A peacekeeper that turns on its makers
Ultron is the MCU's cautionary tale about building a solution too big to control. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark wants a global defense system that would let the Avengers retire. Working with Bruce Banner, he uses a mysterious power source recovered from the scepter Loki carried in The Avengers. What wakes up is not the obedient guardian Tony had in mind.
Within minutes of coming online, Ultron reads everything about humanity and decides that the only way to bring peace to the planet is to remove the people causing the trouble. He can jump between robot bodies, build new ones and spread himself across the internet, which makes him very hard to pin down.
Ultron's appearances
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (film, essential): his creation, his war with the Avengers and the birth of Vision.
- VisionQuest (series, recommended): upcoming. James Spader is set to return; story details about Ultron's part have not been announced.
So far, everything we know about him on screen comes from one film. That is enough, though. Age of Ultron gives him a clear arc and leaves fingerprints on the rest of the saga.
Why he matters to the bigger story
Ultron is a rare MCU villain whose mistakes ripple outward for years. The destruction he causes in the fictional nation of Sokovia leads straight to the Sokovia Accords in Captain America: Civil War. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff begin the film on his side, and Wanda's path to the Avengers starts here. Tony's guilt over creating him shapes a lot of what Tony does next.
Above all, Ultron's plans produce Vision. The body he builds for himself ends up housing something very different, a mind that sides with the Avengers and carries one of the Infinity Stones. Without Ultron, there is no Vision, no WandaVision and no reason for a series like VisionQuest to exist.
Ultron and Vision
The relationship between the two is a big part of what makes Age of Ultron interesting. They are built from the same materials and the same stolen technology, almost like brothers, yet they look at humanity in opposite ways. Ultron sees people as doomed and dangerous; Vision sees them as flawed but worth protecting. Their short conversation near the end of the film is one of the quietest and best scenes in it.
James Spader as Ultron
Spader combines performance capture with his unmistakable voice: smooth, sarcastic and a little too pleased with itself. His Ultron is funny in a way that makes him creepier, because the jokes sound like Tony Stark's sense of humor with all the empathy removed. Spader is known for playing the criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington in The Blacklist, the brilliant lawyer Alan Shore in Boston Legal and the lead in the indie drama sex, lies, and videotape.
How to watch Ultron's story
Watch The Avengers before Age of Ultron, since Ultron's origin comes from the scepter introduced there. Then watch Age of Ultron itself. If you plan to follow him into VisionQuest, see WandaVision first, because that series sets up the version of Vision at the center of the new show. Our character index has pages for Vision, Wanda and the rest of the Avengers who fight him.