Finally, A First Look At 'Age Of Ultron'

The film itself may not be out until May 1, 2015, but we already have our first look at Avengers: Age of Ultron . We've definitely got Comic-Con to thank for that: Marvel's been gearing up its programming for the big convention with announcements over superhero genderswapping, the promise of another announcement to be made Wednesday night on the Colbert Report , and an Entertainment Weekly cover story teasing the hell out of what Age of Ultron will bring to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The main theme of EW's tease seems to be that, when we meet up with our titular superheroic team once again, they're all damn exhausted. A lot of saving the world will do that to ya. As Anthony Breznican writes: "Everyone wants a break — and that’s exactly how they’re about to be broken. There’s no abdicating heroism."

That's a kind of approach to heroism that's in keeping not only with Marvel or rival comics company DC, but with Joss Whedon, who's reprising his director and writer role for the sequel. If the first Avengers film showcased the big-budget version of the coming together of the ragtag group of heroic misfits Whedon's Buffy and Firefly trafficked in, this sequel seems to be exploring the natural continuation of that. It's an era after one too many apocalypses have left our heroes, as Robert Downey Jr. put it, "burned out and traumatized."

EW's sneak peak also gives us the most info we've seen as of yet into the actual plot of the movie. Here's a snippet:

For better or worse (trust us, it’s worse), his Tony Stark has devised a plan that won’t require him to put on the Iron Man suit anymore, and should allow Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk to get some much needed R&R as well. His solution is Ultron, self-aware, self-teaching, artificial intelligence designed to help assess threats, and direct Stark’s Iron Legion of drones to battle evildoers instead.

Considering Ultron's in the title and already acknowledged as the villain of the film, this can only go incredibly well.

You can read more about the film over at EW. And don't forget to continue to gird yourself for Comic-Con — I've got a feeling this is only the beginning of big teases Marvel's got in store for us in the coming weeks.

Image: Entertainment Weekly