It seems weird to me to think that "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" is getting ready to shoot, but of course it is. As we enter this home stretch, there will be some big announcements coming about cast, and I'm curious to see how well the film protects some of its biggest secrets. Bleeding Cool reported a rumor today that Rhodey (Don Cheadle) will play a part in the film, and HitFix can confirm that Col. Rhodes, aka War Machine, has a key role in the conflict with Ultron that is the main focus of the sequel.
Ultimately, Marvel has to start planning for the future. Robert Downey Jr. will not keep playing Tony Stark forever. I was about to say that Marvel hasn't had to deal with recasting one of their marquee characters yet, but that's not true. They recast Bruce Banner for "The Avengers" because they couldn't come to terms with Ed Norton on what role he'd play in the film creatively, and while I really liked Norton's take on the character, I think Mark Ruffalo absolutely killed it in "The Avengers." With The Hulk, though, because the big green guy is the main attraction, it feels like there's a little more latitude. I'm curious to see what happens when they have to make a decision about Iron Man or Thor or Captain America, since those actors have been such a key part of successfully bringing those characters to life.
One thing you can count on is that at the end of "Avengers: Age Of Ultron," the group that calls themselves "The Avengers" isn't going to be the same group we saw eating shwarma together at the end of the first film. Major changes are coming for The Avengers, and I've said all along that I full expected the studio to break up the group by the end of the second film specifically to give Phase Three a major narrative arc of trying to get all of the originals back in place to stand against Thanos when he finally comes for Earth. Whether or not Rhodey will be one of those new Avengers standing together at the end of "Age Of Ultron" remains to be seen, but Cheadle's got a few films left on the contract, and I think it would be premature to start predicting his death at this point.
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In an effort to confirm from their own sources that USA Today wasn't making an assumption and that Don Cheadle will indeed reprise his Iron Man 3 role in The Avengers sequel, Bleeding Cool has possibly revealed an additional Age of Ultron cast member and an intriguing major plot point.
Suggesting first that there's been a lot of info circulating that involves The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Bleeding Cool's sources report that English actor Simon McBurney is "in line to take a role." However, they're unable to confirm the current stage of his casting, or the character he'll play. But what they've been told, presumably by another source, is that McBurney will be playing J.A.R.V.I.S. "Not a computer voice Jarvis, mind you, but an actual Butler called Jarvis," the site added.
J.A.R.V.I.S. is Just A Rather Very Intelligent System created for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and voiced by English actor Paul Bettany. But the character was introduced in the Marvel comics as Edwin Jarvis, Iron Man's actual butler. He notably served as a longtime caretaker of the Avengers Mansion and the Stark Tower, which the closing scenes of The Avengers movie implied will become the Avengers Tower. So it's possible that Joss Whedon plans to utilize that in the sequel. And to an extent, It also fuels the strong beliefs that the A.I. Jarvis will become Ultron.
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yesssss. need more cast news tho.