New 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Trailer Raises the Stakes, Introduces the Vision

The latest, greatest Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer snuck onto YouTube this morning and this much is clear: Joss Whedon wants to you know precisely how badass Ultron is.

And James Spader’s oily, evil monologue over the opening scenes perfectly conveys the existential threat the near-omnipotent android presents.

"I was designed to save the world," Spader’s Ultron intones. "People have looked to the sky and seen hope… I’ll take that from them first.

"There’s only one path to peace. Their extinction."

While the plot has only been teased out in small bursts during the first two trailers, Disney-Marvel has now given us our clearest picture yet of the story line. Here are the biggest takeaways:

Ultron is born from Tony Stark’s hubris

From his repose in the spanking-new Avengers Tower, Iron Man has a confession for brother-in-science Bruce Banner: “I tried to create a suit of armor around the world, but I created something terrible…”

Banner realizes that the android is now sentient and that to its mechanical mind, humanity is a scourge that must be obliterated.

Then it’s time for the rest of the Avengers to pile on the well-meaning, but misguided Tony.

"Well, you amazingly failed," quips Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow.

Cue scenes of Ultron’s multitude of minions swarming our heroes.

The seeds of Civil War are sown

The next Captain America sequel, subtitled Civil War after the classic comic arc, will pit Tony Stark against Steve “Cap” Rogers over what it means to be a hero and how much personal freedom should be sacrificed in the name of public safety. The new Ultron trailer hints at that budding confrontation, with Stark and Rogers staking out different sides of the debate.

But they are, above all, friends who will stick together when the bleep hits the fan.

At one point, a humbled Stark turns to Captain America and ominously admits: “No way we all get through this.” (Could one of the main team meet his/her end?) But Cap remains his plucky self and delivers a classic Whedon rejoinder: “I’ve got no plans for tomorrow night.”

Watch out, Hulk — there’s a reason she’s called Black Widow

Remember it was Black Widow who coaxed Bruce Banner out of hiding at the beginning of The Avengers? Remember how Mark Ruffalo tweeted in June, “Bruce and Nat could be an explosive combo?” Well, at about the 1:02 mark of the trailer it seems like the two Avengers might be more than super friends and they come thisclose to smooching.

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And that begs the question: Whither Hawkeye? The arrow-slinging sharpshooter, who has a shared history and is often paired with the Widow in the comics, is relegated to the background of this trailer (just like the previous two), and is the only one of the core team not to have a line in the two-minute clip. Presumably he was just the odd hero out considering the ginormous cast of characters (something Whedon has admitted struggling with), and he has not been demoted to glorified extra.

Nick Fury is still the man

Even with the demise of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Avengers defer to the one-eyed dude who brought them together. Fury is clearly calling the shots, and it’s up to him to deliver a pep talk as Ultron’s army takes its toll.

"Here we all are with nothing but our wit and will to save the world," Fury tells the heroes, which, at this point, includes Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. "So stand and fight."

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver: Which side are they on?

Ultron holds court with the twins at the beginning of the trailer. Later in the clip, he deploys Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) against the Avengers, to “tear them apart from the inside.” The super-charged siblings seemingly use their disruptive mutant powers to trick the team into fighting itself.

But, as noted above, they appear to be part of the team when Fury tries to rally the heroes. Have they switched sides or are they double agents? We know from the comics, the poster art, and the 1:50 mark of the trailer (which has Scarlet Witch in action alongside the heroes against the drones) that the twins do become Avengers, but it remains to be seen how long they will be in Ultron’s sway.

Vision comes online — finally

And, at the end of the trailer, just when Earth’s Mightiest appear to be overwhelmed, the screen goes black, a title card pops up… and for the first time, we clearly see the Vision (Paul Bettany) — an Ultron creation who eventually turns against his creator and becomes one of the most beloved Avengers — blinking to life.

Marvel has been withholding the Vision’s big reveal for months, obscuring his face in the official posters, and leaving fans to scour the toy aisles for clues to his appearance. While he doesn't get any action scenes, his cameo at the end will send geeks happily a-GIF-ing until Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters on May 1.

This post has been updated with additional information.