After a successful raid on a HYDRA base, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner create an Artificial Intelligence called Ultron, a peacekeeping protocol designed to help the Avengers protect the world from their enemies. But things go wrong when Ultron sees the human race as a threat and sets out to destroy it along with the Avengers. Now the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, must reassemble to stop Ultron from causing mass destruction. Aside from this, the Avengers also must take on the powerful twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as well as the new entity called Vision. Also, the Avengers find that things may never be the same again after discovering a power beyond their comprehension.
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An earlier version of the ending had the Hulk piloting the Quinjet off into space rather than just wandering off on his own. Marvel apparently nixed it because they didn't want fans reading it as a setup for a Planet Hulk adaptation, which is a bit funny given where his story eventually did go years later.
Keep an eye on Tony's monitor when he's cycling through AI options before settling on FRIDAY. One of the cards flashing past is labelled JOCASTA, a nod to the comics where Jocasta is a robot built by Ultron who eventually joins the Avengers herself.
During the party scene where the Avengers are mingling with war veterans, Stan Lee shows up in his usual cameo spot and, for the first time in any MCU movie, actually gets to say his famous "Excelsior!" line out loud.
Before Elizabeth Olsen was locked in, Saoirse Ronan was reportedly floated as a possibility for the role of Wanda Maximoff. It's an interesting road not taken given how different the tone of that casting might have felt.
During the party game where everyone takes turns trying to lift Mjolnir, Steve Rogers is the only one who manages to budge it slightly before letting go, a small but deliberate nod toward the comic storylines where Captain America has actually proven worthy enough to wield the hammer himself.
This is the first MCU outing where James Rhodes suits up as War Machine without either Pepper Potts or Happy Hogan anywhere nearby, a small detail that quietly separates it from his earlier Iron Man appearances.
When Ultron is lounging on his makeshift throne talking down to Pietro and Wanda, he's draped in a red hooded cloak. It's a subtle wink toward his first-ever comic appearance back in Avengers #54 from 1968, where he disguised himself under the alias "the Crimson Cowl."
In the source comics, Ultron is Hank Pym's creation, not Tony Stark and Bruce Banner's. The switch happened mostly for practical reasons: Michael Douglas was busy playing an older Hank Pym over in the upcoming Ant-Man film, so handing the creation credit to Stark and Banner made a lot more sense for how the shared timeline was shaping up.
In the comics, Ultron builds Vision specifically to hunt down and destroy the Avengers. The movie flips that idea on its head, having Stark and Banner shape his intellect and Thor's lightning give him life, so instead of being a weapon against the team, Vision ends up helping them fight Ultron himself.
The famous Hermes statue at Grand Central Station was smashed to pieces during the Chitauri invasion in the first Avengers film. Look closely in this sequel and you'll notice it's been rebuilt, only now redesigned as a tribute to the first responders who helped out during that same Battle of New York.
