Paul Bettany to play the Vision in "Avengers 2"

Cafe Society
#1

I was actually surprised to not see a thread on this already. But Variety is reporting that Paul Bettany will play the synthezoid Avenger the Vision in the next Avengers movie.

If Ultron is going to be the main villain, I guess that makes sense (since the comic book Vision was originally created by Ultron.) The fact that Paul Bettany also provides the voice for the “Jarvis” mainframe computer in the Iron-Man movies also seems to suggest that the movie Ultron will be created by Stark, rather than Hank Pym.

Also, with Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch & Vision now officially in the film, it seems that the movie team’s roster is expanding more & more into the second-tier heroes instead of the marquee names - Iron-Man, Thor, Captain America & the Hulk. It’s not that I don’t like Pietro, Wanda or the Vizh (the latter being one of my favorite characters from the series), but adding so many extra heroes into the mix is making it dangerously over-crowded. After all, how many lines did Hawkeye even get in the first film, and now they’re bringing in three more heroes to share the spotlight?

Anyway, anybody have any thoughts on this?

#2

Eh, the more the merrier :D.

#3

As long as the four main heros are the focus, I’d rather the support come from actual characters instead of anonymous redshirts.

Hawkeye playing such a small part in the last film is actually a good sign. It had been decided ahead of time that the character would be involved (set up with his brief cameo in Thor), then when it came time to put an actual Avengers script together he was plugged in in a way that best served the story, rather than it being “Uh, well, we got to write some Hawkeye scenes!”

The series has been handled beautifully so far, and The Winter Soldier looks like it’s going to be awesome (and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is finally getting good), so I remain hopeful.

#4

I can see it, except for the accent.

#5

I really hope this works…I think they’re going to have to use these new characters to replace old ones. I don’t expect to see as much of Hawkeye in the next Avengers movie and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if he’s a Joss Whedon kill-off.

#6

Reading up a little on the comic book version(s) of Vision, is it reasonable to suspect that Whedon’s movie Vision will have some origin involving Jarvis and that’s why Bettany was cast?

He’s an android/synthesiod, right? So, a modern reimagining of this probably calls for him having an operating system. Does it make any sense for him to have been created using Jarvis’s programming?

Don Draper, are your speculations of “The fact that Paul Bettany also provides the voice for the “Jarvis” mainframe computer in the Iron-Man movies also seems to suggest that the movie Ultron will be created by Stark” looking in the same direction as what I’m posulating?

#7

While I was sort of generically looking forward to the Avengers sequel, this is the bit of news that actually finally makes me excited about it.

#8

I’m soooo excited about this!

First off, Bettany IS Jarvis. That’s just the way things are. And with the semi-autonomous suits that Stark’s been flinging around IM3 like candy, it is totally logical for Stark just to remove himself from the suit entirely, throw Jarvis in there to run things (which it has done essentially from the beginning anyway), and call it a day. He doesn’t need the arc reactor to run the suits because he’s built individual power supplies for each suit element, so why be IN the suit risking himself at all?

Really thrilled that Bettany is in officially (mostly officially), and that Vision is essentially going to be Jarvis 2.0 in MCU canon. That just makes me do a happy dance.

I’m less thrilled with the growing dread that since Whedon is running this, people are gonna kick it, and I’m comforting myself that since Hawkeye seems to be the obvious choice, it WON’T be him. (I hope I hope) Whedon seems to like throwing these things in as unexpected sudden gut-wrenchers, so the obvious candidates are less likely in my opinion.

Personally, I think it’s going to be Stark. RDJ has said he wants to be done, he’s older and wants to do other projects, he’s game for a good exit, and Stark’s empire is set up to allow it to be helpful and relevant even with Tony himself gone. Maybe a Pepper/Vision co-op will take over? (That would be awesome.)

#9

So now the movie “A Knight’s Tale” has:

The Joker
The Vision/JARVIS
Wash from Firefly
Robert Baratheon from Game of Thrones
Lydia from Breaking Bad
Tom Builder from The Pillars of the Earth

It’s like a clearing house of nerdom.

#10

Sequel-itis annoys the fuck out of me.

“Hey, we’re making a sequel to (successful film). How many extra heroes/villains/(famous actors) can we stuff into this thing?”

Ruined the original Batman movie franchise, didn’t help Spiderman, muddled up The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, yet they keep pulling this shit over and over. Not real happy to see them doing the same with The Avengers franchise.

#11

Has any Marvel Cinematic Universe gotten a rotten critical or public reception yet? I’m going to trust Whedon until he proves that I shouldn’t.

#12

Paul Bettany is hardly a “famous actor.” He’s a character actor who is only a B list star in his own right. James Spader is famous, but hardly a “star.” He’s a damn good actor and he’s chillingly frightening as a villain in the right role. As for adding members…dude, that’s what the Avengers is all about. In the comics, they changed membership more often than underwear.

#13

This is also my expectation; that Avengers II will be the last RDJ-as-Stark movie, so he’s going to completely retire (creating Vision to replace Iron Man?) and/or be killed.

#14

I was thinking this too. Vision needs some sort of human “brain engram” or something to fully realize his human-like AI. They could bring in Wonder Man and the original Human Torch, but it might get muddled, so maybe they’ll just use the Jarvis AI somehow.

Still don’t think Vizh should have a Brit accent though.

#15

I gotta admit, I only read a few Avengers from back when Vision was toying with the idea of taking on a human body (his creator’s clone?) but I absolutely loved the character and its abilities (plus what seemed to be new-for-the-genre angst in a superhero).

I also read a couple Hulk issues around that time (battling Captain Axis in a micro-cosmos, though I don’t remember how he got there). I had always figured Banner/Hulk was a solo player (because the TV David Bruce Banner – Bill Bixby – was always in search of a cure).

Still, when did Hulk become a team member?

–G?

#16

Hulk was an original team member from Issue 1. Though IIRC, that’s when he had the intelligence and vocabulary of an NYC dockworker.

#17

Just because Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are in the cast doesn’t mean they play a role in the main plot - they might only pop up in prep for the next Avengers movie (like Hawkeye did in Thor)

#18

I haven’t read comics in a long time. In the current Marvel universe, is Iron Man/Tony Stark still active? Would Whedon deviate from that by killing him off in the movie? I could see him retire, to handle the RDJ issue, but wouldn’t killing him create a huge problem?

#19

Yes, Tony Stark is still active. If movie!Stark dies, it would be incredibly stupid to kill off comic!Stark to match. The far smarter option would be to give the movie!Stark fans comics to read.

#20

So the movie events and the comic events aren’t being done to coincide?