Blessed with immortality and enough raw power to wield the Infinity Gauntlet, it’s fair to say that Thanos is one of, if not the strongest ever villain to make his mark on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Not even Earth’s Mightiest Heroes stood much of a chance against the Mad Titan, who successfully acquired all six Infinity Stones and reduced half of all life in the universe to dust (“perfectly balanced, as all things should be”).
But let’s suppose we slipped into an alternate reality in which Avengers: Infinity War teed up a brawl between Josh Brolin’s Thanos and Ultron, the cutting-edge synthetic capable of assembling an entire robot army in just a few days. And that’s just it; if James Spader’s string-less tyrant was able to bring humanity to its knees in such a short period of time, perhaps he could’ve given Thanos a run for his money, too?
That very question underpins the latest MCU theory from YouTuber Ryan Walsh (AKA “Webhead”), who argues that Tony Stark’s nightmarish creation could’ve beaten Thanos had things panned out differently.
It’s a stretch, mind you, as Ultron wasn’t able to defeat Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, who were only in possession of one Infinity Stone at the time. Not only that, but by the time we reach Infinity War, the likes of Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Spider-Man have all been recruited into the ranks of the Avengers, so it’s fair to say that Ultron would’ve faced a tall order if he (it?) was to overcome the odds.
Still, James Spader’s menacing machine managed to discover vibranium in a matter of days, so what’s to say he couldn’t mine Wakanda and create a skyscraper-sized Mega Ultron – one big enough to topple Thanos? Who knows.
One thing we can tell you is that this current installment of the MCU will culminate in the release of Avengers 4 early next year.