Marvel Cinematic Universe: Ranking all 18 movies after Black Panther

Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios; poster for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

16. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

No one had any illusions that a sequel to the highly successful Avengers could live up to such a cinematic juggernaut. What they did expect, especially since it would involve one Earth’s Mightest Heroes’ greatest villains, was something just as enjoyable as the first Avengers. While Avengers: Age of Ultron is a fun film, it also suffers from many of the problems which tend to plague sequels.

One aspect where the film really suffers is its premise, a perfect illustration of “the idiot plot.” Thanks to an apocalyptic hallucination from the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) becomes driven to implement the artificial intelligence dubbed “Ultron” as another line of defense for the Earth. Even though he’s told more than once what a bad idea this is–and even after witnessing how bad in can get first hand–he still pursues it.

The film also devotes too much time building up its cinematic universe. A subplot involving Thor (Chris Hemsworth), for example, feels completely detached from everything else happening in the film. There’s also a budding romance between Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) which comes out of nowhere. And its take on Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) feels quite underwhelming compared to his counterpart from X-Men: Days of Future Past.

There’s still plenty to recommend the film. James Spader makes for a sinister and, at times, amusing Ultron. The action sequences, such as Tony in his “Hulkbuster Armor” fighting the Hulk, are pure comic book joy on display. And Paul Bettany, already good as the voice of J.A.R.V.I.S, makes for an even better Vision.