Avengers: Age of Ultron may get extended cut, alternate ending for home release

By Steve Smith April 27, 2015

avengers age of ultron may get extended release on blu ray

Avengers: Age of Ultron hasn’t even been released in the U.S. yet but true fans should be prepared to watch the superhero bonanza at least twice. Even before it touches down in the stateside, there are already rumors that the film will have an extended cut and an alternate ending when it makes its way to your home theater on Blu-ray.

Screencrush spotted the announcement from a pre-order email from Amazon. The window for theatrical and home releases is getting smaller every day, but hoping people pre-order a movie that hasn’t even seen a wide release yet is asking a lot.

It is well known that director Joss Whedon’s original cut for the film clocked in at over three hours, which is crazy-long for a superhero movie, and much longer than the final product. One could assume that a lot was left on the cutting room floor as the production team slimmed down the film for theaters. That isn’t to say that all the cut footage will make its way back in by any means, but there’s a solid chance that the director’s cut will offer a lot more footage that theater audiences won’t get to see.

As for the alternate ending, Marvel’s upcoming movie slate is so full right now that the secondary option likely won’t stray far from the theater release, since balancing all of those plates in the air must be incredibly difficult, and continuity is essential to keep the Marvel universe from spinning out of control. Whedon could have filmed something like the ending of The Avengers, where all the heroes are just sitting around eating shwarma, for instance.

While we’ll have to wait a few months to see the action that didn’t make the final cut, the theatrical release of Avengers: Age of Ultron is playing in plenty of theaters around the world and had a monster opening weekend overseas, raking in more than $200 million. The movie will see a wide release in the U.S. and the rest of the world on May 1.

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No strings: Here’s everything we know about Avengers: Age of Ultron

Ultron

You can't keep a good superhero -- or superhero team, for that matter -- down, and the success of Marvel Studios' ambitious 2012 team-up movie directed by Joss Whedon ensured that Marvel's cinematic universe was here to stay. Walt Disney Pictures confirmed Whedon's return for the sequel to The Avengers just a few months after the film broke box-office records and earned a long list of awards on its way to creating new standards for superhero movies and franchise continuity.

Disney announced the release date for the then-untitled sequel to The Avengers shortly thereafter, and confirmed that the project eventually titled Avengers: Age of Ultron would hit theaters May 1, 2015.
The Plot
Rather than pit the superhero team against the god-like cosmic villain Thanos, who appeared in a post-credits scene during The Avengers, the villain of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron was revealed during 2013's San Diego Comic-Con International to be the evil android Ultron, one of the Avengers' most persistent and deadly foes in the Marvel Comics universe. However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige indicated that despite The Avengers: Age Of Ultron sharing its title with a popular Marvel Comics storyline, the film would not be based on that story.

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Avengers: Age of Ultron opens to $44.8 million in 2 days overseas

first look scarlet witch quicksilver avengers age ultron ageofultronlogo

Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for release in the United States on May 1, 2015, but some lucky fans overseas have gotten an early look. Marvel's newest entry into the studio's superbly successful superhero universe has clocked in at $44.8 million at the box office in the first two days of its release across 26 territories. Not only did the film pull in impressive marks, but it led the race for each country in which it was shown.

The United Kingdom proudly took first place at $5.4 million which accounted for an astonishing 84 percent of movie tickets in that time period. This represented a 40 percent increase over the first Avengers release for the U.K. It also marked the third largest Thursday in U.K. cinema history. While Furious 7 was the fastest movie of all time to break $1 billion worldwide, Age of Ultron could certainly give it a run for its money.

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Here’s your first look at Vision in action in Avengers: Age Of Ultron

avengers age of ultron vision paul bettany

Up until this point, anyone wondering what Paul Bettany's android character Vision would look like in Avengers: Age of Ultron had to rely on promotional images and a blink-and-you-miss-it moment at the end of one of the trailers. Some of that mystery has now been removed, however, with the debut of a new clip, in which Iron Man, Thor, and the rest of the team seem to have their first encounter with Vision.

The clip appeared on a recent episode of The One Show on BBC (spotted by Comic Book Resources), and features Bettany as Vision making an explosive entrance that sends Thor (Chris Hemsworth) reeling. After assessing the situation, he attacks Thor, only to be thrown to the other side of the room. When he recovers, he finds himself gazing out at massive cityscape, and floats in the air while looking through a window at the lights of the city below him.