Ask any Marvel fan to tell you their favorite moment from the first Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, and you’ll get a variety of responses. Hulk taking on the Hulkbuster armor, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch showing off their powers, Ultron’s menacing dialogue, Thor choking Tony, Andy Serkis (who is he playing?), that brief shot of Captain America’s shattered shield, the list goes on. However, while this trailer packed in enough epic moments to quench the geeky thirst of Marvel Cinematic Universe fans everywhere for the next few months, there was one thing missing from that preview. One crucial element that we’ve been waiting months to see, but Marvel decided to keep us haning for a little longer. A character who will play a big role in the upcoming sequel, but was left out of yesterday’s pandemonium.
The Vision. Where was that multi-colored android?
Ultron and his lackeys won’t be the only mechanical forces in Age of Ultron. The Avengers will eventually be aided by Vision, although he may not be on their side at first. For those unfamiliar, The Vision was created in the comics by Ultron after the insane robot rebels against his creator Hank Pym. Vision was sent to attack The Avengers, but they persuaded him to turn against his creator, and since then, he has been one of the team’s longest active members. The android will be played by Paul Bettany in the movie, who is no stranger to the MCU. Since 2008, he’s been the voice of Tony Stark’s A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S., and many fans suspect that Vision will be an upgraded J.A.R.V.I.S. who is finally given a body. Bettany and Marvel won’t confirm if this is the case, but suffice it to say when Ultron creates the android, he’ll leave one hell of an impact on the Avengers.
It’s worth noting that Vision isn’t just a random side character. He was fighting Ultron’s army alongside his teammates in the Age of Ultron concept art poster from San Deigo Comic-Con, and he was later seen prominently at the front of a leaked poster. He may not start out as a force for good, but he’s going to be a prominent character in the story, and maybe the future for the MCU. So why wasn’t he shown in the following trailer?
There are several possible reasons. Although most of Vision’s look will be accomplished through makeup on Bettany, there may be some more post-production work (such as CGI) on him that still needs to be done. The film’s principal photography is done, but the behind-the-scenes work for these type of films sometimes aren’t finished until weeks before the release date. A likelier possibility is that Marvel is just giving us something to look forward to. Like P.T. Barnum said, "always leave them wanting more." When the first trailer for The Avengers, we only got a brief glance of Hulk, and were forced to wait a couple more months before we saw him in action. Marvel could be pulling the same stunt with Vision.
That being said, it wouldn’t have hurt for Marvel just to give us a brief 1-2 second shot of the android in the trailer. Regular viewers wouldn’t have thought twice about him, but the fans could have paused it and analyzed his appearance meticulously. Marvel, you still have a chance to fix this. Whoever leaked the trailer put the kibosh on your Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. plans, but you can still provide some incentive to get people to watch next Tuesday: tease a first look at Vision. Arrow did it at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year. One night they showed a trailer for the first episodes of season 3, and the next night they showed the same trailer with an extra sequence teasing Ra’s al Ghul. You could do the same with Vision, but make extra precautions to prevent anyone from leaking out this several-second addition. Think about it, Marvel.
