Avengers

Just before filming began on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlett Johansson found out she was pregnant. A movie like Avengers can't just be delayed, so Marvel used a variety of tricks to hide the pregnancy including shooting her from the waist up, using three stunt doubles and CGI-ing out her growing belly. This is just one of the facts packed into the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which follows the latest adventures of Earth's Mightiest Heroes!

There’s a lot to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the coolest thing about it is the way it reclaims the comic book part of the phrase “comic-book movie.” Rather than using these characters to do something “edgy” or “adult” or “important,” or sanding down their quirkier edges to appeal to as broad and mainstream an audience as possible, Age of Ultron doubles down on its source material’s geeky origins.

We’re approaching that point in the ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ marketing campaign where it can start to feel like we’ve already seen every big stunt and setpiece in the film before the movie’s even opened. But the new ‘Avengers’ trailer reveals yet another amazingly cool beat that’s never been seen before: Chris Evans’ Captain America loses his shield in battle with James Spader’s Ultron, so Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow snatches it while trailing the fight on a motorcycle, then slides under a semi-truck Fast & Furious-style and tosses it up to Cap so he can continue the battle. Awesome awesome awesome. (Marvel’s going to try to use that as a pull-quote on the poster, aren’t they?)

Joss Whedon returned to make the sequel to The Avengers, but he’s also said that shooting Age of Ultron was “a nightmare,” and if it hasn’t officially been announced yet, it’s been pretty clear for a while that he would not return to direct the next Avengers saga, the two-part Infinity War in 2018 and 2019. The rumor for months had the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, replacing Joss after their very successful stint directing Captain America: The Winter Soldier and next year’s sequel, Captain America: Civil War, which will also feature Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and lead directly into Infinity War. Now Badass Digest says the rumor is basically confirmed. Says site editor Devin Faraci:

We were on the ‘Avengers 2’ set last year and it was very clear, even though filming was only about halfway done, that Joss Whedon wouldn’t be coming back for another ‘Avengers’ movie. As we mentioned in our interview with him, he was, by his own admission, completely worn out. We didn’t address his future at the time, but now that filming has wrapped and the movie is only about three months away, Whedon was asked point blank about his return, and it’s pretty much what we all expected.

It's inevitable: one day there will be an 'Avengers' reboot. It's hard to think of now, as 'Avengers 2' hasn't even hit theaters and Phase 3 of Marvel's Cinematic Universe hasn't even begun yet. But, once Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner all play through their contracts, Marvel is going to have to start over. Now, we don't think Marvel would ever reboot 'The Avengers' as a 70s detective TV series, but if they did? It'd look a lot like this...

'The Avengers 2' teaser debuted at the 2013 Comic-Con in grand fashion. At the very end of Marvel's panel, an unannounced Joss Whedon came on stage to show a brief video. No one had any idea what it was for or what it would be announcing. It turned out, it was an announcement teaser for 'The Avengers 2,' which, was revealed as being subtitled 'Age of Ultron.' The crowd went nuts. But, if you weren