The October issue of Empire hits shelves on Thursday, and among its many joys is a look ahead to Avengers: Age Of Ultron, with an exclusive new image showing Joss Whedon directing Hawkeye. As if that weren’t enough, both Marvel boss Kevin Feige and director Joss Whedon share a little bit more of their nefarious plans for the superhero super-team this time around.

“It’s more epic and in other ways it’s more noirish and suspect and devious and specific,” said Whedon of his film.

“Ultron, he’s got a touch of the apocalypse in him.”

Adds Feige, “Ultron was the villain Joss wanted, from midway through production on the first film, to have serious repercussions for The Avengers.”And then there are those intriguing glimpses, in concept art and Comic-Con footage, of a certain souped-up Iron Man suit called the Hulkbuster, and a conflict between Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark And Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, seen driving off into the sunset together at the end of the first Avengers. “It’s a bespoke suit,” says Feige, “the back-up plan in case things go awry.”

“The Hulkbusteris from after my time [as a reader],” says Whedon, “but even I knew what a big deal it was. It makes sense because there’s no one who can really go up against Hulk, but more importantly, those guys are best friends, so what that battle is and what it means is fascinating to me.”