Though we’ve already gotten a teaser and a more formal trailer (and a healthy amount of marketing hype) for Avengers: Age of Ultron, there are still plenty of details about the sequel we don’t know. How could we since it’s not actually out yet? Earlier this week, the official German Lego site posted its catalog for the first half of 2015. While ordinary this wouldn’t be a big deal, the preview book actually featured the first look at the company’s planned Lego Marvel Super Heroes Avengers: Age of Ultron sets. I can understand your trepidation as to why this is important, but these upcoming builder sets give us a glimpse at some of the major locations, action sequences, and characters that will play a big part in Marvel’s anticipated sequel. To start, Lego will be releasing six different sets of varying size to tie into the film. The sets also range from €14.99 (~US$19) to €79.99 (~US$99). The catalog says these will be out in April in Germany, though none of them have an official release date stateside as of yet.
Considering this catalog is for products shipping through June 2015 and ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is out on May 1, 2015, it’s a good bet these sets will be showing up at retailers globally in or around that two-month period. The limited amount of footage Marvel has shown off to this point has largely focused on Ultron and the Avengers in various action sequences, with a few quieter moments and Whedonisms thrown in for good measure. Quick snippets of combat and destruction with ominous music and spot-selected dialogue makes for a compelling tease. Prior to these Lego images arriving, it was a hard understand where Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and the Vision fit into the picture. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver seemingly show up in the teaser out of nowhere, and we still have no definitive idea what the movie version of Vision will look like, let alone what part he plays in the grand scheme. Well wonder no more. Based on Burglary at the Hydra Fortress set, we can assume some portion of the film will focus on the Avengers potentially infiltrating the Hydra stronghold teased at the conclusion of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Included are a new Hulk, Captain America (with new Super Jumper action, whatever that is), Quicksilver, a Hydra henchman, and Baron Von Strucker (with Loki’s staff). If you recall from the trailer, there are plenty of scenes that look reminiscent of European castles, and there’s definitely some snowy mountain action, too. However, this is the first time we can almost, maybe, sort of confirm that Strucker will play a role beyond a post-credit cameo, and that ‘Winter Soldier’ wasn’t the last we’d see of Loki’s staff. The question remains as to whether or not that crucial mystical item is what is being burgled, or if there’s another MacGuffin entirely. As for the Vision, he makes his first appearance in the Avengers Quinjet Chase, alongside another Captain America, the Black Widow, Iron Man in his MK XLIII armor (with Super Jumper), and Ultimate Ultron. It’s worth noting that in addition to getting our first glimpse at what to expect from the Vision, this set includes one of three different iterations of Ultron, not including the Iron Legion or Ultron Soldiers featured in other sets.
Of course, why Ultimate Ultron is driving a truck is beyond me, and could just be Lego’s way of incorporating another vehicle into the set. Now we did sort of get a look at a similar scene in the trailer, though the Quinjet dropped off Black Widow on the motorcycle, not Cap. Iron Man, Ultron and the Vision were nowhere to be seen, but based on context clues from the footage we’ve seen, this sequence is totally believable. The same goes for the Hulkbuster Rescue Mission, which was shown in pretty good detail in the trailer. Obviously the additions of Ultron Prime (which is maybe his final form? Is Ultimate better or worse than Prime?) and Scarlet Witch to the scene add a bit more context, though that weird trap thing surrounding the Hulk seems about as impractical as any containment device could possibly be for the Hulk. It’s worth noting that this set will include an Iron Man (with Super Jump) to fit inside the Hulkbuster armor as well. This set adds a bit of confusion to the mix, too, as it’s not clear if Scarlet Witch is working in conjunction with Ultron at this point.
The trailer shows both Wanda and Pietro seemingly on Ultron’s side for at least a portion of the film, but given that the Avengers potentially rescue them at some point from Hydra, the motivations aren’t exactly clear. Which, to be fair, is expected when trying to observe character development from a picture of toys. Thor (with Super Jump) and Hawkeye finally get into the mix with the Duel with Hydra set. There’s also another Hydra henchman included, along with the snow dune buggy and jeep. Though we don’t see any action like this in the trailer, we do know for certain Hawkeye is in some kind of action in the snowed woods, potentially those surrounding the Hydra base that gets burgled in the set above. He’s also in that terrible trenchcoat outfit, which is really awful. I get that there’s some inclement weather, but even Nick Fury is barely able to pull that look off. The Iron vs. Ultron set is notable for two reasons. One, this is the first look at the MK XLV armor, so we know there will be at least four different armor sets in the film–unless Hulkbuster counts as MK XLIV, which is entirely possible.
Secondly, there is no actual Ultron in this set, but there are two Ultron soldiers. You might recall that brief segment in the trailer where it appears multiple Ultrons are scaling a cliff and rocketing out of the water. Just where Ultron’s army comes from is a question we likely won’t have an answer to until May, but those troops will definitely exist in some form. Now this is the crème de la crème of the Age of Ultron Legos. We’re finally going to be able to build a Stark/Avengers Tower of our own in the Raid on the Avengers Tower. This sequence appears to happen when the first version of Ultron (with Super Jump) appears, which happens in the trailer while the Avengers are having drinks, trying to pick up Mjolnir. The Iron Legion figures bear a stark (heh) resemblance to the busted robot the hobbling Ultron crushes, though here they appear to be fighting alongside the sentient robot villain. One of the Iron Legion figures is also wielding Loki’s staff, which could mean this battle takes place after the raid on Hydra.