Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige talks 'The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron' subtitle and superhero roster

It's a safe bet that The Avengers: Age of Ultron is one of the most anticipated films of 2015 even though 2014 is barely underway. After the astronomical success of Joss Whedon's first superhero team-up, the second one could carry with it even more expectations (if that's possible). Much about the film is still unclear, but Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige cleared up a couple of aspects of the film in a recent interview.

Feige spoke to SFX magazine (via Comic Book Movie) and explained that the subtitle, Age of Ultron, was an important piece of crafting the second movie:

"We didn't want to merely have a '2′ after Avengers so we wanted to give it a subtitle. We have various things that we were looking at and Age of Ultron - which just happened to be a the name of a comic book series as well - was our favorite. I first met James Spader two or three years ago. I thought it would be great to have him in our universe and we finally found the right role with Joss's version of Ultron."

The subtitle may seem like a small thing, but comic book fans will note that Age of Ultron is also the title of a recent miniseries that was panned by fans and critics alike. Feige and Marvel continue to make sure to differentiate between the two, and with good reason.

Some fans worried about balancing a crowded roster of superheroes in The Avengers, but Whedon excelled at playing the characters off of each other. But Age of Ultron is adding even more players, including Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and possibly even War Machine and Falcon (maybe Hawkeye will have a larger role in the sequel, too). Feige addressed that concern for the sequel, as well:

"It's always a balance with any movie, not to overwhelm it with too many story elements. Certainly when it comes to comic book movies, you can fall into the trap of having too many villains and in the case of team-based movies, having too many heroes. But what Joss has in mind to bring those characters into the story happens in a very natural fashion over the course of the story. It's also the tradition of the Avengers to switch up the roster every now and again and to have new characters coming in. It's just part of the fun, but we wouldn't have included them if it had just been a case of 'Oh, we want two new figures, two new costumes.' It very much flows with the story that Joss is creating."

Does "switching up" mean relegating some of the heroes from the first film to the bench, or even killing off certain characters?

We'll find out when The Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters on May 1, 2015 but for now, we want to hear your thoughts. Are you concerned at all about the amount of characters in the sequel? Let us know in the comments below.