Avengers: Age Of Ultron Finally Reveals Its Robotic Villain

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

avengers age of ultronBig green guys with anger issues usually don’t get much attention here at Giant Freakin’ Robot, nor do hammer-wielding gods, assassins, or once-frozen WWII veterans. We get a little more interested when billionaires start tinkering with smart bodysuits and weaponized drones, but it takes actual robots — an evil, self-replicating one in this case — to get us talking about Joss Whedon’s mega-tentpole flick Avengers: Age of Ultron. Today granted the world its very first look at the heinous Ultron itself, which I guess puts us on the rise of the dawn of the age of Ultron. Either way, he looks like a right chipper bastard.

Assuming you can read, you’ve figured out that this is the cover for the newest issue of EW, which also reveals some of the story’s vague plot points. I don’t think I’d be upset to find out that this was a still taken from the film just before Captain America looks right into the camera and says, “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” He was raised on classic comedy, that one.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will definitely be the biggest of Marvel’s showcases at this year’s Comic-Con, so it’s wise that they’ve decided to actually let the masses in on what this movie is about. (Spoilers ahead for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.) As seen in Captain America: Winter Soldier, S.H.I.E.L.D. was taken apart from the inside by HYDRA, and our main good guys are tired from their world-saving adventures. So what better time is there for danger to appear and take advantage?

Instead of being some elder god or ruthless criminal, Ultron is (in the movie at least) the creation of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), whose goal was to create an artificially intelligent system that was not only self-aware but which would be in charge of assessing danger. And when danger strikes, that’s when the Iron Man drones would head out and take care of the world’s bad guys without any of the Avengers having to lift a finger. But it doesn’t take long for Ultron to become smart enough to realize that the real threat holding back this planet’s evolution is human beings. So we must go.

ultron

Ultron, who made his first appearance in the comics back in 1968, will be voiced in the film by James Spader. You’ll notice a few of him on the cover, and that’s because Ultron is capable of uploading his consciousness into the Cloud (sorta), and can also rebuild different, stronger versions of himself. However will the Avengers be able to stop him? (faints from all the excitement)

We’ll find out when Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theaters on May 1, 2015. In the meantime, let’s not forget about that other Marvel movie that we talk about all the time, Guardians of the Galaxy. That comes out in two weeks, on August 1. Make it a hit, people, or Ultron will upload his fist into your face.