As early as October 2011 (before the first Avengers film was even released), head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige mentioned that there were plans for a second Avengers movie. In May 2012 Head of Disney Bob Iger officially announced that the sequel was happening. In August 2012. it was confirmed the Joss Whedon would return to direct the sequel. About doing the sequel Whedon stated, "I have to make my movie assuming that people will only have seen the first one, or possibly not even seen the first one. I can't assume that everybody went to see Thor [The Dark World], Captain America [The Winter Soldier], and Iron Man [3] in-between. I have to go from one movie to the next and be true to what's happened, but not be slavish to it [...] The model I'm always trying to build from, my guiding star, is The Godfather Part II where a ton has happened in-between and it's a very different movie [from The Godfather], but you don't need any information: it's there in the film."
In this film, because of the events in the previous film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) create a program they call Ultron to keep the world safe from all threats. Ultron (James Spader) though takes on a robotic body and decides that Earth would be safer without humans in it. The Avengers (Downey, Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johanson, Jermey Reyner, Chris Hemsworth) must team up again to stop Ultron. Meanwhile Ultron convinces two super powered twins to help him, Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
This is an excellent film and one of the most underrated MCU films. What this movie does extremely well is to raise the stakes from the first film. The danger feels much more real and present here and therefore the suspense is also raised. The main reason for this is the main villain. Ultron is a truly wonderful villain. Not only does he feel like a major threat to our heroes, but he also is a very compelling character. The very premise of a program created by the Avengers taking on a life of its own yet becoming the enemy of the Avengers is already a compelling one. The way Ultron views the world and the Avengers is quite well-written. While his point of view is warped, you can still understand where he comes from. What also makes this character compelling is how it takes on characteristics of Tony Stark himself. His jokes and snarky attitude sound like Tony Stark because he was created by Stark. Frankly watching what is essentially an evil Iron Man makes for fun watching but it also gives us a greater understanding of the dark side of Tony. The twins he gets to help him, don't get enough screentime to develop as strong of personalities but they are very effective as threats. We can easily see how Scarlet Witch's powers can tear apart the Avengers from the inside and what she does to our main heroes obviously leaves emotional wounds that can't be healed easily. As well as this the movie also does a great job of exploring who our heroes are and what makes them tick. The characters are much more emotionally vulnerable here and this makes them feel much more real to us. The movie also does an especially great job of giving us a better glimpse of who Hawkeye is (as we didn't get to know much about him in the previous movie) and why a guy who shoots arrows is so important to a team that literally has a god on it. This movie also benefits from very strong action sequences that even top those in the first movie.
Unlike the previous movie where the humor hit constantly, here it is a bit hit and miss. There are moments here that are legitimately quite funny (I especially love the elevator joke towards the end). However, there are also times when it can fall completely flat. There are quite a few forced quips here that feel like they are simply there because they are expected. This makes some of the humor lose the natural feel it had in the first movie.
Chief among the flaws is that the romantic relationship between Hulk and Black Widow, doesn't work. It feels forced, bland and quite undeveloped. The plot also can rely too much on supposedly smart characters acting dumb simply because the plot says they should.
The movie was a financial success grossing $1.403 billion worldwide making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2015. On its opening weekend alone, it grossed $392.5 million making it the seventh largest ever opening weekend.
Critically it received quite mixed reviews. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Although this movie is effective moment to moment, very little of it lingers in the mind afterward. The ideal vehicle for our age of immediate sensation and instant gratification, it disappears without a trace almost as soon as it's consumed." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone stated, ""Age of Ultron is a whole summer of fireworks packed into one movie. It doesn't just go to 11, it starts there. [Joss Whedon] takes a few wrong turns, creating a jumble when the action gets too thick. But he recovers like a pro, devising a spectacle that's epic in every sense of the word." Richard Rooper gave the movie three and a half out of four stars stating, "Someday, an Avengers film might collapse under the weight of its own awesomeness. I mean, how many times can they save the world? But this is not that day."
This movie introduced Ultron, Scarlet Witch, Quick Silver (although Scarlet Witch and Quick Silver had a tiny cameo in the post credits scene in Captain America: The Winter Solider (2014)) and Vision to the MCU. Ultron was first introduced to the comics in Avengers #54 (July 1968). In the comics he was created by Hank Pym not Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Vision was introduced in the comics not much later. He first appeared in Avengers #57 (October 1968) in the comics he was originally created by Ultron to trap the Avengers. However, he would have a change of heart and end up joining the Avengers. Him and Scarlett Witch would have a romantic relationship both in the movies and the comics. Scarlet Witch made her first comic book appearance in X-Men #4 (March 1964). Quick Silver also first appeared in the same issue. Though both Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch have strong ties to the X-Men, at the time this film was being made, 20th Century Fox had the film rights for the X-Men. Because of this for the MCU, their origin stories were changed to fit into a Marvel Universe without the X-Men. In the comics Quick Silver and Scarlet Witch joined the Avengers in Avengers #16 (May 1965).
Resources Used
The Marvel Encyclopedia published by DK Books
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/avengers-sequel-comic-con-mark-ruffalo-249014/
https://web.archive.org/web/20140815052937/https://deadline.com/2012/05/disney-announces-avengers-2-in-development-268528/
https://variety.com/2012/film/news/joss-whedon-to-write-direct-avengers-sequel-1118057576/
https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18630302.html
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt2395427/?ref_=bo_cso_table_18
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-avengers-review-20150430-column.html
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/avengers-age-of-ultron-251411/
https://web.archive.org/web/20150430020626/http://entertainment.suntimes.com/movies/avengers-age-ultron-marvel-humor-peril-comic-book-triumph/
https://www.reviewingcomics.com/marvel/avengers-1963/avengers-16/
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