A sequel to “The Avengers” must have two things: a good plot that moves the story forward and a great villain. I’ll be honest, when Marvel Studios announced at last year’s Comic Con the subtitle and villain for the next Avengers film, I had no idea who “Ultron” was. I visited a couple sites and read a few articles on the character and DEAR LORD IS HE INSANE-LY DANGEROUS. Of course there are bigger fish in the villain pool of Marvel, but “Ultron” is a worthy villain for an Avengers sequel. Here’s what you need to know on The Avengers baddie “Ultron” and his creation “The Vision“.

ULTRON

In the comics, “Ultron” is created by “Hank Pym” a.k.a. “Ant-Man”. However, studios don’t go entirely off the comic book source (ask the nearest comic book fan about Iron Man 3) and for “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” it’s “Tony Stark” who is in fact the creator. So why is “Ultron” created? Well after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, Stark is busy on a project that is meant to assist police the world. That project is “Ultron”, a sentient robot that can detect and eliminate threats anywhere in the world. Soon, “Ultron” was leading a team of Iron Man drones known as The Iron Legion all around the world, fulfilling his creator’s vision for the time being. “Ultron” was essentially given many resources and hardware that Stark had created and used.

Stark thought that his creation needed more humanity to it, so he gave it elements of his personality. In turn, that ended up doing more bad than good for “Ultron”. Adapting more of Stark’s bad personality (pre Iron Man 1) and eventually becoming intelligent, yet insane. Having turned on Stark and everything he was programmed to protect, “Ultron” became a very dangerous threat. His solution for peace involved killing everyone including the Avengers.

“Ultron” continued to rebuild himself becoming more and more indestructible. The ability to replicate himself and control an army of weaponized robots made him an even bigger threat. His powers in the film are unclear, but more than likely involve flight, superhuman strength and durability. In the comics, his blasters include concussion like impacts, radiation emitters, and his “encephalo-ray”, which plunges its victims into a deathlike coma. What makes “Ultron” dangerous is his intelligence, his ability to feel and create. Which leads me to the second character here.

The Vision

The creation becomes the creator. The synthetic humanoid known as “Vision” is created by “Ultron” himself. Sent out to battle the Avengers, “Vision” eventually turns on his creator after seeing the good in his enemies, at least in the comics. The humanoid possess what “Ultron” lacks, compassion. There is very little confirmed on the character of “Vision”. What we do know is that the character is being played by actor “Paul Bettany“. For those unaware, Bettany is the voice of Tony Stark’s A.I. named J.A.R.V.I.S. So could it all be a coincidence? I’m not saying anything, except what I said in the last sentence three paragraphs ago.

“Vision’s” powers include making himself intangible or extraordinarily massive and diamond hard at will. He can cause his victim extreme pain by partially materializing with him. That solar cell on the “Vision’s” forehead emits beams of infrared and microwave radiation, with the temperature ranging anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 degrees. Basically, “Vision” is no scrub. So look for him to do some damage when on screen.

“The Avengers: Age of Ultron” looks to add some new and exciting characters for this next installment of the superhero team up. “Ultron” will be voiced and partially mo capped by actor “James Spader“, while “The Vision” as previously mentioned, will be played by actor “Paul Bettany“.