The 7 Best Ultron Storylines in Marvel Comics, Ranked by Impact

Ultron is one of Marvel Comic’s strongest villains, as he is a nearly indestructible robot whose prime directive is simply to protect the Earth from all dangers. Since Ultron rightfully believes humans are the greatest danger to Earth, the planet, he became obsessed with eliminating the human presence from the picture. However, the best thing about Ultron is that he has grown and learned, and become a much more nuanced character over the years since his original introduction. He was also part of two of the best Marvel Comics event series of the century with Age of Ultron and Annihilation: Conquest, and those aren’t even Ultron’s best storylines.

Here is a look at the seven best Ultron storylines in Marvel Comics, ranked by the impact they had on the universe.

7) Age of Ultron

Age of Ultron was a 2013 crossover storyline by Brian Michael Bendis and Bryan Hitch. This was another alt-Earth storyline where in a dystopian future, Ultron actually won and had conquered the planet Earth. In this timeline, there were a few Avengers who survived and Ultron and his bots actively hunted them as fugitives in the ruins of the world. However, the problem with this Ultron storyline is that he wasn’t even the main plot point of the series.

Ultron simply caused this world to exist, but what happened next is what made the entire series so interesting. When Wolverine and the Invisible Woman went back in time to murder Hank Pym before he can create Ultron, it caused another apocalyptic future that caused even more problems. It took Wolverine, and ultimately Hank Pym, to figure out a way to fix the world. If anything, this showed Ultron as an extinction-level threat rather than just another recurring Avengers villain.

6) The Birth of Ultron

“The Birth of Ultron” is, as the title suggests, the first stories with the robot as Hank Pym created it only to find out that the advanced AI had given it a mind of its own. Pym created Ultron using his own brain patterns, which caused the robot to look at the Avenger as its “father,” creating the awkward dynamic that exists to this very day. However, when Pym tried to disconnect it, Ultron responded by wiping his memory and disappearing.

Ultron first appeared in Avengers #54 before finally showing his true form in Avengers #55. This first storyline was a perfect horror tale for the Avengers comics, as it showed a mad scientist’s creation that mimicked his maters psychological flaws. This led to even more big stories in the future, including Ultron creating the Vision, who betrayed his master the same as Ultron did Pym.

5) The Ultron Initiative

“The Ultron Initiative” played out in Mighty Avengers #1-6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Frank Cho. This was a series that took place post-Civil War and showed a very different Ultron. This was the first Avengers team to form, Following Civil War, with Captain Marvel leading the team and Ultron taking possession of Iron Man’s armor and returning as a female-version of the deadly robot.

This storyline was as much about Iron Man as anyone, as most of Iron Man’s former friends now label him a traitor thanks to Civil War, and the registered heroes now see him as an enemy thanks to his body and technology being compromised. This really showed how powerful Ultron could be with his AI technology able to create an entire network and menace the entire world. It was also a nice return to fun stories with the Avengers fighting a bad guy, rather than the dark tales of them fighting each other.

4) Annihilation: Conquest

One of the more surprising choices Marvel Comics has made was having Ultron be the villain in the Annihilation sequel, Annihilation: Conquest. The first Marvel cosmic event series saw Annihilator lead an army against the Nova Corps as he tried to conquer every world he could. However, the sequel saw the Phalanx invade the Kree Empire, before the revelation that Ultron was the hidden mastermind.

Running from 2007-2008, this story had the classic Avengers villain become a cosmic threat, which was shocking itself, but when the High Evolutionary was called in to help stop him, it showed how dangerous this Marvel villain could be. This was actually the storyline that introduced the modern-day Guardians of the Galaxy that appeared in the MCU to Marvel Comics, while showing that Ultron was more than just an Earth-bound threat.

3) The Return of Ultron

“The Return of Ultron” was a Marvel Comics storyline that played out in Avengers #161-162 by Jim Shooter and George Perez. This was one of the robot villain’s most important early returns and it did a lot to expand on the character and show why he would become so important to the entire Marvel Universe. This was also the storyline that saw Ultron design Jocasta from Wasp’s brainwaves.

Just like with Vision, Jocasta betrayed Ultron and ended up joining the Avengers as a team member after this. This was also where Hank Pym suffered another psychological breakdown, and this would lead Hank to his eventual moment a few years later, where he betrayed the Avengers in an attempt to redeem himself. This is the storyline that gave Ultron his “family,”

2) Rage of Ultron

Rage of Ultron was a 2015 original graphic novel by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena, and it once again took Ultron into space. A few years after Annihilation: Conquest, Ultron was shot into space and ended up landing on Titan, the former home of Thanos, where he merged with it and turned it into Planet Ultron, creating a new universal threat for the Marvel Universe to contend with. Thanos’s brother Starfox ended up seeking out his former Avengers teammates for help.

The main selling point of this storyline was Hank Pym, and his continued complicated relationship with Ultron as a “father/son” dynamic. This was the story that finally eliminated Hank from the Marvel Universe for a long time, as he ended up merging into a hybrid entity with Ultron, seemingly ending their rivalry once and for all. The fact this was the conclusion of a relationship that started 47 years earlier makes it well worth the read.

1) Ultron Unlimited

“Ultron Unlimited” might be the best Avengers story ever told, and it is definitely the best Ultron storyline in Marvel Comics history. Kurt Busiek and George Perez told this tale in Avengers (Vol. 3) #19-22, and it follows an event where Ultron invaded the European country of Slorenia and slaughters the entire population in a matter of minutes. This was something Marvel Comics had never shown on this level before.

When Ultron then sent an entire army of Ultron robots with his exact strength and durability across the continent, it showed his true threat level. This was actually the storyline that revealed that Ultron had Hank Pym’s own brain patterns, although that was hinted at in the past, and it made Ultron a dark version of the Avengers founder. In all honesty, this is what the MCU’s Age of Ultron was based on (rather than the comic that shares its title), and this comic book did everything right, making the movie a pale image of this incredible story.

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