Fanboys Anonymous

The title to the Avengers sequel has been revealed as AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON.

My first reaction? Awesome! My second reaction? Wait...what?

Joss Whedon has said that both there won't be Hank Pym in this film and that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will have a big role, which means I'm utterly confused.

First off, when it comes to the Maximoff siblings, I've always thought it was a stupid idea to bring them on board. Granted, I don't know how they're doing this, so they might have a legitimate way to do it, but I'm starting to get the impression that I did when Spider-Man 3 came around.

And before you say it...no...I don't mean "there are too many characters". Spider-Man 3 was a fault NOT because they added Venom into it (as Nolan's films have proven that you can have lots of characters and still do a good job), but more so because Sam Raimi let his inner fanboy out and forced Sandman into it just because he liked him. I'm fearful that Joss Whedon just might be a fan of Pietro and Wanda and shoehorned them into the film for that reason.

What purpose could they possibly have in this movie, particularly if Ultron is the villain? The only connection is a huge stretch, with Vision (Vin Diesel?) being the romantic interest for Scarlet Witch. Surely, we're not going to cram an entire origin story for Ultron AND Vision AND the Maximoffs into one movie that also has Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, potentially the Guardians of the Galaxy, SHIELD, etc?
 As far as the Hank Pym situation, I just can't help but feel that they messed up in terms of scheduling. Why is Guardians of the Galaxy a part of Phase 2 if Thanos isn't the villain in Avengers 2, but #3...meanwhile, Ant-Man is in Phase 3, but not 2? Wouldn't it make more sense to include Ant-Man in Phase 2 and build towards Ultron that way, then include Guardians of the Galaxy in Phase 3 to ramp up to Thanos?

My guess is, they're altering the storyline and making it so Tony Stark is the creator of Ultron. After quitting the Iron Man game, he could very well spend his time trying to make a replacement Iron Man for SHIELD using Jarvis as a template.

There has also been talk that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the biggest lynchpin to bringing Avengers: Age of Ultron plot elements to screen, which has me confused as well. Iron Man 3 could theoretically lead to the scenario I mentioned above, but where would the other films? Guardians of the Galaxy has nothing to do with Ultron. The Winter Soldier is a political thriller starring villains that are a mercenary and a brainwashed soldier. Thor: The Dark World is TOTALLY not about Ultron.

Does Marvel really have this all planned out and well? Do they know what they're doing, or are they setting themselves up for failure like when they thought people would love the Mandarin twist? How do you think Ultron is going to fit into this series? What about Pym? Guardians of the Galaxy? Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch??