What If? Writer Admits Avengers: Age of Ultron Mistake Helped Create Season Finale Storyline

Ultron, one of the most terrifying villains in the history of Marvel Comics, got the chance to shine on the big screen back in 2015 when Marvel Studios released Avengers: Age of Ultron. While James Spader’s performance as the villain certainly sent chills down the spines of fans, he was only in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for that one film. Seeing a villain like Ultron only last one movie didn’t sit to well with some fans, but the new Marvel’s What If…? TV series worked to remedy that.

A version of Ultron from the multiverse, one that was merged with Vision, took over an entire universe on his own and was the subject of an episode of What If…? He went on to discover the multiverse and attempted to take over everything, forcing the Watcher to finally get involved in the show’s Season 1 finale. Ultron got a major spotlight in Marvel Studios’ first animated series, and that was certainly the intention of the creative team behind the show.

What If…? head writer AC Bradley recently spoke with Screen Rant about the Season 1 finale, which saw heroes from across the multiverse team up with the Watcher to take on Ultron. She said that a big reason for making Ultron the main villain of the show was to make up for the time he didn’t get in the movies.

“Well, I think any comic book lover knows Ultron in the comics is absolutely terrifying,” Bradley explained. “Age of Ultron is great but was only one movie and at times, to me, it didn’t seem to give that classic villain enough screen time that I would have given him. [laughs] We can only fit so much in those movies. This was our opportunity to show what Ultron is capable of. And also, now as we’re hitting Phase 4, we have the Infinity Stones in play, we have the Multiverse, so what would happen if Ultron got the Infinity Gauntlet? How bad would it get? And it’s quite easy to jump to complete devastation!”

Ultron only lasted for one film and Thanos ended up becoming the big bad of the MCU for its first decade. Now that both seem to be gone for good — at least in the live action films — it will be interesting to see which villain Marvel Studios turns to next. Kang, played by Jonathan Majors, seems to be the most likely candidate.

What did you think of Ultron’s comeback in What If…? Let us know in the comments!