With the Avengers being one of the most successful superhero films of all time, there’s not doubt that people have set the bar pretty high for the upcoming Age of Ultron.
Recently, director Joss Whedon spoke about how the legendary Godfather franchise has helped him manage the complexities of the many different Marvel sequels that take place in-between the original Avengers and its sequel. “I have to go from one movie to the next and be true to what’s happened, but not be slavish to it. I look at this movie, and the model I’m always trying to build from, my guiding star, is The Godfather: Part II , where a ton has happened in-between and it’s a very different movie. But you don’t need any information, it’s there in the film about what’s happened since, what’s different, and why is this a different film, why is it a different kind of structure, and why is it darker. It’s all there, you’re in the vernacular of the first movie and you’re just ready to pick up in this new place, and hopefully that’s what will happen with my movie. Obviously I’m talking about one of the greatest films ever made, I hope that mine will be good, but that is my guiding star.” Says Whedon.
As much as he would like his movie to stand on its own, Whedon does acknowledge that events transpiring in the various phase 2 films do directly impact the events of Avengers: Age of Ultorn (like Captain America 2: Winter Soldier for example). He states, “… at the end of the day, I have to make my movie assuming that people will only have seen the first one, or possibly not even seen the first one. I can’t assume everybody went to see Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man in-between.”