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‘Avengers 2′ superheroes arrive in Seoul, pay respects to ferry victims

April 17, 2015
From left, U.S. actor Robert Downey Jr., US director Joss Whedon, South Korean actress Claudia Kim actors, U.S. actors Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo pose during a press conference to promote their latest film "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2015. The movie will open on April 23 in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

From left, U.S. actor Robert Downey Jr., US director Joss Whedon, South Korean actress Claudia Kim actors, U.S. actors Chris Evans and Mark Ruffalo pose during a press conference to promote their latest film “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2015. The movie will open on April 23 in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Three Marvel superheroes assembled in Seoul Friday for a news conference to promote the much-anticipated blockbuster “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and expressed hope that the film will be received well in South Korea.

Since “The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3,” both key parts of Marvel’s superhero series, were big successes here drawing more than 7 million and 9 million viewers, respectively, South Korea became one of the Avengers sequel’s four major overseas filming locations along with Britain, Italy and South Africa.

For Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr., this marked his third visit to Korea following trips in 2008 and 2013.

“From the first ‘Iron Man,’ when we came to Korea, we really knew that the film was working internationally,” Downey, who plays Tony Stark/Iron Man, in the Avengers sequel told reporters.

The news conference was also attended by Chris Evans (Captain America) and Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), along with the film’s director Joss Whedon and South Korean actress Claudia Kim who plays a small role as a geneticist in the film.

The sequel to “The Avengers,” a 2012 film that made more than US$1.5 billion worldwide, will see the superhero team take on the villain Ultron and fight against his destructive plans.

The film is set to open in South Korea on Thursday, about a week earlier than the May 1 release for U.S. theaters.

Downey joked that he wants to offer an airport shuttle service and run a barbecue restaurant when asked what he would do with a real Iron Man suit.

“I’d like to offer a shuttle service from downtown to the airport, I think I can take three passengers at a time. And I’d like to open Tony’s Barbecue where you put small bit of meat and poultry on my chest and I fry it with my heart heat.”

Director Whedon admitted to feeling some pressure to match the success of the first film, which he also directed.

“My main focus in making this second film was to do better than I did at the first time,” he said during the conference.

So he said he tried to “spend more time with these characters, get to know them better, build figures more exciting in action pieces, but more importantly, find more about the characters and let these guys have some fun being together as they didn’t get to as much in the first.”

South Korean actress Claudia Kim, better known as Suhyun here, described her Hollywood debut as “amazing.”

“It’s so unreal but amazing. I won’t forget this memory of working together with my favorite actors and director forever,” she said in Korean.

“I always tried while filming to be in good harmony with these actors favored by many people,” she added.

The director and the cast members drew local media attention by wearing small yellow ribbons in remembrance of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster on their jackets. The nation marked the first anniversary of the incident just one day before the press conference.

The ferry sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014, claiming 304 lives, most of them high school students on a field trip.

U.S. actors Mark Ruffalo poses during a press conference to promote his latest film "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2015. The movie will open on April 23 in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

U.S. actors Mark Ruffalo poses during a press conference to promote his latest film “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 17, 2015. The movie will open on April 23 in South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

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Actress Kim Soo-hyun during “Avengers 2″ promotion in Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)

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Robert Downey Jr. during “Avengers 2″ promotion in Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)

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Chris Evans poses for a photo with fans during “Avengers 2″ promotion in Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)