With Reporting by Josh Horowitz
When it comes to the Hulk in “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” you’re going to like him when he’s angry — and you’re going to want to thank Andy Serkis.
Mark Ruffalo returns as Bruce Banner and his easily enraged alter-ego, but he’s coming back with a little help from Serkis, the motion-capture legend responsible for Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films, as well as Caesar in the relaunched “Planet of the Apes” franchise. Serkis and his Imaginarium Studios serve as motion-capture consultants on “Age of Ultron,” focusing mostly on helping Ruffalo bring his Hulk to life.
“As consultants working with him on ‘Avengers,’ we’ve given him platforms for the Hulk, to help him do the best he can do,” Serkis told MTV about his involvement in the “Avengers” sequel. “Certain crews can find it funny having someone walk in who is not in costume. Imagine standing there and you have Iron Man, someone dressed as Thor, and then you come on in a motion-capture suit. You have to be taken seriously.”
Serkis and his team gave Ruffalo the tools to be taken seriously, by working with him and “a digital avatar, and with giving him a voice — literally giving him a voice, with these huge speakers.”
The result should be an even angrier, more awesome Hulk than ever seen before — a pretty impressive feat, considering Hulk was already the breakout star of the first “Avengers” film.
But Andy Serkis is involved in the “Avengers” sequel in another way, too. He won’t elaborate, but Serkis confirms that he’s playing a character in the movie — a role that came along after he was brought on to help Ruffalo out.
“I can’t talk too much about the part,” he said, “but we were first involved as consultants for performance capture. And then I got a great call saying, ‘We want you to play this role.’”
“The Avengers: Age of Ultron” arrives on May 1, 2015.
Josh Wigler
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