Hayley Atwell Returns For ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron,’ Joss Whedon Says Heroes Face “Darker, Weirder, Tougher World”

The curious thing about the Marvel-verse is that the more it expands, the more strings need to be tied together to keep it all connected. And one strand that Marvel is continually threading belongs to Hayley Atwell‘s Agent Carter. First featured in "Captain America: The First Avenger," she returned in old-age makeup for "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." And now the actress confirms she’ll once again make a Marvel movie appearance, this time in "The Avengers: Age Of Ultron." And she can credit alcohol for helping make that happen.

“We went out drinking one night and he was like, ‘You know, it would be great to write something for you. And I was like, ‘Yes, Joss, it would! It would be amazing!’” she told Entertainment Weekly (via ScreenRant). And we’re sure this decision has nothing to do with the "Agent Carter" series that will start airing next year.

Speaking of Marvel shows, TV Guide reveals that Lucy Lawless has joined the cast of "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and that’s totally fine by me, as long as it doesn’t affect her recurring role on "Parks & Recreation" as Ron’s wife. Anyway, no word yet on her part because that’s how it goes at Marvel.

Lastly, Joss Whedon has been chatting a bit more about ‘Ultron,’ and while he’s largely seen as the guru who helped bring Marvel movies to the $1 billion mainstream thanks to "The Avengers," it’s interesting to note how he pretty much had to do it from scratch. Before he got involved, "The Avengers" had a script from Zak Penn, and Whedon didn’t hold back his feelings when he first met with Marvel. "I don’t think you have anything," Whedon told Kevin Feige (via Business Insider). "You need to pretend this draft never happened."

So what did Whedon do? He went home, wrote a five page draft of what his "The Avengers" would look like, got the gig, and the rest, as they say, is history. And so here we are with ‘Ultron’ looming, and Whedon is promising some changes, with the sequel bringing Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) to the fold. And they will give our heroes a run for their money.

“With the [first] Avengers, everybody pretty much had the power of being able to punch somebody,” Whedon tells EW. “And now we have a woman who can get inside your head and move objects, and a boy that can move faster than anything, and a robot [Ultron] who can self-replicate and is out of his mind. So all of sudden, it’s a darker, weirder, tougher world that they’re living in.”

See how it all unfolds on May 1, 2015.