"Natasha is a huge part of the sequel because you do want to concentrate on the people who don't have their own franchises," Whedon tells MTV News with regards to the S.H.I.E.L.D. super spy played by Scarlett Johannson. "Although she's in [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] and she's great. She was the most fun for me because she's not a hero, you know, and it's something that I read—and I feel bad that I can't remember who wrote the book—but it's in one of the books explaining, 'These guys are heroes, you are a spy. It's a different thing—it's a different skill set—and you don't have their moral high ground or any of that good stuff.' And that just makes her so interesting to me. So yeah, the stuff I've got going on with her in the second one is killer."
And as for Hawkeye, Whedon has seemingly laid to rest the rumours about Jeremy Renner falling out of grace with Marvel Studios, telling the press at Comic-Con that: "[Age of Ultron] is very much a global Avengers film. A lot of the movie has to do with their place not just in America, but the world. Part of the fun for me, definitely this time around, is writing Hawkeye. He did get possessed pretty early by a bad guy and had to walk around all scowly for most of the movie so now it’s nice to actually have the character there and see him interact with the other guys.”
So, with Ultron's origin and entire 'Age' to cover, not to mention the introduction of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and expanded roles for Hawkeye and Black Widow, the question is, just how long is this movie going to be??
Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for release on May 1st 2015, with Robert Downey Jr. confirmed to return as Tony Stark and Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) all expected to reprise their roles.