It is perhaps not entirely shocking that, given the ever-expanding nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the company would take advantage of finally getting Paul Bettany out of the voiceover booth and in front of cameras as The Vision in Avengers: Age Of Ultron and have the character crop up beyond that one film. According to Bettany, that’s exactly the case.
He hasn’t yet said what sort of multi-film deal he’s signed on to, but recent statements to an Australian paper indicate he’s in it for a longer haul than just playing the android character in Ultron. “That’s the really great thing about the Marvel gig for me,” he says. “I have never known if I have had a job six months out ever in my life. And now I know that they have plans and I can be even more judicious about the stuff that I do outside of that work. I can wait for the right thing and feel really attached to it.” So can we expect to see him show up in Captain America: Civil War? It’s a fair bet.
But stepping up his commitment to the world of Tony Stark and co. did force him to make one adjustment to his usual interaction with the films. He actually, er, watched them. “I did a lot of research — and my research was watching all of the films,” he laughs. “I realised they are so interlinked and I wanted to understand the universe I was in. So I did and it was a really amazing, fun experience — especially going from my tiny, 20-day movie (Shelter, his directorial debut) with no money and no trailers to this behemoth film was just great." Avengers: Age Of Ultron arrives here on April 24. For lots more about the movie, check out the new issue of **Empire, which has been delivered to newsagents by our army of robotic police drones.