SDCC 13 MARVEL Panel: Avengers 2 is called Age of Ultron, Karen Gillan is Bald, Loki Wants You to Kneel and MORE!

Have just been following the barrage of tweets from Marvel's Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic Con and the hyperbole would lead me to believe that it was the best one yet. I assume far more info will be teased out over the coming days, but here's the key things you need to know...

Marvel kicked things off in a big way when Tom Hiddleston, in full costume and character as Loki took to the stage to tell everyone to kneel... Watch this new HD video...

But although the response to Thor 2 was strong, more excitement has been generated for the first trailer for Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. Both Chris Evans and Scarlett Johannsson where in attendance and the relationship between Cap and Black Widow is said to be very integral to the story. Described as an "odd couple" it has been said that they very much share the movie. Also there was Samuel L. Jackson who will reprise the role of Nick Fury, and newcomer Anthony Mackie who plays the flying hero Falcon. People are going nuts over the footage shown, which is said to be packed full of badassery (including Black Widow badassery) and even some Robert Redford who I believe plays Fury's boss.

But it was the Guardians of the Galaxy part of the panel - followed by a big announcement regarding The Avengers 2, that garnered the most surprising reveals! For more on that, join me... after the jump!

If you don't know, and it's okay if you don't, the Guardians of the Galaxy are essentially the Avengers in space. They are Marvel's team of space "police" who deal specifically with cosmic threats (you know... like Thanos). James Gunn will be directing their debut film which releases in the second half of next year. 

The bulk of the cast were at the panel, including Chris Pratt who plays Starlord (masked guy) who he described as being a jerk who lives in space and gets it on with a lot of alien women. I know that when casting they were looking for someone with a lot of charisma who would be an anchor like Robert Downey Jr. and all I'm reading is about how funny he was at the panel. Zoe Saldana plays the green alien assassin, Gamora. The muscle-bound David Bautista is Drax the Destroyer, and sadly we didn't get casting news for Rocket Raccoon. (Yes they have a smart-talking, gun-toting raccoon).

But the cosmic villains were also there. Benicio Del Toro is confirmed as The Collector and Lee Pace as Ronin the Accuser. But making the most headlines is ex-Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan who is playing Nebula. She threw her wig into the crowd to reveal that she has completely shaven her head for the role. And she still looks really hot. 

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And here's a comic book depiction of Nebula if you're curious...

The cast have only been shooting for 14 days and were flying straight back to London, but they still showed a quick bit of footage. It kills me that I can't see this yet as I think it would quell much of the cynicism surrounding this admittedly odd property. Apparently the footage was a lot of fun, showcasing the wit of Starlord as well as Rocket Raccoon going nuts with two uzis set to Hooked on a Feeling. Considering that the rest of us haven't even yet seen any of the movie versions of these characters - or their costumes, this was a huge reveal. I am super jealous!

UPDATE!: Here's some art that shows the movie costumes...

And finally Joss Whedon took to the stage to announce that Avengers 2 is called Age of Ultron. If you're not in the know, Ultron is a totally badass and powerful robot that looks like this in the comics...

This is awesome news, and suggests a huge scope for the second outing. My only question now is: where's Thanos? I assume that perhaps he'll feature in Guardians of the Galaxy, or be working with Ultron? As Thanos is likely to be a CGI creation perhaps that's why he's not being pushed at a panel full of live actors...

This is all pretty fun, right?