Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer breakdown

A second Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer has been released, and with little over three months to go until the film's released, there's still loads we don't know about it.

So what does this trailer tell us about the film? We've been hunting for fresh clues, and here's what we found...

Dark Avengers

It's a fairly standard move to look at the sequel to a blockbuster hit and proclaim that it's going to be 'darker' than the first, but whether or not it's true, this trailer really wants us to take that away from it. Gone are the wisecracks and thrills of the first film, and in their place are scenes of weeping, screaming, and lots of stuff getting wrecked.

It's safe to say the film itself is going to balance some of this out, but there's definitely a sense of stakes being raised for the characters. Given the tone of this trailer, we'll be surprised if the team makes it out intact at all. That would, after all, put a stop to those pesky 'where are the rest of the Avengers?' questions that every phase 2 Marvel film has had to deal with…

Ultron Unleashed

This trailer more or less gives us confirmation about what Ultron is, in that Tony Stark's narration talks about a "fragile" world needing something bigger than the Avengers to protect it. It's a safe bet that Ultron is his response to that – an attempt to create some kind of defense system that doesn't rely on Thor being available at a moment's notice. The question is whether that system goes awry on its own, or whether it's Hydra's meddling that turns Ultron into a threat.

The Lady by the Lake

There aren't a lot of completely new moments in this trailer, but this one catches our eye. It's a woman in a cave dropping her cloak near to some kind of underground lake. Doesn't look like any established character. Any guesses? We're half-wondering if this is our first look at a Wakandan. Certainly there's a ceremonial look to her, and there seems to be a strangely serene appearance to the cave she's in.

So bear with us on this, but with a Black Panther movie in the works for 2017, it would make sense if Avengers: Age Of Ultron introduced a little Wakandan lore, if not the Panther himself. In the comics, Wakanda is the place where the strange metal Vibranium comes from. There are two kinds of Vibranium – the type that absorbs vibration (some of which is cast in Cap's shield – at least in the comics) and Anti-Metal Vibranium, which emits vibrations that destroy metal. Anti-Metal has been used to destroy Ultron in the comics. It's not a huge leap to suggest that it'll happen in this movie.

Back Story

From this clip, it looks as though the Widow is returning to Russia with business in mind. It appears that Andy Serkis is going to be playing someone she's familiar with, and given that it's the Black Widow you can bet they're probably not familiar in a good way. At the very least, we're getting a look at the Young Black Widow, as seen here:

So who is Serkis playing? Could he be the Widow's former handler, or ex-husband, or just an old enemy? When he appeared in the last trailer people noted his resemblance to the human form of Ulysses Klaw – who, interestingly, is a villain traditionally associated with the Black Panther – but at this point he could be anyone. But he's probably Klaw.

What's Missing?

It's common to complain about trailers giving everything away, but two trailers in and there's a lot we still haven't seen of Age of Ultron. No indication about what role Selvig is going to play in the story. No look at Paul Bettany's version of the Vision. Almost nothing that indicates whether Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch will join the team or be permanent antagonists. And for that matter, no Baron Strucker at all. We may have seen a large amount of Hulk-on-Hulkbuster fighting, and that's fine, but there's loads we're not being show here. And we're just fine with that.

So, it's not an entirely new trailer, but there's a lot of new stuff in here to think on while we wait for the film's imminent release. Avengers: Age Of Ultron is out April 24th, 2015 in the UK and May 1st in the US.