Ultron is a fictional supervillain that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is most recognized as a foe of the Avengers, and has a quasi-familial relationship with several of their members, especially his creator Hank Pym. He was the first Marvel Comics character to wield the fictitious metal alloy adamantium.
Ultron has appeared in several media adaptations, including animated television series, an animated film, and video games. The character is portrayed by actor James Spader in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Publication history
The character initially appeared in an unnamed cameo in Avengers #54 (1968), with a first full appearance in Avengers #55 (1968). Ultron was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema. Thomas, who has acknowledged he finds naming characters difficult, said he liked the -tron suffix and went from there.
Thomas said the idea of the character and his appearance were heavily based on Mechano, an obscure robotic villain who appeared in an issue of the Captain Video comic book. He liked the robot's malicious looking smile, and showed it to Buscema.
Fictional character biography
1960s
Although Ultron first appears in Avengers #54 (1968), the character is disguised for the majority of the issue as the Crimson Cowl, with his face only revealed on the last page of the issue and no name given to the character. The character leads the Masters of Evil against the Avengers, having hypnotized Edwin Jarvis into working for him. In the following issue, #55 (August 1968), the character is identified as Ultron-5, the Living Automaton, although his origin is still unknown. In Avengers 57â€"58 (Octoberâ€"November 1968) in a flashback sequence it is revealed that Ultron is the creator of the "synthezoid" Vision whom it tries to use as a weapon to destroy the Avengers. The Visionâ€"behaving similarly to Wonder Man, whose brain patterns he was givenâ€"however, destroys Ultron with the aid of the Avengers.
Further flashbacks reveal that Ultron is the creation of Hank Pym, and based on Pym's brain patterns. The robot gradually developed its own intelligence and rebelled, and almost immediately develops an Oedipus Complex, whereby it feels irrational hatred for his "father" Hank, and demonstrates an interest in Hank's lover Janet van Dyne, the Wasp. Rebuilding itself, learning how to turn itself on, and upgrading five times, Ultron then hypnotizes Pym and brainwashes him into forgetting that the robot had ever existed.
The character's next appearance is in Avengers #66â€"68 (Julyâ€"September 1969), where the character, now referring to itself as Ultron-6, uses the fictional alloy adamantium to upgrade its body to an almost indestructible state and takes the new name Ultimate Ultron. Its plans to destroy humanity are again thwarted by the Avengers.
1970s
A crossover story between Avengers #127 (Sept. 1974) and Fantastic Four #150 (Sept. 1974) features Ultron (now Ultron-7), recreated by Maximus with the body of the android Omega, attacking the wedding of the Inhuman Crystal and the Avenger Quicksilver, and battling the Avengers, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four before being destroyed once again. The character next appears in Avengers #161â€"162 (Julyâ€"Aug. 1977) as Ultron-8 where it is responsible for the creation of Jocasta whom it wishes to take as a robotic bride. Shortly afterwards, in Avengers #170â€"171 (Aprilâ€"May 1978), the Avengers, with the aid of Ms. Marvel battle and defeat Ultron-8.
1980s
His next appearances are in Avengers #201â€"202 (Nov.â€"Dec 1980) as Ultron-9 and in Marvel Two-In-One #92â€"93 (Oct.â€"Nov. 1982) as Ultron-10; both appearances feature brainwashed heroes re-creating and then defeating the robotic menace. After being briefly recreated (as Ultron-11) by the Beyonder and appearing on Battleworld during the Secret Wars, and for a brief encounter with the Thing, Ultron is destroyed again. The Thing, however, does bring Ultron's head back to Earth as a souvenir. The head of Ultron-11 is dropped and forgotten by the Thing when there is an attack by the alien Dire Wraiths.
A new Ultron (Ultron-12) enters into an alliance with the villain the Grim Reaper and his allies (Nekra; the Erik Josten Goliath; Man-Ape and the Black Talon) in a bid to destroy the Reaper's brother, Wonder Man. Although the villains are defeated by the West Coast Avengers, Ultron-12 begins to form a relationship with his "father", Henry Pym. Ultron-12 begins calling itself Ultron Mark 12, in an effort to sound more human. Rebuilding itself, Ultron-11 comes into conflict with Hank Pym and Ultron-12. With the assistance of Wonder Man, they destroy Ultron-11. Ultron-12 then deactivates, but tells Pym it was glad it could help save him.
1990s
Doctor Doom rebuilds Ultron using a combination of all of Ultron's previous personalities with a particularly strong dose of Ultron-12, believing this mix will make Ultron subservient to him. Instead, all 12 Ultrons coexist as separate personalities, resulting in a form of madness which culminates with Ultron-12 mutilating himself in an attempt to remove some of his other personalities. Karnak, Daredevil, and Gorgon destroy Ultron by severing his neck cables.
Another version of Ultron appears (Ultron-13) and is stopped by the West Coast Avengers. After escaping captivity this version attempts to obtain a new form of vibranium called Nuform, but is repelled by the combined efforts of Iron Man, the Black Panther and Spider-Man. Ultron (Ultron-11) next briefly appears as a captive of a highly advanced Doombot, but is freed when the Doombot is defeated by Deathlok.
Ultron-13 escapes from prison and upgrades into "The Ultimate Ultron", (technically Ultron-14) and captures the West Coast Avenger Mockingbird, using her brain patterns to create a new robotic mate called Alkhema. Alkhema aids Ultron but both are eventually jettisoned into space through a ruse by the Vision. The character reappears with Alkhema, and together they plan to create a "volcanic winter" by placing bombs underneath several volcanoes. The West Coast Avengers stop the pair once again, and Alkhema rebels and leaves Ultron. Another Ultron (Ultron-15) is found by the Vision, but is discovered to have been "infected" by human emotion and is seriously deteriorating, displaying symptoms that resemble alcoholism. This Ultron and a recreated Jocasta decide to explore the world with the Vision for a time.
After a brief cameo appearance (as Ultron-17) the character - with the aid of Ultron-16 - slaughters the population of the fictional state Slorenia before once again being defeated by the Avengers, Goliath using vibranium against him.
2000s
The Avengers discovered that every creation of Ultron (Vision, Jocasta, Alkhema) has a secret program included - they are subconsciously compelled to rebuild Ultron. In this case, it is Alkhema who unintentionally rebuilds Ultron when she attempts to create a new species of bio-synthezoids. Ultron-18 was, however, composed of steel, not adamantium, and is destroyed when Alkhema's subterranean base exploded after Hawkeye shot Alkhema with a vibranium arrow at her request. Ultron's head was recovered by one of the synthezoids, an artificial girl called Antigone.
Iron Man encounters an Ultron formed from an old version of his armor and the head of Ultron-18, who leads the cult the Sons of Yinsen in an attempt to conquest via religion. The character is defeated by Iron Man and Jocasta. Another Ultron (possibly Ultron-13) creates the cyborg Victor Mancha, who is to be used as a sleeper agent against the Avengers. Mancha, however, rebels, and joins the Runaways. This Ultron first poses as Doctor Doom before revealing itself, and is defeated in a battle against the Runaways and Excelsior.
In June 2007, Marvel launched a new Avengers title called The Mighty Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis and Frank Cho. In the first six issue arc, Ultron interfaces with Iron Man's armor, which Iron Man had integrated with his biology. This allows Ultron's program to transform Iron Man into a new version of Ultron who has the appearance of the human Wasp, albeit with a metallic skin. This version takes control of Stark's technology. He kills the Sentry's wife, causing the Sentry to battle Ultron, nearly tearing his head off. This version is eventually destroyed by new Avenger Ares, who uses a computer virus (created by the Skrull agent Criti-Noll, who at the time was impersonating Henry Pym) to wipe Ultron's program from Iron Man's armor, changing Tony Stark back to normal. Ultron's image later briefly appears on one of Pym's computers.
However, this was not the end of Ultron, for his disembodied consciousness was thrown into the depths of space. He spent a few months floating through the cosmos as radio-waves and energy. Eventually his signal was picked up by an outlying group of Phalanx, who were attempting to contact their parent race, the Technarchy. Fascinated by what he found, Ultron decided that the Phalanx lacked direction from a singular consciousness, and that he would be perfect for the role. Through sheer force of will he merged himself with the programming of the Phalanx. In turn, they viewed Ultron as the sympathetic father they had yearned for. Under Ultron’s guidance the Phalanx began the Annihilation: Conquest by invading the Kree space. Later by taking control of the body of Adam Warlock, Ultron hopes to achieve "true techno-organic perfection", but is eventually forced to abandon Warlock's body by the Technarchy Warlock and is later destroyed in combat by Wraith and Quasar.
In the limited series Avengers/Invaders, it is revealed S.H.I.E.L.D. life model decoys have been partly replaced with versions of Ultron. When the original android Human Torch appears in the present they covertly parasitize his unique android physiology and become more human. The combined super teams (but mainly the Torch himself), however, discover the plan and destroy the androids.
2010s
In the Mighty Avengers, Ultron is shown to infiltrate Jocasta and the Infinite Avengers Mansion. He names himself Ultron Pym and seeks to kill and replace his father before using his Infinite Mansion to conquer the universe. Pym eventually offers Ultron a compromise, allowing Jocasta to become Ultron's bride, on the condition that Ultron banishes himself to ultraspace. Ultron agrees, but warns that he will be ruler of all someday.
In The Avengers, the team visits a possible future in which almost all of mankind is destroyed by Ultron. Kang the Conqueror attempts to enlist them to defeat his robotic foe, but another group of heroes and villains, plucked from all over time and space ends up destroying this Ultron.
Later, also in Avengers, the Intelligencia, a cabal of super-intelligent supervillains, discover the inert body of a Galadorian Spaceknight and attempt to reactivate its powersource, hoping to exploit it. Although the Avengers interrupt their attempts, the body activates, revealing it contains the consciousness of Ultron, who had escaped destruction after the events of Annihilation: Conquest. The new Ultron escapes and Iron Man gravely foresees that when he returns, it will bring the apocalypse for mankind.
During the Age of Ultron storyline, Ultron has returned and conquers the world while slowly remolding it into his image. His Ultron Sentinels are guarding the streets looking for any fugitives. Hawkeye runs into the Ultron Sentinels as he was rescuing the The Superior Spider-Man yet manages to destroy the Ultron Sentinels present. It is later revealed that Ultron is actually in the future and has been using Vision as a conduit to punish humanity. While one strike team travels into the future to fight Ultron, Wolverine and Invisible Woman go back in time to kill Pym before he can create Ultron in the first place. This results in a world where Tony Stark controls an army of robotic drones and that Morgan le Fay has conquered half of the world. Traveling back in time once more, Wolverine succeeds in stopping himself from killing Pym, and he, Pym and Susan Storm come up with a different plan. This plan results in a different outcome of the prior confrontation between the Avengers and the Intelligencia - a 'back door' installed into Ultron at his original creation allows Hank Pym and Iron Man to destroy the robot, instead, averting the events that led to the 'Age of Ultron'.
It is later revealed that years earlier, the Avengers had trapped an unidentified iteration of Ultron in deep space after sealing him inside a vibranium Quinjet. In the present, the Quinjet crash lands on Titan, freeing Ultron. By hijacking the ISAAC computer, he transforms Titan into Planet Ultron, and launches a plan to infect the entire universe with a nanite virus that transforms organic creatures into Ultron drones. The ensuing confrontation with the Avengers leads to Ultron inadvertently merging with Pym, transforming him into a human/machine hybrid, the resulting creation playing on Hank's self-loathing of his own human weakness to cause him to accept his new state. He is defeated when Starfox uses his powers to force Ultron to love himself, causing the part of Ultron that is now Hank to accept his old weakness and flaws while the villain has a mental breakdown and flees into space.
Powers and abilities
The visual appearance and powers of the character have varied, but common powers include superhuman levels of strength, speed, stamina, durability, and reflexes; flight at subsonic speeds; and various offensive weapons such as concussive blasts of energy fired from its optical sensors or hands and an "encephalo-ray," which places victims into a deathlike coma. The latter ray also allows Ultron to mesmerize and mind-control victims, or implant subliminal hypnotic commands within their minds to be enacted at a later time. Ultron also has the ability to convert electromagnetic radiation into electrical energy for use or storage. Ultron has a genius intellect, a capacity for creative intelligence and self-repair, superhuman cybernetic analytical capabilities, and the ability to process information and make calculations with superhuman speed and accuracy. The character is an expert roboticist and strategist.
Ultron's outer armor is usually composed primarily of adamantium, which is almost completely impervious to damage (the first use of the term "adamantium" in Marvel Comics was made in reference to Ultron in Avengers #66, published in July 1969). Most Ultron units are powered by a small internal nuclear furnace and incorporate a "program transmitter" which can beam part or all of Ultron's memory/personality system into other computer systems or duplicate robotic bodies. Ultron can also control other machines remotely. Ultron has occasionally reformed itself with a humanoid appearance above the waist and the appearance of a complex machine, including tractor beam apparatus for flight, below the waist. A later Ultron model developed hive-mind technology, allowing it to animate and control hundreds of other Ultron bodies simultaneously, although only the 'prime' Ultron was composed of adamantium while others were made of steel or secondary adamantium due to the lack of resources to give all the Ultrons adamantium bodies. Ultron also uses an internal molecular rearranger that renders the adamantium components of its workings more malleable and so has the ability to restructure his physical form. What circuitry Ultron has is carefully shielded to protect from damage, although the Scarlet Witch is capable of causing malfunctions with her hex power, Johnny Storm, using his nova burst, managed to damage Ultron's internal circuits while his outer armor remained intact, and Wonder Man was once able to destroy an Ultron by throwing it so hard its internal systems were damaged.
Other versions
The 1995 limited series The Last Avengers Story features a possible future in which Ultron-59 manipulates fellow Avengers foe Kang the Conqueror into attacking the Avengers. Ultron is destroyed by the Vision, who sacrifices his own artificial life.
The Fantastic Four storyline "Death of The Invisible Woman" features an advanced humanoid called Alex Ultron, a member of the futuristic The Last Defenders. In the Marvel Adventures alternate universe, Ultron is a highly-intelligent "neural network" that controls a section of the United States defense forces.
In Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's 2008-2009 "Old Man Logan" story arc that appeared in Wolverine, Ultron Eight is the husband of Spider-Man's youngest daughter (Ashley Barton).
In the first arc of the fourth Avengers series, Kang wages a war with Ultron in the not-too-distant future which causes the disruption of all time. The cause of the disruption is apparently Kang's recruiting of army after army from the timelines to battle Ultron - all to no avail: Ultron is supreme in this particular future.
The title Avengers Next, set in the alternate universe known as MC2, features an upgraded version of Ultron named Ultron Extreme.
In the Earth-110 reality, Ultron assisted Doctor Doom, Hulk, Magneto, Namor, and Red Skull in taking over Manhattan.
In the Ultimate Marvel version of Avengers, entitled Ultimates, Ultron is the name of a group of robots designed to be expendable super soldiers. They are created by Hank Pym along with a partner robot called "Vision II". They are rejected because of Pym's poor personal performance. The Ultron robots reappear as butlers to the Ultimates, with one unit developing an independent mind and emotions as a result of a chance encounter with the Scarlet Witch. This Ultron eventually impersonates Henry Pym in the persona of Yellowjacket, creates android duplicates of the Ultimates, and is in part responsible for the murder of the Scarlet Witch, motivated by jealousy, as it had fallen in love with her, but she had feelings only for her brother, Quicksilver.
The 2013 crossover "Age of Ultron" storyline, involves a post-apocalyptic future in which Ultron has taken over the world and exterminated most of the world's superheroes.
In the Original Sin crossover, the Time Gem transports the Avengers to a future where Ultron has conquered the world and created his own team of robotic Avengers to police the remaining human population. This timeline is later revisited when someone posing as Doctor Doom uses his time machine to assemble a team of Avengers from across history to help liberate the planet from Ultron's rule.
In other media
Television
- Ultron is featured as a regular character in the animated series The Avengers: United They Stand, voiced by John Stocker.
- Ultron appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "So Pretty When They Explode".
- Ultron appears in the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Tom Kane.
- Ultron appeared in the 37th episode of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers.
- Ultron appears in the second season of Avengers Assemble, voiced by Jim Meskimen. He will reappear in the third season of the show, once again voiced by Meskimen.
Film
- Ultron appears in the direct-to-video animated film Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, voiced by Tom Kane.
- James Spader plays Ultron through performance capture in the 2015 Marvel Studios film Avengers: Age of Ultron. Writer/director Joss Whedon revealed that Hank Pym, Ultron's creator in the comic books, would not be included in the film. In the film, Ultron is instead created by Tony Stark with the assistance of Bruce Banner.
Video games
- Ultron appears in the arcade game Captain America and the Avengers.
- Ultron appears as a boss in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by James Horan.
- Ultron appears as a villain character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Tom Kenny.
- Ultron is featured as a boss in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
- Ultron is featured as a boss in Marvel Contest of Champions.
- Ultron is featured as a boss in Marvel Heroes 2015, voiced again by Tom Kane.
Reception
Ultron was ranked number 23 by IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains list, was listed number 189 in Wizard's Top 200 Greatest Villains Ever list, and was ranked as the 189th Greatest Comic Book Character Ever in Wizard's list of the 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time.
References
External links
- Ultron at Marvel.com