Hey youtubers, what’s up.
There’s a brand new Avengers Trailer tonight so just for fun I wanted to do my TOP 5 Ultron
Stories.
There are a few key changes the movie is making to his backstory as well as the Vision but
I’ll talk more about that when I post my trailer video later tonight.
This is all about the comics.
So just to start my list off let’s say Number 5 is The First Appearance of Ultron in the
comics.
In case you haven’t read any of the old Avengers Comics, the character was created
by Roy Thomas back in 1968.
The core concept and design of the character were inspired by the living robot character
Makino from a Saturday Morning Serial from the 1950s called Captain Video.
I love the idea that Saturday Morning Cartoons inspired the creation of Ultron.
George Lucas also borrowed a lot from Flash Gordon Serials of the 50s when he wrote Star
Wars.
it just melts your pop culture brain.
So Ultron’s first appearance was Avengers 54 but that was just a cameo.
It was actually a weird Masters of Evil story where Ultron secretly hypnotizes Edwin Jarvis,
the Jarvis that we’re seeing in Agent Carter right now.
He hypnotizes Jarvis into hiring the Masters of Evil to take down the Avengers.
Already you can see how there’s no way they could turn this story into a movie.
But the evolution of Ultron and everything that came after with The Vision gets so much
more awesome when you think about Paul Bettany playing Vision in the movie.
Even cooler, that original Ultron story also featured Black Panther and did a flashback
scene of how Uylesses Klaw tried to steal all of Wakanda’s Vibranium.
There’s a theory that’s who Andy Serkis is playing in the movie and they’ll use
it to lay the groundwork for Black Panther showing up in Civil War.
So even though the movie is doing a modified version of a very different Avengers comic
book story.
It still has the DNA of Ultron’s very first appearance in the 60s.
It wasn’t till later in Avengers Issue 58 that they told the story of how Hank Pym created
Ultron using his own brainwaves as a template, Ultron develops an Oedipal Complex, thinks
of Pym as his father and falls in love with Janet Van Dyne.
The Wasp.
When he appeared in the previous issue he revealed he was Ultron Version 5 and everyone
was like WTF happened to the other Four Versions.
Again, some tweaks to this happening in the movie that I’ll explain in my trailer video
tonight.
But Ultron is an evolving hypermind with the emotional fortitude of an emo teenager.
Which makes him by default, everyone’s worst nightmare.
Number 4 - The First Appearance of The Vision
I’m not talking about the original Vision, this character here.
This version was an alien from an alternate dimension.
During the 1960s Stan Lee decided he wanted an Android character to join the Avengers
as a superhero.
Because they owned the rights to that original Vision character, Stan Lee re-wrote him as
the Android Vision.
So when we talk about Vision in the context of the Marvel Universe, we’re really talking
about the Second version.
His first appearance was in 1968 in Avengers 57.
The core of the story is about Vision being more of a synthetic human than an android.
It’s part of the character’s journey that he endeavors to be human.
It’s like Data on Star Trek Next Gen, it’s like Pinnochio.
Which makes you think even more about the “strings” line from the first Trailer
and Ultron as a dark version of pinocchio.
The Avengers learn that Ultron 5 created Vision to infiltrate their team and destroy them.
But he made Vision so perfectly, that he begins to feel emotions, develops a conscience and
turns against Ultron.
If any of you are Breaking Bad fans or Watchmen fans, at the end of this story after Vision
and the Avengers defeat Ultron, Stan Lee wrote in the Ozymandius poem as an epilogue.
It’s a poem about a traveler who goes to Egypt and sees this inscription written by
an ancient King of a great empire.
And the inscription basically says, look at how awesome I am.
But the traveler can only see miles and miles of sand in every direction.
Everything the ancient king claimed to have built had crumbled to dust.
In the context of the Avengers story, Ultron is the ancient king.
But if you think about it in the context of the movie.
Tony Stark is the ancient king.
And Ultron played by James Spader, is going to crush everything he’s tried to build.
In a very literal way.
At least until the Paul Bettany Vision comes along and crushes Ultron’s empire.
So I guess at the end of the day, the movie version of Ultron is still Ozymandias.
Way later in the comics, in Avengers #93 there’s this Journey to the Center of the Earth story
where Ant Man shrinks down and goes inside The Vision’s body to examine him.
That lays the teaser that the Vision’s body was created from the original human torch.
But they didn’t fully explore that idea till Avengers #134.
Ultron Story Number 3 - We Stand At Armageddon
This was Avengers Number 66 through 68.
It was the introduction of Adamantium in the Marvel Universe.
The Vision, under the control of Ultron.
Tries to steal Adamantium from the Avengers so that he can upgrade his body and become
indestructible.
A scientist named Myron Maclain accidentaly invented it while trying to create a new indestructibe
alloy for the US Military.
Wakanda gives him a small portion of Vibranium.
And after a lot of experimenting.
Adamantium is born.
The writers made it so that the scientist didn’t fully understand what he did to create
the adamantium, it was billed as an accident.
I think just to keep the Avengers from getting overpowered.
I mean, if you can make an unlimited supply of adamantium, why not use it to make everything
that needs metal.
Adamantium cars, Adamantium refrigerator.
Because of the rights issues, the Marvel Movies have stuck with Vibranium as it’s only super
strong metal.
So I’m interested to see how Ultron seeks it out for his final body.
Number 2 - Ultron Unlimited
This is from the 1998 Avengers Run #19 to 22 by Kurt Busiek.
Ultron takes over the Western European country of Slorenia and turns everyone into Ultron
clones.
It’s a robot Hitler story.
This was a way darker telling of the Ultron Mythos.
Instead of threatening genocide, he actually goes through with it.
And Hank Pym, his creator, has to live knowing that his creation killed an entire country
of people.
Look at this panel here, doesn’t this look familiar.
This is the promo art for the movie.
And the country the Avengers go to is called Sokovia.
Sounds a lot like the Slorenia of the comic story.
And my Number 1 story - Anhiliation Conquest
This kind of dovetails with the Ultron Imperative Storyline.
So I guess I’ll mention them both.
In the wake of Civil War, Iron Man as a character came off as kind of a bad guy.
So to make him more sympathetic to audiences, Bendis had Ultron infect Tony Stark’s Extremis
Armor.
Because extremis is bonded with Tony Stark’s DNA, Ultron essentially takes control of Tony
Stark and goes on to create a new body that ends up looking like Janet Van Dyne, albiet
with Metal skin.
Eventually Ares defeats Ultron and shoots his disembodied consciousness into deep space.
Then in the Annhiliation Conquest storyline.
Ultron’s consciousness finds the Phalanx and becomes their new god.
He uses them to try an conquer the galaxy.
That conflict is the call to action that causes the new Guardians of The Galaxy to form.
The team that serves as the basis for the Guardians Movie.
So Ultron is responsible for the creation of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics.
It’s totally possible that at the end of Avengers 2, they shoot him into deep space
and he shows up as the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
We’ll have to ask James Gunn about that.
Really I’m not expecting that to happen, but it is possible if he wants to go with
something straight out of the comics.
Here’s my big question for you guys, what is your favorite Ultron story from the comics?
And do you think it’s something they could realistically do in a future movie.
Ultron seems like he might end up being a Red Skull type villain.
Someone really epic but only shows up once every 6 or 7 years in the movies.
I really don’t think we’ll see Ultron again in Infinity War.
I think they’ll probably simplify things and just have Thanos leading an army of Kree
or something similar.
Some other galactic race that isn’t controlled by FOX or Sony.
In related news, new trailer for Avengers 2 tonight.
Be sure to subscribe to get it.
I’ll post my video after it drops online.
Fingers crossed we get a good look at vision, but that’s a long shot.
You can click here for that video.
I’ll update the annotation as soon as I post it.
And click here to catch up on Agent Carter, New episode tomorrow.
Thanks for watching, see you guys tonight.
High Fives!