Age of Ultron Aged Really Well
It is about time we had a family meeting and put some respect on Avengers: Age of Ultron.
I used to get laughed at when I would say Age of Ultron is my favorite Avenger movie (just like I get laughed at for Iron Man 3 being my favorite Iron Man, but that is a conversation for another day.) It is so slept on, but Endgame showed how important it really was to the Infinity Saga. Let’s take a walk down memory lane to 2015 and go through the direct links from Age of Ultron to Endgame that I noticed, since I watch A.o.U. at least once a week and I know it like the back of my hand:
That Is The Endgame
In the first Avengers while they stayed on the ground, Tony went up into space to carry a nuke to save the day. That action gave him sever panic attacks and he became very paranoid. While Avenging was nice, he was over it. He knew aliens were going to come back because of the vision Wanda gave him (trust me, we will get there) He thought having Ultron could stop them before they even reached earth. He saw a suit of armor around the world that could do all they physical work that he no longer wanted to do. When the team confronts him about creating Ultron, Tony says:
“A hostile alien army came charging through a whole in space and we're standing 300 feet below it. We are the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day but that up there, that is the Endgame.”
No Trust, Liar
In Endgame, the moment Tony saw a window, he took his time to remind Capt. of this very conversation. This was the rest of the argument in Age of Ultron:
Tony: How are you guys planning on beating that?
Capt.: Together.
Tony: We'll lose.
Capt.: Then we will do that together too.
And here is their argument in Endgame:
Tony: I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn’t want to believe it, I thought I was dreaming.
Capt.: Tony, I am going to need you to focus.
Tony: ..and I needed YOU! As in past tense that trumps what you need, it’s too late Buddy. And I believe I remember telling all of you, alive or otherwise that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world, remember that? Whether it impacted or precious freedom or not that’s what we needed.
Capt.: Well that didn’t really work out.
Tony: I said we would lose, and you said we would do that together too and guess what Capt.? We lost and you weren’t there.
It was the ultimate I TOLD YOU SO and although Capt. deals in the present, you could tell in that moment he had a little bit of regret.
Bruce and Natasha
We got to see Bruce and Natasha's relationship grow as odd as it was. They started off rocky in the first Avengers but in this movie it was different. She seems to be the only one that can calm him down out of his rage. After they were recovering from their visions at the safe house, Bruce was talking about running away because the world saw the Hulk for the first time and she wanted to run with him and never look back. She saw past the monster who he thinks he is inside and wanted to be with Bruce Banner in spite of The Hulk. He saw himself as a threat to her and the rest of the world and he couldn’t provide the family life he thought she wanted. Since she was sterilized as a part of her training, she could not have kids either, so the life she wanted would just be with him. The difference between the two of them was he felt regret for the hurt and harm he caused and she didn’t blink an eye because again, one of these things aren’t like the other. He was ashamed of the monster he was and she was ashamed of the monster they made her. It seemed like her vision had her feeling all types of guilt about being an Avenger. She was a trained assassin at a very young age and was taught to kill, unlike the rest of the group. When Bruce suggested running, it was almost like she saw it as a way out of the guilt trip she was currently on. Her being sterilized detached her from feeling true connections to make it easier to kill. When Bruce went to break her out of the jail in Sokovia, he wanted to take her up on her offer and run away, but she kissed him and told him she adored him before pushing him into a pit. She told Bruce sorry, but she needs the other guy to go be a hero.
Since Hulk and Bruce don't really get along too well, I’m sure that crushed his ego. He stayed Hulk for two years after that only turning back into Bruce when he sees the message on the Quinjet screen she left for him back in Age of Ultron to come back because they couldn't track him in Thor Ragnarök. This movie laid the foundation and emotional connection for Bruce and Nat that would continue to be hinted at until her death. Bruce's pain and anger made sense in Endgame and the fact that he kept saying I tried to being her back when he snapped. The team was sad when Nat sacrificed herself for that stone, but her and Bruce never got closure.
Natasha, Clint and the Bartons
Natasha's past and Barton's present are explored more which makes her sacrifice in Endgame and his murder spree to avenge his family make sense. We felt a connection to Barton's family so when they disappeared, we felt like WE lost them too. His wife Laura opened up her home to the Avengers as a safe house when they had to lay low and moments in those scenes, you can really see how deep Clint and Natasha’s relationship is. His kids call her Auntie Nat, and Laura tells her that the bun in the oven won’t be named Natasha after her, but Nathanial because it is a boy. While the Avengers have a pow wow over dinner with Nick Fury, Clint’s daughter Lila draws Nat a picture. We see how deep their friendship actually is and it goes far beyond Avenging, which makes the scene at Vormir that much heartbreaking.
Avengers Assemble
At the end of the movie we see a new group of Avengers gather at the campus to be trained by Nat and Capt. We see Wanda, Vision and Falcon gathering down below and Capt. calls for the Avengers but before he says "Assemble", the screen goes black. We finally got that pay off and it was one of the biggest moments in movie history.
Whosoever Be He Worthy Shall Haveth The Power
When Capt. was able to lift Mjölnir, it was a direct call back to the scene where each Avenger tries to lift it and fail. When Capt. tries last, he nudges it a smidgen. It is such a tiny nudge, only Thor notices it and face drops, but Capt. being Capt., he waved it off like he wasn’t able to lift it and the whole time. Turns out he was worthy all along.
SOMEONE Is Playing Intricate Mind Games
At the end of the movie, Thor says he has to go because the mind stone is the fourth infinity stone that has shown up in the last few years and it is not a coincidence. Someone is playing intricate mind games and has made a pawn of the Avengers and once all the pieces are in place, triple Yahtzee. In the post credit scene, we see Thanos already has a gauntlet and he says, “fine, I’ll do it myself.”
Building Pepper A Farm
At the end of Age of Ultron Tony tells Capt. he is going to take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm in which he does. We see a huge house on a lake seeming in the middle of nowhere with peace and quiet away from anything that reminded Tony of his PTSD. Tony tells Capt. it is time for him to tap out and says he too will get there one day. Capt. says the guy that wanted all that went into the ice 75 years ago and someone else came out. Capt. was able to go back 78 years and back to the man that wanted all that and got just that.
Wanda and Vision
Wanda and Vision both made their introductions to the MCU in Age of Ultron and after her brother died and Vision saved her life, they seemed to be inseparable. Their relationship grew in Civil War and his actions being distracted by trying to save her caused Rhodey to become paralyzed. They were on the run in Infinity War and when she had to destroy Vision in order to save earth, she was not ready to do so. She did it anyway and that caused Thanos to rewind time and kill Vision himself. In Endgame Wanda showed up all kinds of pissed ready to kill Thanos. He words were “ you took everything from me.” And he replied, “I don’t even know you.” First her parents died, then her brother and then her love that was created using A.I. in Age of Ultron.
Wanda’s Visions:
When Wanda played mind games with the Avengers, it basically showed a rode map to the rest of the Infinity Saga in a way. Some parts were minor, others major so I will take them one by one and what I got from the interpretation after seeing Endgame.
Captain America:
In Capt.'s vision he was back in is war time days at a party at what seems like a dance hall. The music fades and it is silent and Peggy walks up and asks if he is ready for their dance. She says the war is over now and they can go home. She tells him to imagine it. She was there, asking for a dance but he couldn't hear the music. We see them dance for a second and he seemed unsatisfied. in that moment he had everything he thought he wanted, he wasn’t satisfied. The next second everyone in the room disappeared leaving him all alone just like after the snap. No Peggy. No Bucky. No Sam. After defeating Thanos, Capt. finally had that feeling that the war was really over and that he could finally go home and get some of that life Tony was talking about.
Iron Man
We see an alien portal open with aliens and ships headed towards Earth, just as it did in Endgame when it was Thanos vs Capt. We also saw all of the Avengers dead, and Capt.’s shield was broken, laying next to his body the exact same way Thanos broke it in Endgame. In some way shape or form, the Avengers we all knew from Age of Ultron were no more by the time Endgame came. Capt., just came back from being a fugitive, Thor was overweight, depressed and questioning his existence, Black Widow actually died, (they showed a close up of her dead and her eyes were wide open just as in Endgame), The Hulk became Professor Hulk and Clint became Ronin. Tony was left alone and was asked why didn’t he do more? He could have saved them. When Thanos said he would shred earth down to its last atom and build a new one, Tony knew if he didn’t snap, that portal was going to open and Thanos would have succeeded.
Thor’s Vison
Thor’s vision is the most detailed and it is also a two-part vision and was heavily edited in the theatrical release but included in the bonus footage. In the vision given to him by Scarlet Witch, Thor stumbles into a gathering and is greeted by Heimdall and his eyes are white. He tells Thor that he sees everything, and he sees Thor leading them to Hel. Thor tells Heimdall that he can still save him, Heimdall says “we are all dead, can’t you see? You’re a destroyer, Odinson.” He tells Thor to see where his power leads them. Thor’s body shoots out lightening, killing s by turning them into dust. He has a quick vision of 4 infinity stones lined up with an outline of the gauntlet and Vision’s eyes opening.
Norn Cave
Thor leaves the safe house saying he needs answers and won’t find them there. He goes to the University of London to meet up with Erik Selvig, an astrophysicist that he takes with him on a mission to further investigate his vision. They go to the Norn Cave to dip into the Water of Sight. Thor tells him if the water accepts him, he can return to his dream and find out what he missed. Selvig then says:
“Men who enter that water, the legends don’t end well”
In every realm there is a reflection and Thor says the Norn sees what no eye can; what is and what’s to come. The Norns expected a sacrifice of life which Thor was willing to give because he said he had more life than most. He tells Selvig hopefully, the Norns will talk through Thor to Selvig and tell them what is needed before they consume Thor completely. As the Norns begin to speak through Thor, this is the conversation:
Selvig: How do we stop Ultron?
Norns: Sacrifice
Selvig: What kind?
Norns: Human of course! And we count the dead and they are legion. The stone draws you all to its brilliance and you to your end.
Selvig: The stone from Loki's scepter?
Norns: “it was never his. it is of the six. the infinite six. cannot be joined nor kept apart. The mind stone that rules perception that molds the minds monsters. It carved out your will Erik and still you don’t see? Your enemies are closer. God fear fathers’ ambition and brilliance only blinds. Dark. Dark as the moon. Embrace this black”
And with that, Thor is rejected from the Water of Sight and returns to his normal self and says, “They don’t see what’s coming.”
Now let’s break this thing down. In Scarlet Witch’s vision he calls Thor a destroyer and see where your powers lead them. Thor led Asgard right to Thanos which caused half of them to be wiped out by Thanos before the snap even happened. Also, the lightening from his body turned someone to dust- Thor didn’t go for the head causing the snap to take place, turning billions to dust. At the Water of Sight, Slevig says “men that enter that water, legends don’t end well”. Who had the biggest fall from grace and turmoil than Thor? Since that moment his sister broke his hammer, he lost his eye, lost half of Asgard, watched Loki and Heimdall die right in front of him, didn’t go for the head because he got cocky, got severe PTSD from said actions, gained weight, stopped taking care of himself altogether and realized he wasn’t King material and left Asgard to be the man he is and not who everyone thinks he is supposed to be. Who saw the legend of Thor ending this way?
When asking how to stop Ultron the key was human sacrifice. Although not human, if they would have destroyed the mind stone in this movie, there would be no vision and it would be no need for Wanda to do it in Infinity War. In Infinity War, Quill was not mentally ready to sacrifice Gimora, Capt. and Nat were not willing to sacrifice Vision for the mind stone and Dr. Strange was not willing to sacrifice Tony for the time stone. But Thanos did not hesitate to throw Gimora from the cliff, hence why his mission succeeded. In Endgame, Natasha was the human sacrifice for the greater good. Also they said, “and we count the dead and they are legion”, which means those Thano’s sacrificed in the snap counted towards the human sacrifice as well.
The Norns said “God fears fathers’ ambition and brilliance only blinds.” In Infinity War, the minions were called Children of Thanos and they called him father. They were so amazed that he had two infinity stones, that all he had to do was sit back and he sent them to Earth and Wakanda to get the stones for him and they happily went.
Dark as the moon can refer to when Thor went back to Nidavellir in Infinity War to get a weapon from Eitri, but it was completely dark. The neutron star was sealed leaving the forges frozen shut. The entire placed seemed cold and dark.
Of course, Age of Ultron was a box-office smash, but the critical acclaim was just ok. I think it falls to the bottom of the Avenger list for many because the first one was iconic, Infinity War had every franchise, and the Endgame wrapped it all up, but one thing is for sure: Age of Ultron walked so Endgame could fly.