Avengers 2: Will Joss Kill Off A Team Member?

As long as they have their own franchise, it's highly unlikely that writer/director Joss Whedon would kill off one of Marvel's major superhero characters in "The Avengers: Age of Ultron".

Then again, Whedon's work is replete with using surprise deaths as a means to move story and character development forward. The death of Clark Gregg's beloved agent Phil Coulson--who is resurrected for the small screen next month-in The Avengers is one such example

Whedon has stated that he plans to "rotate members" of the Avengers, so we'll see some heroes come and go throughout the films. During an interview with EW about the TV spin-off series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. he was asked if he would be willing to kill off one or more of our heroes.

"Maybe, but I'd have to have a really good reason, a really great sequence for [Marvel executives] to go, 'that's fine!' They know that without some stakes, some real danger, how involved can we get? We don't just rule it out across the board, but neither is the mission statement 'Who can we kill?' We try to build the story organically and go, 'How hard can we make it on these people?' You go to the movies to see people you love suffer."

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Silent House" star Elizabeth Olsen has reportedly become the front runner for the role of Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch. "Kick-Ass 2" star Aaron Taylor-Johnson remains the frontrunner to play Wanda's brother  Quicksilver in the film joining Marvel vets Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans Chris Hemsworth Scarlett Johansson Samuel L. Jackson Jeremy Renner Mark Ruffalo, and Cobie Smulders who are all expected back

Despite the title being the same, the story will NOT follow the Age of Ultron comics storyline.

Production is due to begin in February to meet a release date of May 1, 2015.