Marvel’s Comic-Con panel answered some questions this year, but it also created a few. They revealed that The Avengers sequel will be called: The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The big question is, who is Ultron?
The Avengers: Age of Ultron’s release date is set for May 1, 2015. Before then, fans may wish to delve into who Ultron is and how he will be used in The Avengers sequel. We’ll take a look at who Ultron is, how he was created, and more importantly – how he may tie into future Marvel films.
Whedon took the stage at the very end of Marvel’s Comic-Con panel and said: “I have nothing to say, I just have one thing to add. Roll it.” The audience was then treated to the first teaser for The Avengers 2, with the official title being revealed as The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Ultron became self-aware by using Pym’s own brain waves, and while he inherited Pym’s superior intelligence, he didn’t take on any of his compassion and his brain was instantly filled with hatred for his creator. Ultron would rebuild himself multiple times, and every time he rebuilt himself, he would become stronger.
Once Ultron became a supervillain, he decided to recruit a group of Avengers villains which would eventually form the Masters of Evil. If you haven’t figured it out yet, Ultron is a fairly big deal in the Marvel universe. He eventually rebuilt himself so many times that he was powerful enough that he could take over the entire world.
What’s interesting about Comic-Con’s announcement is that we’re surprised Marvel decided to release Ant-Man after The Avengers: Age of Ultron. For the obvious reason: How can Ultron’s story be told, if we haven’t been introduced to his creator, Ant-Man. Director Edgar Wright wasn’t even at the Marvel panel, and even more intriguing point.
Later in Ultron’s story, he creates his own sentient called Vision, and in a twist of irony, as he sends Vision to infiltrate The Avengers, Vision ends up switching the sides of good and evil and stays with The Avengers. This enrages Ultron and he’s determined to now destroy his “son,” Vision, and his “father,” Ant-Man.
Ultron is a villain which is weaved throughout The Avengers’ story since he was revealed in the comics in 1968. What we’re thinking is Marvel, despite already planning Ant-Man’s solo film release in 2015, decided that they could strengthen his character and film by tying him to The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
It’s possible we may have an introduction of sorts to Henry Pym (Ant-Man), which would allow Joss Whedon to include Ultron in The Avengers sequel without messing up the storyline. If Ant-Man is shown working on sentient robots, and then suddenly we have Ultron battling The Avengers in the final act of the sequel, then it’s a perfect way to move straight from The Avengers sequel to Ant-Man later that year.
Ultron’s powers are diverse, but he has an Encephalo-ray, which puts people into a very deep coma, and gives him control of their minds. He can activate this whenever he wishes. In many ways Ultron is similar to Tony Stark’s Iron Man suits.
Ultron is incredibly intelligent, his armor is insanely strong, and he has the ability to travel at incredible speeds. Ultron’s armor is also made out of the same metal that Wolverine was infused with: Adamantium. Which, in theory should make his armor a lot stronger than Iron Man’s.
Long-time Marvel fans shouldn’t be surprised that Ultron is being introduced into the universe, but those who aren’t as familiar should know that it is surprising that we’re seeing him so early in the line of films.
What’s interesting though is that Marvel’s president of production, Kevin Feige, has said that Ultron’s name is “borrowed,” but that his story could be entirely different from the comics. Avengers director, Joss Whedon, recently said, “We’re doing our own version of the origin story for Ultron.” He went on to say that Henry Pym (Ant-Man) won’t be introduced in the film.
Those of us who were watching these films develop would have imagined that Ant-Man would have come out prior to Ultron being introduced to The Avengers as a foe. But as we mentioned above, maybe this is all being done to strengthen Ant-Man’s character and therefore his solo film which hits theaters just months after The Avengers: Age of Ultron’s release date, May 1, 2015.
As for anyone wondering what happened to Thanos (big purple alien at the end of The Avengers end credits), don’t worry, he’ll still be involved. We’ll most likely be seeing him in Guardians of the Galaxy, which had a full trailer released during Marvel’s Comic-Con panel last night.
We’ll actually be seeing him sooner than Ultron, due to Guardians of the Galaxy’s release date being set for August 1, 2014. Thanos has a great chance of living through Guardians though, and making his way into The Avengers 3.