'Avengers: Age of Ultron' stars cover Empire magazine

SHEPPERTON, England, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Avengers: Age of Ultron stars cover the latest issue of Empire magazine.

Robert Downey, Jr., appears as Iron Man, with Chris Evans as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and newcomers Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Empire will release two covers for the March issue Jan. 29, one with the Avengers and the other with James Spader as Ultron. The publication spoke to director Joss Whedon for the article, and learned he has a growing fondness for the supervillain.

"I've been working on a lot of Ultron scenes, so I'm very anti-Avengers right now," he shared. "You can't write someone if you don't love them, and I've come to the conclusion that Ultron is right. The Avengers need to die."

Iron Man voice actor Paul Bettany will portray Vision in the new film, and discussed the sequel with Radio Times last week. The actor declared the movie "the biggest thing Marvel has ever done," and said he was "gobsmacked" by the enormous scale of the production.

Avengers: Age of Ultron debuted a dramatic new trailer earlier this month, and opens in theaters May 1. The film also features Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and Tom Hiddleston as Loki, with Andy Serkis expected to play Ulysses Klaw.