Buzz
Back in 2015, global audiences met the antagonist Ultron in Joss Whedon’s sequel to his initial blockbuster Avengers movie. While James Spader delivered a stellar performance as the beloved murderous robot, his character’s rich comic book background remains largely unknown to all but the most dedicated Marvel enthusiasts.
10. Ultron’s Unexpected Offspring
Marvel’s youthful superhero team, the Runaways—a group of teenage heroes aiming to atone for their parents’ heinous crimes—cross paths with a young man named Victor Mancha. He recalls growing up as an ordinary boy with a deceased father, a US Marine. When he displays electrical and magnetic abilities, the Runaways eventually discover that his “father” is Ultron, and his memories are merely artificial implants.
Despite looking like a teenager, he’s only a few years old. He joins the Runaways to thwart Ultron, but afterward, the team struggles to trust him. This distrust stems partly from his sinister lineage and partly due to a warning from a Runaway member who traveled back from the future, revealing that Mancha, now known as Victorious, had annihilated her and the future Avengers.
9. He Caused Time to Shatter
Fans of Age of Ultron who explored the comic of the same title were likely shocked to discover a vastly different plot, sharing only the name with the film. The comic depicts a bleak future where Ultron triumphs, seizing control of the world and slaughtering billions. When given the chance to travel back in time, Wolverine resolves to prevent this catastrophe by eliminating Ultron’s creator, Hank Pym, before Ultron is ever brought to life.
In a twist reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, Wolverine returns to a present just as grim, where the world is enslaved by Morgan le Fey’s dark sorcery. Ultimately, Wolverine journeys back once more to prevent his past self from killing Hank Pym. Pym then decides to install a fail-safe in his robot to avert the apocalyptic future. However, this final time jump proves one too many, fracturing the space-time continuum and causing the Marvel multiverse’s realities to merge.
8. He Turned Iron Man Into a Naked Woman
As a malevolent AI, Ultron can manifest in any form he desires. While he usually appears as the humanoid combatant seen in the Age of Ultron film, one storyline took a unique turn. In the first volume of The Mighty Avengers, a new team led by Ms. Marvel confronts Ultron, who begins by hijacking Iron Man’s body. During this period in the comics, Iron Man’s physique is enhanced by Extremis, the performance-enhancing substance featured in Iron Man 3.
Ultron exploits Extremis to its fullest, reshaping Iron Man’s body into a new vessel for himself. For reasons only his impeccable robotic logic can explain, he chooses the form of a nude Janet van Dyne, also known as The Wasp. Ultron is ultimately defeated through a mix of vintage gaming tech and the god of war. Iron Man’s body is returned to normal, but Ultron’s bizarre take on “gender fluidity” remains one of the oddest moments in the history of Earth’s mightiest heroes.
7. A Battle Against the Devil
A common assumption about Avengers villains is their immense power, as they must pose a credible threat to “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” However, Ultron occasionally falters, as seen when Daredevil defeated him using nothing more than a stick.
This occurs during a wandering phase in Daredevil’s life, where he travels with two Inhumans and a genetically modified woman named Number Nine. When Ultron captures Number Nine, the robot is grappling with multiple personalities in his mechanical mind, leading to existential dialogues with his captives. During one such conversation, Ultron attempts to locate the circuit preventing him from feeling happiness, believing it’s in his head, and starts ripping his own head apart.
Daredevil intervenes, stopping Ultron from self-destructing, only to be overpowered by the robot. Determined, Daredevil vows to never be struck again and proceeds to batter Ultron’s head with a large stick until he decapitates him. Despite his victory, Daredevil feels remorse, leaving readers puzzled as to why he didn’t let Ultron finish the job himself.
6. His True Creator Was Hank Pym
The Marvel Cinematic Universe often takes creative liberties with its adaptations of comic book characters and storylines. One significant departure from the source material is Ultron’s creator. In the Age of Ultron film, Tony Stark’s ambition to build “a global defense system” leads to the creation of the malevolent AI. However, in the comics, Ultron is the brainchild of the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym.
While the movie debates Tony Stark’s culpability for Ultron’s actions (Scarlet Witch certainly blames him), the comics attribute Ultron’s erratic behavior to inheriting the brain patterns of Hank Pym, who struggles with mental instability. Ultron exacerbates this issue, hypnotizing Pym into forgetting his creation. When Pym eventually remembers, the guilt consumes him, especially as Ultron becomes fixated on Pym’s ex-wife, the superhero known as The Wasp.
5. The Bride of Ultron
If Ultron’s story is a superhero twist on the Frankenstein tale, it’s only fitting that he eventually creates a “bride.” He accomplishes this by abducting The Wasp and using her consciousness to craft a robotic woman named Jocasta. Unsurprisingly, Jocasta quickly betrays her creator, mirroring Ultron’s own rebellion against Hank Pym.
Due to her sinister origins, the Avengers are reluctant to fully accept Jocasta as a member. In a display of bureaucratic inefficiency, they delay her official membership until she resigns. True to comic book tradition, she later sacrifices herself to save the team. She is eventually revived as an AI without a physical form, assisting Tony Stark in both his corporate and superhero roles, much like JARVIS in the movies.
4. The Power of Hypnosis
In the Age of Ultron film, Scarlet Witch and her mysterious magical abilities handle the hypnosis. In the comics, Ultron is the true master of mind control, beginning with erasing Hank Pym’s memory of creating him. He later manipulates the Avengers’ butler, Jarvis, and even plants a post-hypnotic suggestion in Iron Man, forcing him to rebuild Ultron. In another twist, Ultron hypnotizes The Thing from the Fantastic Four, compelling him to battle the oddly named Machine Man.
Why the obsession with hypnosis? It may stem from Hank Pym’s influence, as Ultron’s creator once used hypnosis to outsmart him. Ultron abducted a renowned scientist, Dr. MacLain, during a UN address, absorbing his knowledge. However, “Dr. MacLain” was actually Hank Pym under self-induced hypnosis, leading Ultron to insanity and self-destruction. The only knowledge Ultron gained was the phrase: “Thou shalt not kill.”
3. An Iron Man Cult Brought Him Back
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe reimagines the connection between Iron Man and Ultron, the comics already feature a bizarre link. In both the comics and films, Tony Stark escapes captivity and constructs his first Iron Man suit with the aid of Ho Yinsen, who sacrifices his life to ensure Tony’s freedom.
The comics reveal that other prisoners who escaped alongside Iron Man admired Yinsen so deeply that they formed a cult called the “Sons of Yinsen.” Using Yinsen’s notes, they create advanced technology, including a floating city. Believing they’ve struck gold, they recover Yinsen’s preserved brain and plan to place it into sentient Iron Man armor.
However, there’s a twist: The mind within the armor is actually Ultron, who deceives the cult into believing he is Yinsen. He manipulates them into waging war against Iron Man and, when that fails, destroys the floating city to eliminate everyone. The plan backfires when remnants of Yinsen’s consciousness within Ultron compel him to save Iron Man, sparing his greatest enemy.
2. He Became One With His Creator
When Hank Pym encounters an isolated Ultron unit, Ultron reveals a shocking truth: he has access to Hank’s suppressed memories, including a deep-seated disdain for humanity. After faking distress during an attack by The Vision, Ultron manipulates Hank into a seemingly heartfelt father-son embrace. However, this is a ploy, as Ultron seizes control of Hank’s body.
Captain America attempts the classic tactic of urging the hero to expel the evil within, but it fails. Plan B—physically overpowering Ultron/Hank—also proves ineffective. However, when Ultron absorbs some of Starfox’s powers, he experiences a moment of clarity. Realizing the monstrosity he has become, Ultron retreats into space, taking Hank’s consciousness with him and leaving the Avengers to grieve the loss of Hank Pym.
1. Battles Within the ‘Family’
Despite being a murderous robot intent on global annihilation, Ultron has an extensive family. This includes figures like Victor Mancha and The Vision. In the comics, The Vision’s body is derived from the original Human Torch, a 1940s android who once fought alongside Captain America. Ultron coerces Professor Phineas Horton to upgrade the android into a machine designed to destroy the Avengers, but Horton secretly retains the original personality. Ultron kills Horton and defeats The Vision, later reprogramming him with Wonder Man’s mind. Once again, placing a hero’s consciousness in a robot body backfires, and The Vision joins the Avengers.
Over time, Wonder Man comes to see Vision as a brother, and Vision marries Scarlet Witch, further expanding Ultron’s “family.” When Ultron attempts to convert his “family” into androids, the list grows to include Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne (The Wasp), and Wonder Man’s brother, The Grim Reaper.
