After the Avengers 2-announcing Marvel panel rocked Comic-Con to its geeky foundations on Saturday, Empire got the chance to speak to the superhero studio's head honcho, Kevin Feige, about everything from Thanos to Ultron. That includes the upcoming Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and a certain staff-wielder by the name of Loki.
At the bottom of this news story is the video interview in full, but here are a few choice titbits to whet your appetite, kicking off with the choice of the name** The Avengers: Age Of Ultron**.
How long has this been in the works? The comic book run is only just wrapping up...
"It's not that [run's] story, but it's that title. It's been in the works for seven or eight months... There are some things in this movie, that you'll see in 2015, that arise directly from casual conversations Joss and I had on the set of the first one. 'Would it be cool if...?' 'That would be cool!'"
"We came up with a few titles, but every month a new comic book appeared, and that's a great title. Age Of Ultron is a great title. We had a few other 'Of Ultrons', but that was the best one. So we're borrowing that title, but taking storylines from decades of Avengers storylines."
On the topic of Loki, Feige refused to admit that the mischievous Norse god won't be in the Avengers sequel - despite Joss Whedon saying something to that effect on a recent **Empire Podcast - but did have something very intriguing to say on the character...
"We think Loki could be the big bad for us, for a long time," said Feige. Seeing so many Lokis on the floor at Comic-Con tells the Marvel team "to keep following their instincts..."
This implies that Loki may well survive the events of Thor: The Dark World, living to cause trouble another day, something that is very intriguing indeed considering the trailer shown at Comic-Con. This might be another classic case of Marvel misdirection, but it's worth filing away in the back of the brain for when it does (or doesn't) come to light on The Dark World's October 30 release.
For all that and more, watch this 10-minute interview below. **Captain America: The Winter Soldier is out on May 2, 2014, and Avengers: Age Of Ultron **will assemble on May 1, 2015.