When The Avengers: Age of Ultron releases on May 1, 2015, fans will be lining up to see one of the most anticipated films of the year. However, like many other Marvel movies, Age of Ultron has heavy influences from the comics.
It started back in 2011 when Marvel comics announced their spring event for 2012. An event is a story that takes place across multiple comic titles, and can go on for months. Age of Ultron was one of the most talked about comics in recent years, leaving some fans disappointed, excited, or just flat out confused.
Written by the brilliant Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by many of Marvel’s most popular artists, Age of Ultron begins in a dystopian near future, where many of the heroes we know and love have been terminated by the evil self aware robot known as Ultron. The heroes that remain are in hiding, and they decide to hatch a plan to take down Ultron and his sentinels by pretending to surrender and taking him down from the inside. That didn’t quite work. On their heels, the Avengers decide to take a drastic approach.
The remaining group of heroes decides to travel back in time and attempt to take down Ultron before he can rise to power, but some in the group have other ideas. Wolverine thinks it would be more successful to go back and kill Hank Pym, also known as Ant-Man, the original creator of Ultron. Little does he know that sends reality into a tail spin, altering life as they know it.
The remainder of the story focuses on Wolverine and The Invisible Woman, and their attempt to fix the paradox, and the alternate realities that they have created. The story becomes quite complicated when the characters are bouncing between time periods and realities. At certain points of the story characters even encounter doubles of themselves from the past and future.
Age of Ultron is one of the most confusing stories I have read. That being said, it is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable stories in my opinion. Despite the mixed fan and critical reception, Age of Ultron has major ramifications on the Marvel Comics Universe.
Whatever it is, they did something right because Marvel Studios is releasing a film with the same name. The plot in the movie will be completely different from the comic, as the not all of the characters involved are owned by Marvel Studios, including the most important character, Wolverine.
Bendis’ Age of Ultron is definitely worth a read, especially if you’re in to the Marvel movies. Until next time, get out there and go read comics.