Captain America: Civil War is almost here, which means that it's time to catch up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As Marvel movies keep coming out, not to mention series on Netflix and ABC, the mythology grows more and more complicated. And, with all the superheroes making appearances in Civil War , the movie is far from your average Captain America movie. If you're thinking you can get away with seeing Civil War without at least knowing what happens in Avengers: Age of Ultron, you are in for a rude awakening courtesy of a very confusing movie experience. While it's obviously best to see as many Marvel movies as humanly possible before seeing Civl War (Thor: The Dark World excluded, #SorryNotSorry), if you can't, here's a recap of Avengers: Age of Ultron to get you up to date before the new movie.
The events of Age of Ultron lead directly to the conflict between Iron Man and Captain America at the heart of Civil War. More specifically, in Civil War, the destruction caused in the final battle in Age of Ultron have led to the creation of the Sokovian Accords, an international proposal that would force all superheroes to submit to an oversight committee that would determine where and when they are allowed to pitch in and help save lives. Surprisingly, Iron Man supports the new law, whereas Captain America is against it, in no small part due to the fact that the government wants to kill his BFF Bucky, aka The Winter Soldier. So, what happened in that final battle, you ask? Well, first let's go back to the beginning of Age of Ultron .
Since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Avengers have been slowly going after HYDRA, working, it appears, independent from any sort of government. In their off time, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, The Hulk and Hawkeye hang out in Stark tower, where they get drunk and take turns trying to lift Thor's hammer. (No, I didn't make that up. And, yes, it's as delightful as it sounds.) But, alas, things quickly go haywire. Here are nine things you need to know about Avengers: Age of Ultron before you see Civil War.
1. Tony And Bruce Create Ultron
The world appears to be in a relative state of peace, giving Tony Stark and Bruce Banner plenty of time to play around in Tony's lab — science bros are killing it! During one such science bro session, Tony and Bruce theorize a way to create artificial intelligence using Thor's scepter, recovered during a HYDRA mission. Imagine an Iron Man-like prototype that can think for itself — save lives and stop crime without a human to guide it. They could bring world peace, Tony says.
2. Ultron Turns Evil
Once Ultron is created, he promptly kills Jarvis and interrupts the Avengers' fun night in. Ultron's evil plans are simple: he wants to show people that the Avengers and humans really aren't that great. But first, he needs to defeat the Avengers, and to do that he's going to need some help...
3. Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch
Twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, known as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, respectively, were being held by Hydra and experimented on using Loki's scepter. They have an axe to grind with Tony Stark, blaming him for the death of their parents. When they were little, their home country of Sokovia was bombed with Stark Industries weapons. Quicksilver, who can move super fast, and Scarlet Witch, who has the power to manipulate thoughts and energy, join Ultron on his evil quest. First stop: visit an arms dealer to get Wakandan vibranium, an indestructible metal, to make a new, better Ultron.
4. Hulk Vs. Iron Man
When the Avengers catch up to Ultron, they are quickly defeated. Scarlet Witch gets into the heads of our favorite superheroes, including the Hulk and, overcome by Scarlet Witch, the Hulk goes out of control, causing Iron Man to break out his Hulk Buster suit. It appears that Iron Man managed to keep any casualties to a minimum, but the destruction Bruce Banner unwittingly unleashed onto an innocent city causes him a lot of guilt. (It also probably doesn't help much with the public perception of superheroes.) After the Avengers defeat Ultron, Bruce Banner leaves town out of guilt.
5. Vision
Using the vibranium and the stone from Loki's scepter, Ultron tries to create a new, human-like body to house his consciousness. In the process, Scarlet Witch gets inside his head and sees that he doesn't want to bring peace or elevate mankind, he wants to end the human race. Knowing this, Wanda and Pietro run and join the Avengers just as the Avengers launch an assault on Ultron. While Black Widow, Captain America and Hawkeye attack, Tony uploads Jarvis into the body Ultorn had made, creating Vision.
6. Sokovia
For his final act, Ultron decides to turn a city in Sokovia into a bomb by using his minion robots to raise the city up above ground high enough so that when it falls it will kill human kind on impact. The Avengers work are able to evacuate the city and safely stop Ultron, with Vision joining the team and killing Ultorn in the end. Unfortunately, Quicksilver is killed in the fight (RIP Quicksilver), leaving Scarlet Witch all alone to join the new Avengers.
7. New Avengers
Age of Ultron ended with Black Widow and Captain America at Avengers headquarters training new recruits: Vision, the Falcon, Scarlet Witch and War Machine, all of whom take sides in Civil War.
8. Ant-Man
Though he doesn't appear in Age of Ultron, Ant-Man made his big screen debut in Ant-Man, released just a few months after the second Avengers movie. Based on trailers for Civil War, all you have to know about Ant-Man is basically that he exists and uses a suit to give him powers, not unlike Iron Man.
9. The Winter Soldier
Also absent from Age of Ultron is The Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes, Cap's oldest friend who was brainwashed and turned into an evil assassin in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The post-credits scene in Ant-Man saw Cap and the Falcon trying to remind Bucky who he is before some unknown force, presumably the government, comes for him.
And, that's pretty much everything you need to know about Avengers: Age of Ultron before you see Captain America: Civil War! Knowing what you know now, get ready to pick a side in the on-screen battle of the year.
Images: Walt Disney Studios; Giphy (9)
