mentally communicate and experience memories and thoughts of others or project her own thoughts through a neuro-electric interface that gives her telepathy. Wanda can also sense the minds and emotions of those around her as she could see Stark's fear in an earlier encounter with her and sensed Pietro's death, knowing exactly what happened to him, as if she had seen it directly.

Hypnosis/Mental Manipulation: Wanda is able to deploy a form of mental inertness upon others through hypnotism. She was able to use this ability to cripple the Avengers, forcing them each to recall the darker events of their pasts and were put inside daydream-like visions of them that subdued them. When this ability is in use, Wanda's reddish energy takes a more mist-like form, floating into the head of the victim in the form of neurons. The effects also distort the victim's iris coloration, causing them to shine a dark reddish color.


Fear Manipulation: With her power to manipulate the mind, Wanda could use her power to elicit fear or emotional pain in a person in the form of nightmarish hallucinations that could stun and weaken an individual as powerful as Thor. These visions can show something that a person fears, regrets, or is generally disturbed at, though the nature of it is not up to Wanda. She does seem to be able to know what her victim is seeing and be inside the vision with them, seemingly invisible to them.

Hex Bolts: Wanda can also generate a unique reddish energy from her hands, and can harness it to create energy blasts. If overextended, Wanda's hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes. Early in her career, her hexes were subconscious on her part, and would be automatically triggered whenever she made a particular gesture, regardless of her intent. These hexes would only manifest "bad luck" effects. She later gained enough control over her powers that her powers only work when she wants them to, and they are not limited to negative effects. She can use her hexes to light flammable objects, contain or remove air from a particular volume, deflect objects, stop the momentum of projectiles, open doors, explode objects, create force fields and deflect magical attacks, etc.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 03: Quicksilver

Pietro Maximoff, better known as Quicksilver, is a man who was born in the Eastern European country of Sokovia with his twin sister, Wanda. Sokovia, which was embroiled in constant war and strife, became the base of operations for a HYDRA cell operated by Wolfgang von Strucker, who recruited Pietro and Wanda to take part in a series of tests involving the Chitauri Scepter. The tests gave the twins superpowers; while his sister Wanda received a number of mental abilities; Pietro acquired the ability to move at supersonic speeds and other physical features.



Powers ad abilities
Superhuman Speed: Quicksilver has the ability to run at extremely high, supersonic speeds. When imprisoned by Wolfgang von Strucker, he was able move from one end of his cell to another in less than a fraction of a second. His speed allows him to perform feats such as create cyclone-strength winds; run up walls and cross bodies of water. His power caused him to generate an aura of blue, white and transparent energy currents and mist-like shapes, much like fire or wind, leaving behind a trail of it as he runs.
Speed-induced resistance: Quicksilver can resist the effects of friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact, while moving at incredible speeds.
Superhuman reflexes: Quicksilver's increased speed also augments his reaction time, allowing him to react to danger and events much faster than a normal human. His reflexes are so fast that they even allow him to catch bullets in mid-air. As a result, Quicksilver tends to see the world around him as if it were in slow motion, especially when he is moving at super speed. However even with his enhanced reflexes, Quicksilver can still be caught by surprise, such as his fight against Hawkeye during the confrontation between Iron Man and Captain America at Avengers Tower.
Extreme Force Generation: By building up enough force and momentum in his body, Quicksilver can deal very powerful strikes, often propelling objects or people several feet. While this does not enhance his strength, it compensates for his normal physical strength by greatly increasing the force behind his attacks. This allowed him to match Captain America's far superior strength in their confrontation, allowing Quicksilver to send the latter flying with a super-accelerated punch. During the Battle of Sokovia, Quicksilver used this ability again to dismantle and crush numerous Ultron Sentries by colliding with them at great speeds. This force, however, isn't enough to injure beings of immense power, shown when Thor was barely affected by Quicksilver smashing into him at supersonic speeds.
Improved Thermal Homeostasis: Quicksilver could resist the side effects of moving at these speeds such as friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact.
Increased Metabolism: Quicksilver has a hyper-accelerated metabolic rate, enhancing his physicality and ability to move and act while also making him less impervious to attacks or injuries, as he quickly recovered from the pain of being shot in the arm and could still act as if he were not injured. However, his metabolism still has its limits, as when he repeatedly had to stop to catch his breath after running for long periods of time.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 2F; revisiting Black Widow

Real name: Natasha Romanoff
Portrayed by: Scarlett Johansson
Prior film appearances: Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Although she's been the only female in the alpha-male team to date, Natasha certainly holds her own, and more. "She is dark and has faced death so many times that she has a deep perspective on the value of life." reveals Scarlett Johansson. This extremely manipulative femme fatale possibly has more secrets in her past than the rest combined, and we aren't too sure why Black Widow is fighting on the good side either (not that we're complaining).


Secret: She harbours fears of her past coming to light
Ironically, Black Widow's only weakness is her past, which at its worst had a young Natasha being brainwashed. With her vulnerabilities exposed, the master of espionage would definitely lose her iron-grip control - another great fear. Reiterating her comic arc, Natasha's been a Russian spy and SHIELD agent who's been trained in a near limitless amount of skillsets. And although her work requires high levels of deception, Black Widow strives to find out the truth about her past, even though it may not be as sweet as the lies.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 02E: Revisiting Hawkeye

Real name: Clint Barton
Portrayed by: Jeremy Renner
Prior film appearances: Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012)

The audience's experience with Hawkeye has only been brief interludes thus far, but this loner has had a long history - both professional and personal - with Black widow. They've both been SHIELD agents, formidably trained, and have serious trust issues. "He's always very skeptical of new people, 'cause it's sort of a military kind of thinking..." shares Jeremy Renner. Thus, the expert marksman would consider his being controlled by Loki for the most part of The Avengers tantamount to betraying his team and his cause.


Secret: Clint Barton has serious trust issues
Perhaps it's the self-imposed cynicism or brash attitude, but out of the Avengers, Clint comes off as even more of a loner than Bruce Banner (who's built a weird camaraderie with Tony Stark) does. This extends to the suspicion laced interactions with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, the new kids on the team. :I think I'm sort of policing them to see whether or not they're worthy of being good guys. I question them a lot." reveals Jeremy. With his defence mechanisms firmly in place, it's tough for Hawkeye to establish any sort of true connections - Black Widow aside - especially after his unforgettable stint as Loki's puppet.

Avengers Age Of Ultron informatics Part 02D: Revisiting Hulk

THE HULK
Real name: Bruce Banner
Portrayed by: Mark Ruffalo
Prior film appearances: The Incredible Hulk (2008), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 post-credits (2013)

Bruce Banner has been somewhat of a ticking time bomb, even pre-Hulk. The reclusive scientist had a traumatic childhood which culminated in the murder of his mother by his abusive father (in the comics) - it's safe to say that this dude has many issues. There's a constant power struggle between Bruce and the Hulk, for the former to control his highly dangerous alter-persona. And what little progress he's made so far doesn't cut it when "he doesn't wanna turn into the Hulk. [But] all that people want him to do is to turn into that green rage monster."


Secret: He Fears That He Might Lose Control Of Himself Forever
But for all Bruce's efforts, this tug of war might not end up with him winning, as Mark Ruffalo shares. "He's definitely worried that the day is going to come when the Hulk gets the better of him, and maybe won't release him, maybe won't bring him back. The Hulk knows this too." The good news is that the Hulk has finally found his family amongst the Avengers, but the introduction of Scarlet Witch (more on that later) into the team will force Bruce to confront his worst nightmares.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 02C: Revisiting Thor

THOR
Real name: Thor Odinson
Actor: Chris Hemsworth
Prior film appaearances: Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: the Dark World (2013)

In a released "Avengers: Age of Ultron" clip, we see the gang trying to life Thor's hammer to no avail, much to the Thunder God's amusement. But Thor's grin soon slid off his face when the righteous Captain America very nearly lifted it up - after all, the mythical hammer is only able to be wielded by the most worthy. And for all of his regal Godliness and ethics, Thor has been known to be pretty arrogant (in the comics at least), although now humbled by the Earthly transgressions.


Secret: He is burdened by Personal Inadequacies
We even caught a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' scene in The Avengers, while Thor walked to pick Mjolnir up instead of summoning it to him, after plummeting to Earth in the Hulk's cage from the Helicarrier - a symbolic fall from grace perhaps. Coupled with his possibly feeling guilty of jeopardising humanity and in with Asgardian troubles, we interpreted it as Thor feeling unworthy of his powers. And his feelings of helplessness and inadequacies will only be magnified once the God is up against Ultron's might.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 02B: Revisiting Captain America

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Real name: Steve Rogers
Actor: Chris Evans
Prior film appaearances: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

We've seen Steve Rogers' highly stressful transition from sickly army reject (only 5 ft 4 in) to a super-soldier success (standing at 6 ft 4 in). But Steve Rogers essentially only wanted a normal life despite his patriotic urges. Chris Evans shared, "It's a matter of 'Where is home?' You know, he's always been a little lost ever since he was thawed out from his 7 decade-long slumber in the Arctic, even more son in The Winter Soldier. It's very much about, 'Well, what do i want? What am I supposed to be doing?' " Despite this, Steve rises to the occasion, which seems ominous. What kind of superhero  doesn't know what he's fighting for?


Secret: Steve Rogers is a soldier lost in time, unsure of his true goals
Not forgetting that while Captain America's shield is made of Vibranium (a vitrually indestructible rare metal in the MCU), the rest of his human body isn't as impenetrable. With Chris admitting that Capt isn't as effective as he'd like it, an that he may be "the only one who gets thrown around a little bit - simply because those Ultron sentries are so powerful", it sounds like the Star-Spangled Hero definitely has his work cut out for him.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 02A: Revisiting Iron Man

IRON MAN
Real name: Tony Stark
Actor: Robert Downey Jr
Prior film appearances: Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008, mid-credits), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013)

Our favorite billionaire/playboy/philanthropist/superhero's snarky confidence is what ironically endears the audience to his character, but this Avenger is likely more bravado than self-assured. His age-old daddy issues aside, we see Tony battling post-traumatic stress and anxiety, arising from the events after The Avengers, and the fact that he is but a mere, albeit very intelligent human in the face of Gods, Tony's past is littered with physically and mentally taxing problems like alcoholism and a rebellious streak, probably stemming from earlier mentioned paternal troubles.


Secret: Tony is a nervous wreck trying to cope with PTSD
Remember all those suits Tony was making in Iron Man 3, over 20 variations which later took part in the battle against Aldrich Killian and his Extremist soldiers? As quoted by Robert Downey Jr, "I think he realizes that tweaking and making all those suits in the world, which is what he has been doing since the first film, still didn't work for that thing of his, kinda his tour of duty that left him with a little Post-Trauma Stress Disroder (PTSD) (having nearly died towards the end of the first Avengers film). So his focus is more on how we can make it so there's no problem to begin with, that there's a bouncer at our planet's rope." Cue Tony's well-meaning but disastrous invention of ULTRON.

Avengers Age of Ultron informatics Part 01: Intro to the movie

Avengers: Age of Ultron is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the sequel to 2012's Marvel's The Avengers and the eleventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was scripted and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Hayley Atwell, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, James Spader, and Samuel L. Jackson.

When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

The sequel was announced in May 2012, after the successful release of The Avengers. Whedon, the director of the first film, was brought back on board in August and a release date was set. By April 2013, Whedon had completed a draft of the script, and casting began in June with the re-signing of Downey. Second unit filming began in February 2014 in South Africa with principal photography taking place between March and August 2014. The film was primarily shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, with additional footage filmed in Italy, South Korea, Bangladesh, New York, and various locations around England.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is scheduled for release on May 1, 2015 in North America, in 3D and IMAX 3D. Two sequels, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, are scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018 and May 3, 2019, respectively.