So Avengers Age of Ultron is now out in the world, reviews are mixed, and some have been writing it’s a bit disappointing that it didn’t beat the first one opening weekend at the box office. But coming in with $187 million instead of $200 million isn’t that disappointing, is it?
Of course, the box office pundits are gonna write whatever they’re gonna write, but the movie has gotten an A on CinemaScore, it’s already made AMOUNT world-wide, and that sure ain’t chickenfeed. Yet you wonder if the pressure of following up such a big hit ever got to Joss Whedon.
According to Vanity Fair and Empire, Whedon said it was harder to keep the more character driven elements of Ultron, and he said there were several segments of the film that Marvel wanted cut that Whedon had to fight for, including key segments with Thor and Scarlet Witch. “I respect these guys, they’re artists, but that’s when it got really unpleasant.” (The Thor segment got cut down when it didn’t go over well with test audiences.)
Whedon had to make other cuts he wasn’t happy with, and you wonder if this is one of the reasons why he’s no longer going to be helming the Avengers movies. As you recall, Edgar Wright also left the Marvel fold because of “creative differences” wit h Ant-Man.
Whedon also mentioned that he wanted to include Spider-Man and Captain Marvel in the movie, but Sony and Marvel mutually decided against it. Some feel the movie’s already overstuffed as it is, and maybe both would have put this film at the superhero tipping point.
