Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t looked back on as fondly as its two record-breaking sequels, but it’s currently getting a bit more love for one of its finest moments anyway.
Built around Tony Stark creating more of his own demons in the form of HAL9000 in a corporeal body, Age of Ultron has a terrific set-up for its titular villain. Given a birth out of scrap Iron Man suits and learning from the world via the internet, he immediately recognizes the superhero team as he greatest threat to humanity.
Voiced by James Spader, it’s his first lines of dialogue at the Avengers Tower fans are looking back on as one of the best villain introductions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ultron’s interruption of the party and immediate panicked vibe is getting appreciation, with many commenters agreeing with it one of the most menacing villain moments in the MCU to date. While Ultron has traditionally been a creation of Hank Pym which represents his darkest thoughts and an unaccountable worldview, the film version is Stark’s child and emulates his creator’s “ends justify the means” mentality.
As happens every few months, fan are again talking about how underutilized Ultron has been. Killing him off in his first appearance meant that until 2021’s What If…? there hadn’t really been a definitive version of the character.
It’s likely Ultron will return given how mad for multiverses the MCU has become. A variant on the Ultron bots were featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, although they didn’t hold up to much scrutiny when Scarlet Witch invaded the compound.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is available to stream on Disney Plus.