If you ask me, it’s WAY too early to start promoting The Avengers: Age of Ultron. But here we go. Entertainment Weekly has a super-advanced preview of all things Avengers in this week’s issue, with a cover that features Iron Man, Captain America and Ultron. You can see the EW slideshow here – I’m including pics of Black Widow, the cover and a first look at Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who… I’m not sure that who the fan-boys pictured? Anyway, as for Black Widow and Scarlett Johansson’s real-life pregnancy, which she revealed just before she went to London to start filming… well, Joss Whedon says it’s fine. He says that they pulled out all the stops for Scarlett:
Scarlett Johansson may be pregnant, but moviegoers will be hard-pressed to find any indication of her burgeoning belly when Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters next summer – thanks to a little strategic planning by director Joss Whedon and company.
While reprising her role as Black Widow for the highly anticipated sequel, the 29-year-old mother-to-be was given a variety of high-waisted outfits to wear in order to conceal the fact that she has a bun in the oven, Entertainment Weekly reports in its latest issue. But Whedon insists the efforts to hide Johansson’s pregnancy were, nevertheless, kept to a minimum.
“She’s not going to spend the whole movie carrying groceries,” notes Whedon. “We didn’t trim any scenes. We’re like, ‘We’ll make it work.’ ”
And while shooting the flick involved a lot of action, steps were taken to make sure Johansson’s baby was kept out of harm’s way. In fact, not one, not two, but three stunt doubles were brought in to handle the more physically intense scenes.
“It’s always funny,” Johanson’s costar Chris Evans tells EW. “You walk by, ‘Hey Scarlett – oh, weird. You’re not Scarlett at all. Sorry.’ A lot of fake Scarletts around.”
I heard somewhere (??) that Black Widow plays a very important, central role in this film, so I guess it’s good that they didn’t A) fire Scarlett and recast the role or B) rewrite the script to limit Black Widow’s scenes. While I’m not a huge fan of Black Widow, The Avengers definitely need more chicks and Black Widow is what we get. And as I said months ago… they can just do close-ups and shoot her from the boobs up. Her boobs are HUGE! And that will make the fna-boys happy. But really, THREE stunt doubles? Yikes.
As for the spoilery spoilers about Ultron and the plot and whatever, you can read part of the EW cover story here and here. Why are they releasing this much information a year in advance?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Entertainment Weekly.
As with all movies of this genre, I will wait for this to wind up on HBO.
I am about tapped out on comic book movies.
As for ScarJo, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
ScarJo is always zzzzz wait we can’t call her ScarJo, she gets offended zzzzz oh wait zzzzz *suddenly falls asleep out of boredom*
Really looking forward to seeing “Lucy” though, it looks really great.
I guess it was evident that they had to hire a stunt double to replace her in nearly every scene, three seems exaggerated though!
Not a fan of how Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch look…
Quicksilver looks like Nick Carter from Backstreet boys and Scarlet Witch looks… goth. Interesting.
OMG you are right! I was trying to put my finger on a name but I couldn’t remember who was looking like him!
Hey Im Glad Scarlet Witch has clothes TBH
No kidding. I was so relieved when those first pictures of her came out and she looked like a normal person. Also that red jacket is bitching and I wish they’d let some fashion company sell replicas. I’d totally buy one.
The Scarlet Witch outfit comes directly from the Fox cartoon X Men Evolution which portrayed her as just that a moody powerful goth girl. Her and Rogue could have been twins.
Why 3? That seems excessive.
Seriously! Is she even in this movie or is she just featured in all the promos?
I have heard that having multiple stunt doubles isn’t that uncommon…even for non-pregnant people. Lainey said that Chris Evans has 3 stunt doubles: a fight double, a stunt motorcycle rider, and a parkour specialist.
It is not uncommon. I posted a link down thread about this. According to Sarah from Cinesnark, Johansson go to double Heidi Moneymaker wasn’t hired for this film so the movie makes hired 3 to replace Moneymaker. Read the article, it’s a good one.
And it is not Lainey, it is Sarah from Cinesnark that talks about it. Lainey is for gossip but when it comes to the movies, it is Sarah who does the writing.
Oh man, that’s disappointing, because her previous stunt double was amazing.
And yes, its totally normal for a movie like this to have multiple stunt doubles. I’d imagine all the guys have at least 2.
Not a big deal. Black Widow’s fights are all done in quick cuts so it’s always been painfully obvious she doesn’t do any of it. The odd time it’s her in shot she’s awkward as hell.
Quicksilver looks dumb. But the XMen version looked silly and was awesome. So who knows?
I’m not sure they can top the XMen version. His scenes were so enjoyable!
They’re going more hunky than funny here it would seem.
This! I wasn’t expecting much from Quicksilver in the recent XMen but damn, Evan Peters was charming and his main scene was one of the best in the film. I found myself wishing there was more of him.
He’ll have a bigger part in the next XMen and he’ll also (presumably) find out who his Daddy is…and get to annoy him some more. 😉
I hope they keep him light-hearted since it looks like Avengers will do the tortured, angsty version. That will limit the comparisons for both actors.
I loved Evan Peters as QuickSilver. He was hilarious! And I can’t wait for him to find out who his dad is!
I agree. I hope they keep EP’s Quicksilver lighthearted and entertaining (vs super dramatic). It added a fresh texture to the franchise.
So yes I all for “I’m gonna annoy my old man” type stuff
vs.
“Luke I am your father” type angst.
I’m pretty sure most blockbuster movies like this have a couple of stunt doubles for different reasons and also just in case something happens to any one of them so three isn’t really a big deal.
I totally forgot she was pregnant.
Right? That’s what I like about Scarlet. She’s not in everyone’s face all the time. 🙂
No, but her boobs are. They are glorious.
Agree. Her breasts are beautiful!
Her pregnancy boobs are epic. That outfit is going to look pretty fab on her.
booooooobs!
They hire multiple stunt doubles based on their skills. They had two for Chris Evans in the first Avengers.
I actually heard that her part got downsized in the movie because of her pregnancy. It’s why she wasn’t in London as long as everyone else, I think they’re still filming too.
3 stuntdoubles seems excessive, but wasn’t she already about 3 or 4 months along when she started filming? Maybe they just wanted to be extra careful.
Never too early for photos of Chris Evans.
Is tomorrow a national holiday for Celebitchy? I’ve got my Sherlock DVDs queued up and my hat ready.
Elizabeth Olsen has Maggie Gyllenhall face, I always think she’s ten years older than she is. Why is that?? I can’t figure it out, it’s not like they have wrinkles or anything, and they’re both pretty.
It’s true. She looks like she has really aged int he past two years. It’s so weird. I wonder if she hits the booze/drugs or something.
I don’t have an opinion about her looks but she really is a good actress. I just watched her in Martha Marcy May Marlene and she was excellent.
Great film. She was excellent as was john hawkes who is good in everything he’s in
Maggie will forever be Droopy Dog.
All the press is because of Comic-Con! Big Avengers panel happening with all the cast and wheadon. Its a huge deal.
Yep! This is the Comic Con rush. I’m fine with the pictures but I’m not reading that article.
This is EW’s big San Diego Comic Con preview magazine. The entire cast is, of course, going to be there. They’ve been shooting for months, so there will probably be scenes shown, and a teaser trailer which will probably debut in front of Guardians of The Galaxy in a few weeks. Avengers 2 comes out in less than a year. All big movies begin promotion this soon, especially since geek mecca is beginning.
Because San Diego Comic Con is next week that’s why! They typically do teasers and panels on these movies even when the movie won’t be released for a year. It’s not uncommon for studios to promote superhero movies a year in advance. They would do Twilight teasers and Hunger Games teaser trailers and Harry Potter months before the actual movies came out. In this digital age we want more sooner.
Well, she’s pregnant so I can’t blame her. Anyway, I love her in Winter Soldier and I’m excited to see Lucy. She kicks ass!
Why did they even bother hiring a 4 months pregnant lady for a role that involves fight scenes? I think this movie is going to be a blockbuster failure.
Because they hired and contracted her years before she became pregnant. Scarlett was hired in 2009 for Iron Man 2 (2010), and has appeared in The Avengers (2012) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
Besides the first Avengers movie made 1.5 billion dollars. And All the Marvel movies combined has made 6.7 billion dollars. There’s literally no way this will fail.
+10 for next-level trolling.
Blockbuster failure? Either you live under a rock or you are trolling.
Not trying to troll, I just don’t understand why these type of movies are so popular.
Because the movies themselves are based on comics, comics have had fans since they were published. Add in the children who like the superheroes. Add in the family that likes to go to see movies together that isn’t overly sexed nor overly violent for shock factor.
There is a TV show, Comic Book Men, which is popular because there are a LOT of comic book fans out there. I loved it when the Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons was CRUSHED and said, “But Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without gills, you’re from two different worlds!!….Oh, I’ve wasted my life.”
I really like Joss Whedon.
XMen had better Quicksilver casting. No son of Fassy (Magneto) would look that ridiculous.
Haha! Son of Fassy, I love it. They can’t mention Magneto in Avengers (legal stuff), so the two Quicksilvers will likely end up quite different.
As I recall Magneto has had a lot of children in various comic book continuities. I think it would be funny if they just kept getting added to the movies. It will end up looking like Fassy fathered half of the Marvel universe. 😉
I remember that they can’t mention it – but until they recast Magneto (and probably even then) will always be Fassy’s kids 😀
And I would love to see them continue to add random kids in – that purple suit came off A LOT in the Marvel Universe!!
“Why are they releasing this much information a year in advance?”
Because Comic Con is next week and they’re going. Dollars to donuts the footage they screen will relate to the plot points discussed in EW.
Eh, Quicksilver has always and will always look dumb. He looks dumb in the comics (hello, little hair hornspikes), and he’ll look dumb on screen. This is, at least, closer to what I picture when I think of live-action Quicksilver, with the sleek suit and the blue and the lightning bolts. There’s also no telling how he’ll look when the movie is actually finished. Evan Peters ended up looking a lot cooler than expected in Days of Future Past, so ATJ will probably turn out fine, too.
My 11yo daughter LOVES Black Widow(says she loves her because she can kick butt and is smart). And she is super excited about Scarlet Witch as well.
Seriously, tho it’s H’wood-WTF are they doing with that busted dye job on ATJ ?! They should have taken him to Anna Pacquin’s colorist instead of holding him upside down and flea-dipping his head in bleach.
I think that Cobie Smulders would have been a much better Black Widow than Scarlett. That little flip she did in the Avengers movie was really Cobie and not a stunt double. Also she is closer to the comic book Black Widow as far as looks. Of course she is not as big of a name as Johansson and Scarlett was perfectly fine as the character but she looks really tiny next to the guys.
Black Widow doesn’t need to be tall or muscular. She is mostly quick and agile, and uses her adversaries’ stupid misconceptions on women’s weakness. So being tiny is actually something she can use in her favor (and fits more with her past in ballet). Personally, I find her more empowering that way (just like Buffy). Citing comic-books’ looks isn’t always a good reason: where Wonder Woman’s greek origins and the amazon stature are essential to who she is, Johnny Storm doesn’t need to be an aryen model to be a rich cocky teen.
I still love the Avengers although I have totally OD’ed on Ironman. I can’t stand scenes with him anymore. But I love the Black Widow so I’m glad she has a central role in Ultron. And we definitely need more women in these superhero movies – both just in numbers and in central roles. I want Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel movies! And a movie about Lady Sif of Asgard (with frequent cameos by Idris Elba)!
“And a movie about Lady Sif of Asgard (with frequent cameos by Idris Elba)!”
YAYYY!!!
Here is my dream. ABC clearly wanted Agents of SHIELD to be a family-friendly adventure hour, but a show about spies and assassins is never going to be that light hearted. But Tales from Asgard totally could be that show. Make a show starring Lady Sif and every week it’s just a different adventure fighting some silly monster, like Xena, but with a bigger budget. It would be awesome, plus MORE SIF!
HAHAH Tales of Asgard! Love it.
Agreed! I keep saying exactly this. Bring on the female superheros.
If you ask me, they were released for fans and Comic Con promotion. Not half drunk internet bloggers.
They should have hired an acting double as well. Scarjo just can’t act sh-t. That said I am looking forward to A2!
They have to start promoting these movies earlier and earlier because there will be a burnout factor with audiences so with these marvel characters any or news means new ways of creating anticipation for films that aren’t showing up for two years in most cases.
Sarah over at Cinesnark posted a great article about this over at Lainey Gossip (wished she would have posted it on her own site). Give it a read.
http://www.laineygossip.com/Scarlett-Johansson-needed-3-stunt-doubles-for-Avengers-Age-Of-Ultron/30787
For as much as I don’t like Johansson, I really do like her Black Widow & I wish she would get her own film (but w/o Hawkeye, at least at first).
That picture of SJ as the Widow was taken in the early days of shooting Age of Ultron, where Marvel had to rearrange the filming schedule to accommodate her pregnancy. Despite the party line Marvel can’t be please with this development – her pregnancy has run up the production costs with not only the three stunt doubles but also the cost of insuring a pregnant actress for an action film. It doesn’t matter if Marvel makes it back, that studio is known to be tight-fisted. Comic Con is next week and I wouldn’t be surprised if SJ is not on stage with the rest of the Avengers. She’s eight months pregnant now; and Black Widow looking like she will go into labor at any moment will be a buzz kill for the fan boys. Watch the focus be on the Scarlet Witch. (Glad she’s not dressing like a hooker in the movie.)
NO ONE is going to say anything about her busted, carrot top-reject wig? not flattering! the darker red from the other movie looked a LOT better on her. i guess no one will notice because BOOBS.
As long as there is plenty of Tony, Cap and Bruce I don’t care how many stunt doubles ScarJo needed. I could do without her completely. They should have used The Wasp instead. Or Captain Marvel.
I think having 3 stunt doubles is fine…I’m not sure what the fuss is about having higher insurance costs to accomodate her pregnancy. This is a private enterprise anyway. Imagine the fuss if she was fired for getting pregnant or the producers keep lamenting about her pregnancy. Now translate that to an office environment. However, they have chosen to be professional about it. So I think they deserve some credit.