Joss Whedon has revealed why Tom Hiddleston and the popular character of Loki was cut from Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Joss Whedon
Last year, Idris Elba revealed that he and Hiddleston has shot a small scene for the Whedon directed Avengers film - many fans may have been disappointed when only Elba appeared briefly in the movie with no Hiddleston in sight.
Whedon reveals that Hiddleston did indeed shoot something for the film as Loki - who was the villain in Avengers Assemble back in 2012 - but he admits that the scene just didn't play in the grand context of the film.
Speaking to MTV News, Whedon said: "We did shoot something and it didn't play or it didn't-the movie has so much, is so filled and we didn't want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it but I understood the decision that it was just like, 'Okay now there are too many voices in the chorus.' At some point the embarrassment of riches is actually embarrassing (laughs)."
Hiddleston did reprise the role of Loki in Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and he is expected to return to the role once again for Thor: Ragnarok, which is due to hit the big screen in 2017.
Avengers: Age of Ultron took over $200 million at the global box office in its first week of release - topping the UK box office with a whopping £18 million opening weekend. That success is set to continue as the movie finally opened in the U.S. on Friday.
The movie is expected to take $200 million in the U.S. by the end of the weekend and took a staggering $84 million on the opening day alone. Fast & Furious 7 is currently the highest grossing movie of 2015 and the first to gross over $1 billion - these two movies look set to go head to head to be crowned the highest grossing film of this year.
Age off Ultron saw Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner reunite as Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, and Hawkeye, while James Spader, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were introduced as Ultron, The Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver.
The movie picked up from the demise of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America; The Winter Solider and laid some of the foundations for Civil War - which will see Captain America and Iron Man go head to head. The movie also continued the theme of the infinity stones - a thread we will see more of over the next few years as we build up to Infinity War in 2018 and 2019.
As for Whedon, Age of Ultron is set to be the last Marvel film that we will see him direct for a while, but he has not ruled out returning to the Marvel Universe somewhere later down the line. Anthony and Joe Russo are going to take over the Avengers helms with Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2. Those movies are set to film back to back and shooting will start in autumn 2016.
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