'Avengers: Age of Ultron' debuts new trailer. Can Marvel succeed with a sequel?
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
A new trailer for the upcoming film 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron鈥� gives fans one more look at the movie, which will be released on May 1.听
鈥淯ltron鈥� centers on the iconic comic-book superhero team and is a sequel to the 2012 movie 鈥淭he Avengers,鈥� which was also directed and written by Joss Whedon of 鈥淪erenity.鈥澛�
The new clip has many action scenes and finds the Avengers making a lot of quips 鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 all in the swing,鈥� Thor (Chris Hemsworth) says after using his hammer and Captain America (Chris Evans) says, 鈥淪he鈥檚 with us鈥� after Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) helps fight Ultron (James Spader). Even the people we presume to be the villains get in on the action. 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 see that coming?鈥� Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) asks after demonstrating his signature speedy running.听
鈥淭he Avengers鈥� was the highest-grossing movie domestically of 2012, according to the website , and was well-reviewed. So how will the sequel be received?聽
Sequels are notoriously tough because those behind the movie are already trying to capture the lightning in a bottle that resulted in the success of the first film. And Marvel, the studio behind 鈥淎vengers,鈥� has struggled with sequels in the past. The 2008 movie 鈥淚ron Man,鈥� which centered on superhero Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), was mostly well-reviewed, currently holding a score of 79 out of 100 on the review aggregator website . But 鈥淚ron Man 2,鈥� which came out in 2010, and 2013鈥檚 鈥淚ron Man 3鈥� didn鈥檛 fare so well with critics, with 鈥�2鈥� having a Metacritic score and 鈥�3鈥� holding a score of .听
A sequel to the movie centered around hammer-wielding Thor struggled, too. The first 鈥淭hor鈥� movie, which came out in 2011, earned an already negative score of , but 2013鈥檚 鈥淭hor: The Dark World鈥� did even worse and has a score of .听
The exception is the 鈥淐aptain America鈥� movies. 2011鈥檚 鈥淐aptain America: The First Avenger鈥� did okay with reviewers and holds a Metacritic score, but the 2014 film 鈥淐aptain America: The Winter Soldier鈥� did even better and has a respectable score of . As "Winter" is the newest of the sequels, perhaps the studio behind the movies is perfecting its formula for second-round films.
Expectations are always sky-high for a sequel to a movie that did as well as the first 鈥淎vengers鈥� did. Fans will just have to hang in there and wait for May.
