Posted - September 1, 2013 | Updated : August 18, 2015

By December 2012, writer/director Joss Whedon announced that he had already completed an outline for Avengers 2. By April 14, 2013, at the Iron Man 3 premier, he announced that he had finished the first draft.

Avengers 2 is going to be called The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The film is scheduled for release sometime in 2015.

That there is a sequel is no surprise, the first Avengers movie grossed over a billion dollars. If that wasn't enough, the Avengers franchise is a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Marvel is currently trying to do in movies today what it did in comics during the 60s : the creation of a shared reality where all Marvel stories can be linked and all Marvel characters interact, forming a vast, irresistible tapestry of engrossing tales. More power to them I say.

Ever since the announcement, one of the hottest topics for fans is speculation on any new Avengers joining the current lineup. There are rumored to be two new additions. I think it would be reasonable to expect that only characters who have served as Avengers in the comics would be potential new Avengers in the movies. That really doesn't help things out doesn't it? Over the decades the roster of heroes who have served as Avengers is perhaps the longest in comicdom; at one point, the Avengers have even included key members of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men in their team. So with that, let's go back to the rumor mill.

Joss Whedon has hinted that he will be adding a brother/sister dynamic to Avengers 2. Well that's it! We now know who the two new Avengers will be.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver

The Avengers might have many members but this is the only brother/sister pair among them; Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, the erswhile children of Magneto.

I know that the movies will take artistic license with comicbook characters, changing details here and there, but not making so many changes that the comics characters on which the movie ones are based become unrecognizable. Therefore, its still useful to dive into the Marvel Universe Database and find out more about these characters. Let's pull up the stats on Quicksilver.

Hmmm. As expected, the Speed statistic is way up.

Quicksilver was originally only able to run with a top speed of 770 mph. That was before he became the beneficiary of a substance called Isotope E. The isotope increased his speed dramatically. Top speed is now Mach 4; that's about 3,080 mph.

Next, let's check out the Scarlet Witch.

Her powergrid shows tremendous Energy Projection capability. The Scarlet Witch has the superhuman ability to manipulate chaos magic. She is able to cast hexes that destabilize probabilities by inducing chaos. Her hex bolts can cause a nearly infinite variety of effects.

At this point, we even have a name on who will be playing the Scarlet Witch : Saoirse Ronan.

A monkey wrench has been thrown into the whole 'brother/sister' theory though. Ms. Ronan herself has confirmed that she will NOT be playing Scarlet Witch. Wait a minute, she won't be playing the character so the character could still be played by someone else right? This theory still has legs. In the meantime, there are other rumors.

The Vision

One of the most powerful Avengers of them all. Don't believe me? Let's bring up his powergrid.

Yup, this guy has quite a package of capabilities. The Vision possesses a computer mind, able to process massive amounts of data quickly. He can control his density from being an intangible ghost to being so dense that missles cannot harm him. He has superhuman strength that varies from a base level of being able to lift 50 tons to an upper limit of 90 tons - depending on how dense he chooses to become. He can project narrow beams of solar energy from the gem in his forehead.

Once again, we have a name on who could possibly play the Vision : Vin Diesel.

Mr. Diesel reportedly had a meeting with some movie execs, but so far, no confirmation.

The Wasp

It turns out that the Wasp almost made it to the first Avengers movie when it was thought that Scarlett Johanssen wouldn't be able to join the production. Let's take a closer look at this hero.

The Wasp can reduce her size so that she's only half an inch tall. She can fly at speeds up to 40 mph. She has a bio-electric 'sting' that is so powerful it can blast through a concrete wall. She's also able to communicate with insects but rarely uses this power. Also rarely used is her power to grow bigger. She'll look great in an Avengers movie, no question.

There are two names, already part of successful Marvel movies, that fans are putting forth. Both are Avengers in the comicbook world.

Wolverine

I know he's uber-famous, even outside comics, but still, lets pull up the powergrid on him.

Look at the Fighting Skills! I have a bone to pick with the Durability stat though - that should be 6 or 7 I think, as evidenced by Logan's powerset. Wolverine has a regenerative healing factor that can virtually resurrect him even though he has been so badly damaged that he's reduced to a skeleton. He has superhumanly acute senses. Because of his adamantium skeleton and healing factor he is able to lift weights in excess of 800 lbs but not exceeding 2 tons.

Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is coming out next year but a lot of fans want to see him interact with the Avengers. Let's check out his 'grid.

A bit too low in the Speed and Durability fronts don't you think? Spidey isn't bulletproof but that Spider Sense makes him nearly impossible to hit. After the first trilogy and the new Andrew Garfield movie, I won't even insult you by telling you about his other powers. A word about his strength level: Peter can lift 10 tons.

Next on our possible Avengers list are heroes who will be popping up in future Marvel movies. Like this guy . . .

The Falcon

Anthony Mackie will play the Falcon in the upcoming Captain America : Winter Soldier. Here's the powergrid :

The Falcon is said to be the most accomplished aerial fighter in the Marvel Universe, even better than the X-Man Angel if you can believe it. Must be the training he got from Captain America. In the comics, the Falcon is the recipient of the Hard Light Harness, a brilliant piece of Wakandan technology that literally gives the Falcon wings. In the movieworld the Falcon's power is said to be derived from the Cosmic Cube - if true, that kind of power is in a whole different level from the comics. Sam Wilson is also the most underappreciated potential leader among the Avengers, if he ever becomes one of the two new Avengers I hope that aspect of his personality gets some attention.

Ant-Man

Okay, it has been confirmed that Ant-Man will NOT be appearing in Avengers 2 but I couldn't resist including him here. And yes, the Ant-Man movie is headed our way on November 6, 2015. Here's the 'grid.

The Ant-Man can reduce himself to half an inch in size but he gets to keep his normal size strength. He can also command insects. He has not met with much success in the comics world - being Marvel's laggard hero of the 60s, so here's hoping that the movie becomes a blockbuster hit.

That's pretty much all the candidate heroes at this point. Who's going to make the cut? Your guess is as good as mine. This is so much fun that let's keep the ball rolling by going on to check the regular lineup - the heroes that are sure to be part of Avengers 2.

Iron Man

Not only has Robert Downey Jr. signed on for Avengers 2, he's also a lock for Avengers 3, so we're going to see a lot of Shellhead for years to come. Look at this powergrid.

Bear in mind that as of the end of Iron Man 3 Tony took off the power source in his chest and pretty much was seen walking away from his Iron Man persona. With that caveat, here's what the comicbook Iron Man is like (this from the Marvel database) : A Repulsor Tech (RT) node is implanted in Tony Stark's chest. The RT node increases Stark's intelligence and gives him superhuman multi-tasking and learning capabilities.

The RT node also powers the Iron Man armor. Additional capabilities include magnetic force fields, electrical field detection, levitation, enhanced senses, enhanced strength, enhanced healing and durability and psi shields. What a formidable customer Iron Man is until this guy came along. . .

Thor

The description of Thor's powers in the Marvel Universe Database really blew me away. Here's the powergrid.

Here is the nearly word-for-word description of Thor's powers from the Marvel Universe Database.

Besides being the strongest man in creation, and durable enough to wiithstand a blast from Celestials, Thor also has energy manipulation powers that are on par with the Silver Surfer, and magical abilities that have been shown, on occasion, to be as powerful as those of Dr. Strange himself. He is also armed with Mjolnir, the mystical warhammer that has been shown to be capable of opening passageways through space and time, blocking all sorts of energy blasts, and bending the elements to its master's will. Thor has been shown to be able to swing Mjolnir at twice the speed of light (and this was never claimed as the fastest that Thor could swing it either). Thor is an Asgardian warrior god, trained and skilled in the arts of battle, and he's been doing it for countless ages. While Thor has usually been shown to rely solely on his fighting ability, super strength, and well nigh invulnerability, he has so many other options available to him if a fight starts going badly. He has complete mastery over the weather, he can open chasms in the earth, and, if worst comes to worst, he can use the dreaded God-blast, an attack that is so powerful that one time Mjolnir shattered from the amount of power Thor channeled.

Damn.

Since we've been listing some truly powerful Avengers, let's add one more.

The Hulk

The Hulk is definitely in. But at this point Mark Ruffalo has not been confirmed.

The Hulk's legendary strength has a base or resting level and a top level capacity which he attains when he gets enraged. The top level is virtually limitless. The Hulk has been observed lifting a mountain weighing billions of tons (Secret Wars). The base level lifting capability can vary between 70 tons to 100 tons. His strength also translates to incredible leaping ability - a thousand miles in a single leap is doable for the Hulk.

As the Hulk gets stronger, he also gets tougher - at his upper limit he is virtually invincible. He heas survived a nuclear blast, the Human Torch's Nova Blast, and planet shattering force. Only the metals adamantium and vibranium have a chance but even they are not guaranteed.

As an interesting aside, one of the Hulk's stranger abilities is his ability to see ghosts.

Captain America

As mentioned, Captain America : Winter Soldier is set to hit theaters. It is currently under production and will also include Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, and Anthony Mackie's Falcon. The villain is Crossbones, to be played by Sebastian Stan. Robert Redford is also rumored to be included in an important role.

Black Widow

A gifted martial artist, acrobat, and marksman, Black Widow is also a recipient of the Secret Soldier Serum. The serum enhances strength, speed, agility, reflexes, durability, senses, immmune system and longetivity.

Hawkeye

Reports are that Jeremy Renner is locked in for Avengers 2 at least, and possibly Avengers 3 also.

Hawkeye was master of the bow and arrow long before he joined the Avengers, but after he joined he gained the gold standard of hand to hand training among Marvel heroes - he was personally trained by Captain America. Although known to call himself a 'bow and arrow guy', Hawkeye is a master of many other weapons as evidenced by his success as the mysterious Ronin - a member of the New Avengers who fought very effectively without bow or arrow.

Let's end this discussion about Avenger superheroes by focusing on a supervillain.

It has been confirmed that Loki isn't coming back in Avengers 2. No surprise there. For a time, everybody thought that the villain was going to be the mad god Thanos. That was pretty exciting, Thanos is a major psycho with enough sheer power to go up against all the Avengers. But that was not to be. We now know that the villain is the nearly equally powerful robotic Ultron to be played by James Spader.

Be warned though. According to Joss Whedon, we won't see the uber-powerful Ultron we read in the comics. This is a watered down version.

Ultron's greatest strength lies in his all-adamantium construction. This makes him virtually invincible except for his classic weakpoint - his mouth. Ultron is only adamantium on the outside, if you manage to hit him through the mouth and get through to the inside parts, that's the shot that's going to count. But this is the comic book Ultron I have a feeling that a lot of artistic license will be exercised with this character and the movie Ultron will be significantly different.

Have a great day and see you at the movies.