Avengers: Age of Ultron is the MCU’s most underrated film, and here’s why

By Pete Hernandez III

Did the film reach its potential? No. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But Avengers: Age of Ultron had a significant impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and here’s why it’s the MCU’s most underrated film.

I remember the level of excitement for Marvel’s The Avengers sequel being unprecedented. Fans anxiously awaited the first glimpse of Avengers: Age of Ultron. From the announcement of Ultron as the villain at San Diego Comic-Con to the leaked trailer footage that Marvel Studios amusingly blamed on “Hydra,” fans could not wait to see if the sequel could be better than its predecessor.

The end result? Age of Ultron came up short not only in worldwide box office earnings (around $1.5 billion compared to The Avengers’ $1.6 billion) but most importantly in the eyes of critics and fans alike.

Take into account its aggregation score however you choose, but The Avengers holds a 92% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Age of Ultron sits below at 75%. And ask a majority of Marvel fans, and I’m willing to bet that they feel Age of Ultron is the weakest of the Avengers films.

Why? Perhaps because Ultron as a villain left more to be desired, or perhaps because stuffing too many subplots in one film left the end product feeling bloated. Or maybe because hindsight is 20/20, and the three other Avengers films raised the bar to a high level.

But while the film, by all means, could have been better, it would be unwise to dismiss the film’s impact on the larger cinematic universe. And looking back, that is the reason why the Age of Ultron is arguably the MCU’s most underrated film.

That ‘Endgame’ moment

At first, Thanos clearly has the upper hand on Thor, but suddenly we see Mjolnir being lifted and hurled at the Mad Titan, eventually making its way back to its possessor. The music changes, only its not the God of Thunder who’s worthy to wield the hammer, its Steve Rogers, and I’ll bet that there was a resounding cheer in the theater where you witnessed this Avengers: Endgame moment.

Well, you can thank Age of Ultron for that feeling. Yes, the seed was planted four years prior in a film that so many easily write off, but facts are facts. Back in 2015’s Age of Ultron Thor comically challenges each Avenger to attempt to wield the hammer. Had this scene not come to fruition, the payoff wouldn’t have been as great. Seeing Cap slightly move Mjolnir with Thor’s look of unease in the background, gave us the hope that we would (eventually) see Rogers prove that he was worthy all along.

MCU’s future torchbearers

The flame that is MCU fandom may never die out, and it surely won’t in the near future. Even as we said goodbye to a few of the original core in Endgame, we’re just as excited for what’s to come. Black Panther 2 is among the most anticipated sequels arriving in May 2022, and Disney+’s WandaVision just might be Marvel Studios’ most ambitious live-action series.

The adventures of those heroes and the characters themselves owe their origin to Age of Ultron. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver might have been teased at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but their story truly began in the Avengers sequel. We were similarly introduced to not just Vision, but the mind stone as well.

Those introductions were not just instrumental to the culmination of the Infinity Saga, but the future of the MCU too. Soon we’ll be witnessing Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s character arcs being further explored on Disney+.

And don’t forget that the first official mention of Wakanda came from Bruce Banner in Age of Ultron. Ulysses Klaue, and his obsession with the metal Vibranium, were also introduced for the first time. All essential staples of the Infinity Saga and the future MCU, and all originating from the same film.

Avengers...Assemble

Fans pleaded on social media saying that Marvel Studios needed to unite every hero across the MCU into one shot, with the iconic “Avengers Assemble!” phrase leading them against the universe’s greatest threat in Thanos. Fans thought the request was out of reach, but we got that moment and it was well worth the 11-year wait.

Remember when it was teased at the end of Age of Ultron? Give credit where or perhaps to whom it’s due (whether it is Kevin Feige or even Joss Whedon) but it was strategic to tease it beforehand. Much like Cap’s Mjolnir moment, creating the desire for that moment was brilliant and letting it linger over the course of the Infinity Saga paid off in the end. 

All thanks to 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.