Marvel leaks first trailer for 'Avengers 2'

Posted Thursday, October 23, 2014 at 10:47 AM Central

by John Couture

I will give Marvel credit, they refuse to be scooped by evil trolls seeking to leak the trailer to their highly anticipated sequel early. Late yesterday, a shoddy version of the teaser trailer leaked online and instead of unleashing the Hulk to ruin the perpetrator's evening, Marvel simply called an audible.

Originally, in a move of splendid synergy, Marvel announced that the first teaser for Avengers: Age of Ultron would debut on broadcast TV during next Tuesday's episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Faced with the choice of holding off and following through with their plan or getting ahead of the hacker/leaker, they chose to do the latter and it was both a brilliant and potentially devastating move for the entertainment company.

For the overzealous fan, the leaker's actions are justified by the end result of getting to see the trailer nearly a week early. However, it also establishes a dangerous precedent that might encourage more leaks in the future with the intention of forcing companies to release trailers ahead of their desired release.

Of course, for Marvel there is little risk in changing their plans. Sure, S.H.I.E.L.D. could have used the ratings bump, but it's not like the show is going anywhere. It has become too entangled into the overall universe to simply disappear, but still it has to be unsettling to Marvel to think that no matter how tight they play things, something will always leak.

But that's a discussion for another day. Let's talk about the trailer.

In case you were concerned about a lack of Disney presence in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), fret not. The trailer features a haunting, slow rendition of Pinocchio's "I've Got No Strings" that leaves a most chilling ringing in our ears when Ultron's James Spader ends his diatribe.

We also get extended first looks at Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch that look very promising. However, the biggest takeaway for me is the dark and somber tone of the teaser. The comparison has been made elsewhere, but it rings true, this really feels almost like an MCU version of The Empire Strikes Back. That shot of the Avengers looking defeated and downtrodden combined with the world-wide destruction makes it truly feel as though there is no hope.

I know that all of the Avengers films are supposed to stand on their own and that Thanos is supposed to be the big baddie of the third Avengers film, but perhaps, just maybe, things will end on a downer with things unresolved. Of course, the trick is how do you keep feeding the MCU until Avengers 3 comes out? Well, I think you just have to look to the success of this past Summer's Guardians of the Galaxy to start generating some answers.

I know I'm just living in a pipe dream, but it does appear that Avengers: Age of Ultron will go a little darker than its predecessors and that's welcome news in my book. Avengers: Age of Ultron will hit theaters on May 1, 2015, jumpstarting what should be the biggest Summer box office of all time.