Reports are now circulating that actor Thomas Kretschmann has signed on to play another main villain known as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in the upcoming film, Marvel’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. The report comes just a month after rumors circulated around the internet that the character, a H.Y.D.R.A. leader and former Nazi soldier whose body was augmented to the point of near invincibility and invulnerability would be brought on as a secondary villain with specific ties to the characters Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch, being played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olson, respectively. The news also comes on the heels of recent updates that the film’s shooting schedule will include London, and locations in South Africa, with word that actor Mark Ruffalo‘s return as The Hulk would also be accompanied a love interest in the new film, with actor Jeremy Renner‘s character, Hawkeye, given a much larger part. Furthermore, recent reports also highlit actor, Iron Man performer Robert Downey Jr.‘s interest in bringing actor Mel Gibson and actress Jodie Foster in on the sequel’s production, whose script, written by director Joss Whedon as part of the film’s second of three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was recently described as “dark” and “dry” with an “amazing one-liner, glass-cutting sense of humor.” in a recent interview with actress Scarlett Johansson who plays Black Widow in the film. Opening nationwide on May 1, 2015, Kretschmann will star with Taylor-Johnson, Olsen, Ruffalo, Downey Jr. and Johansson returning in Marvel’s The Avengers: Age Of Ultron with actors Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L. Jackson with and James Spader playing the titular villain. The film opens May 1, 2015 following the April 4, 2014 release of Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with Evans, Johansson and Jackson. Kretschmann will also appear in the forthcoming one week engagement of director Fedor Bondarchuk’s bilingual biographical World War II epic, Stalingrad 3D this February in IMAX 3D. In other Marvel news, actor and co-star of David Ayer’s upcoming World War II thriller Fury, Michael Peña and actor Clifton Collins Jr. are reported to be officially signed for roles in director Edgar Wright’s July 31, 2015 entry into the MCU for Ant-Man with actors Paul Rudd, and the newly announced Michael Douglas. Meanwhile the recently buzzed rumors of actor Johnny Depp for the role of the otherwise confirmed Dr. Strange movie remain exactly that. Stay tuned for more info. H/T: Comic Book Movie