Why Ultron is a Great Villain

Why Ultron is a Great Villain

A summary of what makes the latest Avengers villain so good (and bad) and a discussion of MCU villains in general. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Editorial Opinion
By Oxbow - May 03, 2015 09:05 AM EST
Ultron was alive for all of three days. In that time, he nearly succeeded in causing a planetwide cataclysm. He was able to do this in the face of earths mightiest heroes because his knowledge, power, durability and numbers grew exponentially over the course of those days. Despite all that though, he still remained essentially a child.

He wasn't meant to be nefarious, diabolical or truly villainous in a classical sense. He was a mad program that, for all his efforts to step out of the shadow of his creator's massive personality, could not see that he was tied to it and a dark reflection of it. Klaue lost an arm when an offhand remark made him recall that he had once heard Tony Stark say the exact same thing. Ultron reacted like a triggered child then, vindictive and remorseful in turns. He is not an emotionless killing machine like the Terminator. Neither is he a godlike machinebeing like Amazo. He is somewhere in the middle, a mech-Pinocchio born of his father's deepest wishes and anxieties and thus, likewise burdened with his profound lack of introspection.

In this sense, it's notable that Jarvis/the Vision is both the first and last one to have a conversation with Ultron. They are wooden brothers, newly given form and let loose into the physical world. One is more optimistic about the fate of mankind, while the other's pessimism drives his calculations towards a darker direction. In the end though, they're both newborn babes with the power to change the world. Luckily, superior technology and morality were on the same side this time.

Ultron was Tony Stark's worst fear brought to life - and in that sense he was terrifying. His short existence made for minimal character development but then, that seems to be a common fate for many of the best villains in the MCU (where are you, Red Skull???) I like the nuanced characterization that many Marvel villains can have (Kingpin!) but at the same time, the MCU needs a couple of straight up SOBs like the Red Skull gettin into the mix too...it can make for much more interesting and fun storytelling all around.
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averageBEAR
averageBEAR - 5/3/2015, 11:24 AM
He wasn't made of vibranium though, but I agree with you a 100%
Darktower
Darktower - 5/3/2015, 11:28 AM
Any one who read Ultron in the comic knws that this Ultron was a complete Shit! n an insult to it.
Oxbow
Oxbow - 5/3/2015, 11:38 AM
@averageBear thanks man, I'll correct it.

@Darktower sure he wasn't. Everything from birth to death was different. Ive only read a couple of comics with him though so I'm not basing what I write not on that history but the new one. It sucks when anybody's favorite character gets his or her history wiped. I prefer they come up with a new character instead but for financial reasons they usually don't in the big franchise movies.
Castiglione
Castiglione - 5/3/2015, 12:10 PM
Ultron was cool, he was changed in the MCU, to fit that world.

And, yeah, he was very effective. Look at everything he accomplished, he almost won.
DrKinsolving
DrKinsolving - 5/3/2015, 12:23 PM
Cool article

Yeah, Ultron rocked and was completely crazy

The whole scene with Klaw was awesome and totally represented the character

The opening scene was great too, when he's first introduced at the party, awesome

CaptainAmerica31
CaptainAmerica31 - 5/3/2015, 12:35 PM
Ultron was one of the worst villians I've seen in a CBM since electro
Oxbow
Oxbow - 5/3/2015, 12:49 PM
@DrKinsolving thanks, I totally dug those scenes too. Both were over the top enough to push them into this surreal, fairytale-like territory.

@dethpillow thanks for commenting. I love reading your tangents on this site man, and you always point out these things, little nuggets of characterization or transcendence or whatever that are great to reconsider and savor!


and now im off to work...stay EPIC y'all.
Beartastic25
Beartastic25 - 5/3/2015, 12:54 PM
I think you mean terrible, not great. Worst villian next to whiplash in the mcu. He was all talk, not much action. 4/10
MaximusTheMad
MaximusTheMad - 5/3/2015, 12:54 PM
Without going into too much detail or bashing AoU's depiction of Ultron, I'll say that I expected Ultron to be a little more terrifying.

My favorite scenes with him are the party scene and Klaw scene, where he was scary with a tiny bit of classic Whedon-snark.
However, I almost gave up when he became a full-on wisecracker who had a weird... "thing" for the twins.
MisterSuperior
MisterSuperior - 5/3/2015, 1:06 PM
Ultron was great until the third act and Kingpin is still the best villain in the MCU.
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 5/3/2015, 2:03 PM
Good article, but you forgot another important thing. He would bring the end of the world and spend his life alone in the planet. When you think about its almost sad. That one of the reason for his humorous personality. As he said when he took Black Widow he wanted to talk to someone. He was a very deep character.
LastAvenger99
LastAvenger99 - 5/3/2015, 2:19 PM
When people have to make an article of why ultron is a great villain then thats when you know in reality he wasn't
Suspense
Suspense - 5/3/2015, 5:32 PM
My rankings of the MCU villains by character and film:

1. Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin
2. Ultron
3. The Winter Soldier aka Bucky Barnes
4. Loki in Thor: The Dark World
5. Alexander Pierce
6. Loki in the Avenger
7. Loki in Thor
8. Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2
9. Grant Ward in Agents of Shield, season one.
10. Emil Blonsky aka Abomination
Oxbow
Oxbow - 5/3/2015, 7:20 PM
@MrSuperheromoviefan great point, he had a lot of competing motives.

Ultron may be Pinocchio but he is just as much Frankenstein's monster, I think. Formed from the foundation of Strucker's AI program, the scepter's energetic input and the personality of Tony Stark (as well as many, many bodies), Ultron is a cloud of ill-fitting and contradictory impulses. In the end, he couldn't contain the tension of all those competing drives, and went full-on bonkers.
VictorMancha
VictorMancha - 5/4/2015, 1:46 AM
Ultron was just an angry kid, when he met Ulysess Klaw for the Vibranium and he metioned Tony Stark, he turned into a pouty child.
Carl
Carl - 5/5/2015, 7:33 PM
they really [frick]ed up with ultron for the film. way to much personality.
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