This year's Comic Con was filled with massive, Earth shattering announcements. Warner Bros. announced a Superman/Batman movie, which caused almost every little nerd's cranium to explode. Just when we were putting the pieces of our brain back together, Marvel comes with a stick of dynamite and blows it up again with The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Fans went ballistic as expected. But who would have known opinions on the film would change in less than 12 hours, when Joss Whedon announced Hank Pym, the creator of Ultron, would not be featured in the film. Let's just say fans were not impressed. Even myself(a self professed Marvel lover) was skeptical that this decision was justified. After letting this announcement sink in, I started thinking about the reasoning behind such a drastic change. Here in this editorial, I break down through several points as to why Hank Pym isn't in Age of Ultron and why you shouldn't be worried.
Stark creates Ultron
This one may have fans aiming their sites at Whedon, but think about it. After Iron Man 3, Stark is in a unique position of being (temporarily) retired from Iron Man. He realized that he can help the world in other ways. So, he creates Ultron as a way to replace him and carrying on protecting the world while he works on other projects. Stark has already developed an A.I. system in the films, J.A.R.V.I.S. And Ultron can simply be an extension of that. Ultron can be an AI who doesn't just take orders (JARVIS) but can make decisions between what's right and wrong. Marvel has already alluded to sentient robots in Iron Man 3, so seeing him develop an extension to that (being Ultron) would be logical. But after Ultron goes rogue, it would give a good reason for Tony to dawn the suit again. Him putting the suit back on would be for a personal reason. Having Stark throw the suit on because of another alien invasion would feel like somewhat of a cop out, but to put a personal twist on it would make Tony's return to Iron Man feel emotionally heavier and important.
Oh boy, fans aren't going to like what I'm writing but this may be another reason as to why Hank isn't in Avengers 2. Remember back in the twilight years of the MCU, when Edger Wright announced he was doing Ant Man? In an interview, he stated that he was going to likely use Scott Lang as opposed to the famed scientist! Maybe in the MCU Hank isn't actually a super hero but a highly regarded scientist who discovers Pym Particles. He developed technology based on the particles and this tech ends up being stolen by Lang. Wright had gone on record to say that his script for Ant Man was based on the comic storyline "To Steal an Ant Man." My point is, Pym may not even exist in this current time line and that Scott Lang may actually be the Ant Man during the events of The Avengers. Another point to bring up is, Feige revealed that they initially had Eric Selvig reference Pym as a colleague. This suggests Pym was a lot older in the current time line and possibly the same age as Selvig. This wasn't the first time someone had their age changed in the MCU (Justin Hammer being younger). From these hints, Scott Lang may possibly be the Ant Man in Marvel's future films as opposed to Hank Pym.
Who knows! Just because Whedon said Pym isn't in the movie doesn't mean he isn't the creator of Ultron. Maybe Pym will be referenced through flashbacks and that Ultron might had been created prior to The Avengers. There's still a strong possibility he'll appear in future films and maybe he'll have some sort of connection to Ultron. Looking at other sources, Ultron was also co-created by Tony Stark in Earth''s Mightiest Heroes, while Stark himself created Ultron in the animated movie Next Avengers. So to see Pym not be the creator isn't totally out of left field. Either way, Pym could still be the creator of Ultron but only mentioned or alluded in the film.
It's all about the CHARACTERS
Closing this off, comic book movies shouldn't be literal translations from comics to films but be adaptations instead. Film Makers should look towards comics as a source for inspiration and not rip off to please fans . What truly matters in a comic book movie is whether they captured the spirit of the characters or not. Look at a movie like X Men First Class. The film barely followed its comic counterpart (the First Class comic) but it succeeded because of the well presented relationship between Xavier, Magneto and the other mutants. Unlike another mutant mash up, Wolverine Origins, where that film gave us fan favourites (Gambit and Deadpool) yet forgot to tell a compelling story. Just because Pym may not be in the film, it doesn't mean Ultron is going to be completely different. Ultron will probably still be the same evil and deep robot that fans have come to appreciate. If Ultron's complex relationship with his creator is properly developed and presented in the film, that is enough to do justice to the stories!
Before the fans write off Joss Whedon's decision just remember that we fans don't know anything of what to expect for the future of the MCU, so I recommend everyone to sit back and keep your eyes and ears open, you might be pleasantly surprised in 2015 .
The Avengers: Age of Ultron will release
May 1, 2015