Entertainment
Ranking 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Villains, Because It Wasn't Just Ultron That Was A Threat To Humanity
Warning: The following gallery contains spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
If there's one thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is inconsistent about, it's the scare factor of the villains. We all loved Loki in The Avengers and thought Robert Redford was a nice touch for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but the jury is still out on whether or not the Dark Elf baddies are on the same level.
Avengers: Age of Ultron treats us to many great villains in one amazing film, using tyrannical robots, vengeful mutants, and even the odd mad scientist to hammer home the threat of danger. But how scary are Age of Ultron's villains really? Are we just looking at another Ronan the Accuser situation? It's time to examine them thoroughly.
Image: Disney
Ultron
Master plan: Destroy all of humanity in an effort to stop humanity from destroying, um, humanity. Yeah.
Powers: Well, he’s basically just the Internet.
Assessment: The titular robo-villain is a step up from some of the baddies we’ve dealt with lately, thanks to some peppy wit (and the adequate delivery thereof by James Spader). But he’s far from a truly menacing presence; the screwball nature of his plan renders the whole thing too hard to swallow.
Image: Disney
Quicksilver
Master plan: Get revenge on Tony Stark, the man whose corporation provided the warheads that killed his parents.
Powers: Super speed.
Assessment: History looks to favor another cinematic Quicksilver, as Aaron Taylor Johnson’s take on the character just comes off simplistic.
Image: Disney
Scarlet Witch
Master plan: Same as Quicksilver, but with a bit more chutzpah.
Powers: She can induce hallucinations and control energy.
Assessment: Elizabeth Olsen is, by nature, more charismatic than her onscreen brother, but anchored down by a character whose motivations are as murky as her powers.
Image: Disney
Strucker
Master plan: Develop a race of superhuman soldiers for his waging of warfare against the planet.
Powers: German-ness.
Assessment: We don’t spend a lot of time with Strucker, and, as such, don’t interpret more than just your run-of-the-mill evil scientist with a thirst for power. He’s got quite the punchy team of henchmen, though.
Image: Disney
Ulysses Klaue
Master plan: It didn’t seem like he had much of one yet, but I’m sure the loss of his arm will impart some sort of grand villainy in his MCU appearances yet to come (first up: Black Panther).
Powers: He seems to be quite the top dog among illegitimate weapons dealers.
Assessment: Thanks to the screen presence of Andy Serkis, this one-scene character stands out quite a bit as one of Age of Ultron’s more enjoyable new faces. We’ll see him take true form later on down the line, and have a bit of hope that he might be a character worth keeping an eye on.
Image: Disney
Thanos
Master plan: Get a bunch of magic rocks.
Powers: Patience.
Assessment: For the love of god, Thanos. Do something. Do anything.
Image: Disney
Tony Stark
Master plan: Protect the world from evil by way of creation of a race of all-powerful, sentient robots who’ll do our bidding for us. No questions asked.
Powers: Science!
Assessment: The most interesting component to Age of Ultron is the philosophical squabble that fissures the heroic team, sparked by Tony Stark’s brazen proposal that world saving should be left to the robots. The whole Ultron debacle is really the result of Tony’s hubris, which makes him, perhaps, the most well-formed villain in the movie. Unfortunately, Age of Ultron doesn’t spend enough time exploring this notion, leaving us to wait for the payoff in Captain America: Civil War.
Image: Disney
The Hulk
Master plan: Smash.
Powers: See above.
Assessment: Bruce Banner’s biggest emotional conflict comes with facing the harsh reality that he’s too dangerous a force for this world to handle. When set off on a rampage via the whims of Scarlet Witch, the Hulk becomes a nigh unstoppable vehicle of chaos. The best part about Banner is that he himself is the chief detractor of his methods; he wants nothing to do with the Hulk inside him, and considers himself the planet Earth’s greatest threat. Luckily, this rich theme looks like it’ll be explored further down the line.
Image: Disney
Humanity
Master plan: Consume to excess.
Powers: Insatiable pride, greed, lust, gluttony, and the others.
Assessment: As Ultron somewhat accurately points out, the greatest threat against the world is humanity itself. But the movie does very little with this notion, ultimately opting for the easy default of humanism.
Image: Getty Image
The MCU
Master plan: Keep the worldwide viewing audience forever enthralled by its output.
Powers: The insertion of facets like Ulysses Klaue or Thor’s pool scene, which won’t pay off until movies down the line. Thus, if we want closure, we need to keep coming back for these films.
Assessment: Far too powerful for any of us to fend off, the MCU is the MCU’s only truly great villain. It will be lifting the money from our very pockets for years to come, and the worst part is that we are powerless to stop it. Then again, with the promise of a movie combining Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Pratt on the horizon — teased in the stinger of Age of Ultron — we don’t really have any reason to stop it…
Image: Disney
