10 Simple Ways Joss Whedon Could Screw Up Avengers: Age Of Ultron

5. Another War, Another Troupe Of Faceless Bad Guys

One thing that cannot be denied about The Avengers was the climax was thoroughly outstanding. I mean, six heroes against the seemingly insurmountable onslaught of a mad god and his infinite army - that sounds like my kind of party. It certainly was awesome, but it also set a bar that needs to be exceeded, or at the very least matched in terms of stakes. But that doesn't necessarily mean having The Avengers fight another legion of faceless drones in Age of Ultron. Sure, it would be cool, but if they could beat an entire alien armada surely they can take on any army on Earth with ease. That's part of the problem with setting such a high bar €“ if Cap et al are able to stop an intergalactic invasion, how do you actually top that without being repetitive? And what stakes can be higher than the conquest of Earth? Now, obviously Ultron has an android-Nietzsche complex (more on that later), so he probably wants to destroy over conquer, but how he plans to do it is the trap. Will he be by himself, or joined by a big ol' robot army that will basically take the place the Chitauri did in The Avengers? Another war with a legion of soul-less/faceless masses may seem the order of the day, but such repetition could also be Age of Ultron's un-doing as well. I mean, topping up such a huge movie with a second serving of essentially the same thing over again is a potential franchise killer, and the sort of thing Joss Whedon needs to look out for this time around. One step in the right direction that Joss is already taking is the inclusion of HYDRA. Sure, it's another army of faceless/nameless goons, but at least HYDRA brings some context and a sense of personal rivalry. There already seems to be more in play with Age of Ultron vs. The Avengers, so perhaps in this area we can breathe a sigh of relief.