The Avengers and what remains of S.H.I.E.L.D. will re-enlist astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig, played by Stellan Skarsgard, for the upcoming "Avengers: Age of Ultron." The new movie marks Skarsgard and Selvig's fourth appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Skarsgard confirmed his role in the "Avengers" sequel in an interview with Total Film magazine. He also admitted he knew little about the Marvel universe when he joined the first "Thor" movie.
"I didn't have much clue about the Marvel universe at that time," the Swedish actor said. "What I said to Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel, was, 'All those superheroes? Still in those comic books? Can you make money out of that?'"
Feige and Marvel Studios have done pretty well so far. The studio has released 10 movies since 2008 and grossed nearly $3 billion, according to Box Office Mojo. Skarsgard signed on for five movies.
Selvig first appeared in "Thor" as the mentor to Natalie Portman's Jane Foster. In a post-credits clip, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury recruited the scientist to help conduct research on the newly acquired Tesseract element.
He appeared again in "The Avengers," where he quickly fell under the spell of Asgardian god Loki. He unwilling helps Thor's adopted brother launch an alien attack on New York City, until the Avengers can break him from Loki's curse.
Selvig doesn't recover too well from his time under Loki's control. In "Thor 2: The Dark World," a TV news crew captures footage of him running around Stonehenge naked. It's a position he'll find himself in again, which Skarsgard doesn't mind.
"Yeah, I was naked again," the accomplished actor said about his role in "Age of Ultron." "They called my agent and said, 'Do you think Stellan will mind being naked?' My agent laughed his head off. Yeah, I almost insist!"
Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the rest of the Avengers will assemble again to defeat the sentient robot Ultron. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" premieres on May 1, 2015.
