<><><>
Avengers: Age of Ultron was the second Avengers film in the MCU. It focused on Ultron trying to take over the earth. Ultron was a leftover artificial intelligence program from Hydra that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner tried to unlock for good. Ultron took over Tony’s JARVIS assistant and gained power. I revisited this film because it is the entry point for Wanda and Vision into the MCU. After watching all of WandaVision, and being disappointed with the last few episodes of the series, I wanted to remind myself of how Vision came to be.
The MCU is massive. I have watched every film, but do not often revisit them. Thor Ragnorok is an exception that I revisit regularly because it is a great buddy cop comedy on its own and Taika Waititi is a phenomenal director. Age of Ultron gets lost after the release of Infinity War and Endgame. It is an Avengers movie, but it is not as impactful. Ultron seems to be operating of his own volition, but later movies indicate he is controlled by Thanos in some ways.
The creation of Vision is late in the second act of the film, just after the conversion of Wanda from bad to good. The JARVIS AI is still active. Tony and Bruce work to recombine the code and put it into a Vibranium body with an infinity stone sprinkled ontop. It is a quick origin story for a superhero as it is completed in a few minutes on screen and produces a character that is already fully in control of their powers.
Revisiting Age of Ultron did not scratch the itch I had for more explanation of WandaVision. They only have the third act together and develop a relationship too quickly. WandaVision did explain a deepening of the relationship while living at the Avengers campus. Age of Ultron may be the worst Avengers movie. The story feels more retconned today because of subsequent MCU movies. It is still a good film, just not one of the best in the MCU.