The twin brother-sister superheroes Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been likely contenders to join The Avengers 2 since April when Joss Whedon teased, "I’ve got these two characters, two of my favorite characters from the comic book, a brother-sister act. They’re in the movie."  Kevin Feige followed that even though the characters fall into a legal grey area (The characters are mutants, Magneto is their father, and Fox could have possession since they own X-Men), they would be available.  Today, Whedon has confirmed that the characters will be in The Avengers 2.

Hit the jump for more including what Whedon had to say about bringing Iron Man into The Avengers 2.

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Speaking to IGN, Whedon said:

"You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier."

For those unfamiliar with the characters, Quicksilver (a.k.a. "Pietro Maximoff) has the power of super-speed and Scarlet Witch (a.k.a. "Wanda Maximoff") is far more complicated.  She can cast "hexes" which manipulate probability, alter reality, and are a form of "chaos magic".  Scarlet Witch is definitely a character who complicates matters, but presumably the film will define the limits of her abilities so that she simply can't blink Thanos out of existence.  It's also worth noting that the characters have decades of history and exist it different continuities, so we don't know what Whedon is targeting as his source material.  As a side note, SHH heard that actress Saoirse Ronan is the "prototype" for Scarlet Witch.  No one has been cast, but it could means they're looking for someone young (Ronan is 19) and British even though the brother and sister are Eastern European in the comics.

[SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IRON MAN 3]

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Whedon also discussed what to do with Tony Stark following the events of Iron Man 3:

"Well, I feel like in Iron Man 3, even though he said, ‘I’ve changed' -- he blew up his remote suits, but I don’t think anybody thinks he doesn’t have one anymore. The question is, if The Avengers are called, does he show up? And the answer is, 'Yes!'"

The larger question is "Will he show up played by Robert Downey Jr.?"  The actor isn't officially signed on to The Avengers 2, and he already pulled in $50 million from The Avengers.  His quote is obviously going to go up, and the question is if Marvel will pay for the popular actor.  They've discussed the possibility of going the James Bond route where they simply recast the role without a passing of the torch.  However, Iron Man 3 just crossed $1 billion worldwide, and it's doubtful the movie would have reached that total so quickly without Downey in the title role.  There are bigger risks than throwing in a character who can manipulate reality.

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Image via Marvel Studios