With nine months left to go until The Avengers: Age of Ultron hits the screens here in the UK, official images are starting to be released. So what can we tell from them so far?
1. Costume evolution
Those most of the costumes look much of the same, there is something telling happening on Captain America’s (Chris Evans) new suit sleeve.
His S.H.I.E.L.D. days are over, and it’s been replaced with a rather Stark Tower looking A, as was left at the end of Avengers Assemble. The Avengers have officially assembled.
And as you see above, there’s another change for the Captain. He is far less the star-spangled hero now than he was in the first Avengers movie. His costume, like many of the agents, has taken a turn for the more hard-going attire.
It looks as though both Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) have also dropped their S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia, and the Widow’s suit looks like it it might be slightly looser fitting than before.
She’s also been to the hairdressers and ditched the straightener’s since the end of Captain America. Everything about her costume is a little rougher and a little less slick that it was during her S.H.I.E.L.D. days. It certainly looks a little more comfortable.
2. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver
A touch different from their appearance in X-Men: Days of Future Past, we first saw the MCU version of the siblings, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), in the mid-credit scene for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
They’re shoving them right into the middle of the action here – what would a superhero movie be without a lot of carnage? It’s filmed in the UK, but those posters in the background look as if it is anything but England, or even the USA. How much further afield is Age of Ultron going to thrust our heroes?
Science Bros
Having continued their friendship through into the Iron Man 3 post-credit scene, Science Bros, as it has affectionately been dubbed by fans, looks set to continue through into Age of Ultron.
And if both Mark Ruffalo’s and Robert Downey Jr’s Twitter feeds are anything to go by, there will be a lot of the duo to look forward to.
But that’s not the same lab they had on the helicarrier, and if the next image is anything to go by, can we assume that the Avengers will be making that move into Stark Tower?
Since the end of their therapy session at the end of Iron Man 3, what sort of science experiments have they been up to? Have they been developing suits for the other Avengers now S.H.I.E.L.D. is down the pan?
3. Party time!
As the superheroes look like they’re taking a break, only Steve Rogers looks like he’s having a good time.
Barton looks like he’s just about done with them all. Somebody has clearly just said something that’s annoyed Stark, and Rhodes knows Stark’s about to say something Rhodes’ is going to regret.
So what can we see? Alcohol. Mjölnir. A chinese snapbox. More alcohol. Some tissues. Jeremy Renner’s resting face. The rogue hand with a pint glass – we assume it’s going to be Banner or Romanoff.
But, of course, with the links of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, it looks as if Stark Tower is going to become our assembled heroes base. How could it not with the not-remotely-subtle pan up on Stark Tower with nothing but the Avengers A remaining?
4. Hawkeye’s involvement
After he spent the majority of Avengers Assemble as Loki’s right-hand-man, by the look of the stills, it seems like Hawkeye’s role in Age of Ultron has been increased. Set pictures and these production stills see him in on a lot of the action with the newcomers. 
And if you look at the front of his suit, he too has dropped the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.
As for the Scarlet Witch, by the way she’s a bit bloody and bruised, can we safely assume that her powers of Chaos Magic and Probability manipulation will be used to full force? They certainly look like they’re going to be playing the heroes of the family behind them.
And of course, we finally know what Hawkeye has been up to since we last saw him in Avengers Assemble…
Getting a new, rather fabulous, coat with sleeves.
What do you think’s going on?
The Avengers: Age of Ultron hits cinemas on the 30 April 2015, you can find Avengers Assemble on Blu Ray from Amazon. Find out more about the comic inspiration with Uncanny Comics.
