Joss Whedon Says ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ Not Connected To The Miniseries, Hank Pym Won’t Be In The Film [Video]

Saturday night at Marvel's "Marvel Studios" panel, Avengers director Joss Whedon came on stage to announce to fans in attendance that the sequel to last summer's blockbuster film would be titled Avengers: Age of Ultron. The news was met with excitement from people in attendance, as well as speculation as to whether or not the film would be an adaptation of the recent Age of Ultron miniseries from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artists Bryan Hitch and Carlos Pacheco. Whedon quickly dispelled any such notions before Comic-Con was even over, definitively stating that "We're doing our own version of the origin story for Ultron."

In a live interview that aired on Marvel.com, Whedon made the following remarks in response to reader curiosity about any connection between the miniseries and the film:

Well, because there was a book called 'Age of Ultron' quite recently, a lot of people have assumed that is what we're doing, but that is not the case. We're doing our own version of the origin story for Ultron. In the origin story, there was Hank Pym, so a lot of people assumed that he will be in the mix. He's not. We're basically taking the things from the comics for the movies that we need and can use. A lot of stuff has to fall by the wayside.

 

You can watch the full interview here:

Further, Whedon explained to io9 why Hank Pym -- a.k.a. Ant-Man, one of the original Avengers and the scientist who created Ultron -- isn't necessary for a movie starring the classic Avengers villain:

We don't have to have him. It works very simply — this is Marvel cinema, not Marvel comics. One thing [Marvel Studios head] Kevin Feige has a genius for is knowing what to hold onto and what to let go of. You can invoke the feeling you had and play with the characters you love and remain true to the needs of the film.

Pym will still make his big screen debut that year, however, as the Edgar Wright directed Ant-Man film is set to be released in November of 2015, mere months after the summer release of Avengers: Age Of Ultron.