The Marvel machine is pretty well-oiled at this point. They’ve figured out a system that works and are committed to it. A side effect of this routine has been that the home video releases of their films don’t deviate from one version. Because of the nature of their interconnected story, putting out alternate cuts would call into question the continuity of certain events. Well, we might have our first opportunity to argue about which version is the best when it comes to Avengers: Age of Ultron, because the UK branch of Amazon has let slip that the eventual disc release of the film will include not only an extended cut of the film, but also a different ending:
Knowing that Whedon’s original cut of the film was over three hours long, it stands to reason that this is going to be a significant amount of added footage. I’m sure that mysterious woman inside of a cave from previous trailers will make her way back in. And an alternate ending? That’s going to be a huge selling point for fans.
What interests me the most is what this says about the Marvel machine at this juncture. Joss Whedon is leaving the House of Ideas after Avengers: Age of Ultron, and finding out that he had to excise a good chunk of material from his film makes me wonder if the producer-driven model Marvel has in place is finally starting to take its toll. Between this and the disappointing departure of Edgar Wright from Ant-Man, maybe Marvel’s reign is beginning to diminish (at least creatively. They are going to rule the box office forever).
Regardless, different cuts of films are always a film junkie’s drug of choice. I’ll be excited to get my fix when this hits Blu-ray.
Thanks to forum user Barry Woodward for alerting us to this!
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