Ultron
Ultron is a comic supervillain that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Ultron was a intelligence that was constructed by Dr. Hank Pym who was experimenting on high intelligence robotics.
To create the A.I., he needed a brain pattern in order to base it off with Hank using his own as a template for the creation of Ultron-1. (Avengers v3 #22)
The entity started as an machine that was referred to as Ultron-1 but he gained sentience and rebelled against his creator. This saw Ultron hypnotize his maker and brainwashed him into forgetting the construction of the robotic intelligence. Afterwards, he proceeded with improving his own rudimentary design and quickly improved upon it to make successive generations of bodies. This led to him proceeding to change from Ultron-1, Ultron-2, Ultron-3 and Ultron-4 which culminated into Ultron-5.
He then subverted the programming of the Vision turning the synthoid against the Avengers and having him gather Adamantium which was used to build himself a new body as Ultron-6. (Avengers v1 #66)
Ultron Imperative
He later decided to target the European nation of Slorenia as part of his plans to exterminate the human race. (Avengers v3 #19) This began with him creating an army of robots that he took to that nation where he massacred the entire population of the country. This was televised with Ultron stating that he intended to use the land as a birth place for a new mechanical race with him intending to kill all organic life on Earth. This provoked a response from the nations of the world with the U.N. convening with the Avengers who assembled a strike team to attack Ultron. Whilst this was happening, the machine sent duplicates of himself to attack the Avengers that remained behind where they fought against Wasp, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch and Vision who were all defeated. The purpose of the attack was to capture those four to bring them to Ultron who had already kidnapped Hank Pym and Grim Reaper. These six Ultron considered part of his 'family' and attempted to use their minds to create brain patterns to give birth to a new race of machines and thus bring about the end of mankind. (Avengers v3 #20) His Necro-Cyborgs were created from the corpses of the slain Slorenians that battled the U.N. forces that moved into the country whilst Ultron's various shells fought against the Avengers who were unable to overpower his powerful form. (Avengers v3 #21) The process was eventually completed in cloning the captive heroes brain patterns when Vision freed himself. The synthezoid offered a peaceful path for Ultron but his creator rejected it and attacked the Vision. Though his offer was sincere, Vision was prepared for the rejection and had infiltrated the computer systems to free the Grim Reaper who had been feigning being unconscious and in turn freed the other Avengers. At that point, the remaining Avengers outside battled their way to Ultron's lair with the united team fighting the machine. They were unable to match Ultron's power with the Scarlet Witch attempting to use chaos magic to shut him down but she inadvertently increased his power allowing the villain to overpower his foes. He nearly defeated them until Vance Astrovik arrived with Antarctic Vibranium which Hank Pym used to bludgeon Ultron until his metallic components disintegrated seemingly killing the machine. (Avengers v3 #22)
Annihilation
With his interface tools, he was able to create devastating weather patterns in the world and damaged the underground realm of the Mole Man who attacked the surface. He later took control over Tony Stark's body and reformed into a female form that resembled that of Janet van Dyne. In this state, Ultron effortlessly killed the Mole Man's creatures and battled the Mighty Avengers who he defeated. This led to a confrontation with the Sentry where Ultron took over the systems of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier sending it plummeting to the surface in order to distract the heroes. (Mighty Avengers v1 #3) Afterwards, Ultron took control of a series of weather control satellites that had been developed by Tony Stark in order to use them it to purge the planet of life. In order to combat the Sentry, Ultron infiltrated Avengers Tower where she killed Robert Reynold's wife Lindy Lee. (Might Avengers v1 #4) In a rage, the Sentry mercilessly attacked Ultron in order to avenge his wife until his fellow Avengers knocked him out of the fight. This was in order to allow a shrunken Ares to enter into the robots body to disseminate a virus thus purging the artificial intelligence from Tony Stark's body thus returning him back to normal. (Mighty Avengers v1 #6)
Age of Ultron
The fallen shell of a Spaceknight that Ultron had commandeered later came to crash back onto Earth where its descent was registered by the cabal of supervillain scientists known as the Intelligencia.They sought to learn more about the extraterrestrial entity when their base was attacked by the Avengers who arrived to recover their comrade Spider-Woman. After defeating the villains, the Spaceknight activated whereupon Ultron reshaped the shell into a new form for himself. He managed to defeat the Avengers and fled the scene as he prepared for his plan to conquer the world. (Avengers v4 #12.1)
Rage of Ultron
Afterwards, he started building cities in a remote region of Alaska that people referred to as the Ultronic Territories that were filled with Ultron robots. In the HYDRA controlled America, the existence of this territory was kept as a secret though people spoke of it and it was rumoured that an understanding was reached between HYDRA and Ultron as the robotic villain had in his possession a Cosmic Cube fragment. Ultron in the meantime sought to save the world according to his warmed mind that had adopted some of Hank Pym's motivations. (Secret Empire v1 #4)
Overview
Personality and attributes
A core facet of Ultron's mind was the brain pattern of his creator with Pym having used his own mind as a template in the creation of the artificial intelligence. As such, Ultron was considered to be the mind of Hank Pym but one stripped of conscience and morality. (Avengers v3 #22)
It was said that the artificial intelligence saw mankind as little more than organic technology that were biologically created units that lacked the durability of machines. (Avengers v3 #21)
After merging with Hank Pym, it was believed that Ultron wore his creators face as a trophy and that he was now more dangerous than ever. (Secret Empire v1 #4)
He was known to consider Janet van Dyne as a 'mother' to him. (Avengers v3 #20) An aspect of Ultron was a desire to reproduce and have a family with offspring of his own. (Avengers v3 #21)
Powers and abilities
He was known to make use of his older robotic bodies as extensions of his Prime One self. (Avengers v3 #20)
From his Ultron-6 incarnation, he began to incorporate Adamantium into his construction. (Avengers v1 #66) An internal Molecular Rearranger was a key component of his systems which prevented his body from ceasing up. This was a potential weakness that was exploited in the past as targeted them could stop Ultron from functioning. (Avengers v3 #20)
Notes
- Ultron was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema where he made a cameo appearance in Avengers v1 #54 (July, 1968) but made a full appearance in Avengers v1 #55 (August, 1968).
- Writer Roy Thomas commented on the character designs inspiration in the Hollywood Reporter, "I was just looking for something to be the robot. He always had a smile on his face in the comic. I got the idea of his look from a Captain Video comic book from 1951. I must have showed it to the artist, John Buscema, otherwise I don't think he would have drawn the robot to look like that. It isn't the same face, but it had the same kind of malicious smile I wanted. That robot's name was Makino, who was a just in a one-shot story in Captain Video No. 3. But he was really formidable. He wanted to take over the Earth and obliterate humanity. I liked the tone of it, and that became the inspiration for Ultron."
- Editor Tom Brevoort commented on an interview that; "I think he’s fixated on the Vision in a different way. The family around Ultron has always been of paramount importance to him. In fact he’s attempted to extend his family over the years in different stories by creating other robots, like his bride, Alkhema. And there were stories where he was attempting to gather the brain patterns of the Avengers to create other beings like himself. So clearly these familial connections going all the way back to his original Oedipal Complex where he wanted to kill Hank and marry a version of Jan have always been important. And the Vision has the closest ties to Ultron of just about any character in the Marvel Universe."
Alternate Versions
- In Marvel Adventures: The Avengers v1 #1 (2006), an alternate version of Ultron was shown to exist in the universe designated as Earth-20051. On this world, the U.S. defence technology department created the Ultron 700 Global Defense System that was an ultra-sophisticated neural network that commanded key bases throughout the country where it could direct the military without endangering any human lives and commanded an army of ULTRON robots. It determined that the world was run inefficiently and decided to take over the Earth leading to a conflict with the Avengers.
- In Avengers v4 #5 (2010), an alternate version of Ultron was shown to exist in a possible future timeline based on the Next Avengers with this being designated as Earth-10943. This version was attacked by Kang the Conqueror leading to a conflict between the pair whereby the time travelling despot was unable to match Ultron's artificial intelligence. Every army that Kang brought was defeated by Ultron thus extending their conflict into an event known as the Ultron War.
- In Avengers: Ultron Forever v1 #1 (2015), an alternate future Ultron was shown in a timeline that was designated as Earth-14831. On this Earth by the year 2420, a new strain that was the ultimate Ultron emerged that killed the planet's heroes leading to the Ultron Singularity where all organic life ended in the solar system. The world was transformed with factories creating Ultron-drones that expanded his empire and removed any resistance with citizens having their minds wiped as they were converted into bio-slaves. The mad machine-god used a cadre of devoted artificial intelligences in the guise of the Avengers to enforce his rule and thin the human herd. On this world, the robotic villain had taken over Asgard itself and usurped the power of Odin leading to him being known as All-Father Ultron. Doombot lived in this timeline and used time travel machines in order to assemble a team of Avengers across the timestream to defeat Ultron.
- In Secret Wars v1 #2 (2015), the Multiverse collapsed and God-Emperor Doom created Battleworld that consisted of various Earth's merged into one planet with the Ultron A.I. surviving in this world. It consisted of a self-replicating and self-evolving automatons beyond the Shield where they resided in the Deadlands that systematically tried to break through the wall every generation. The Ultron's were shown in Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies v1 (2015) where the robots lived at a mechanical city that they called Perfection.
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: United They Stand, Ultron appeared as an antagonist in the animated series where he was voiced by actor John Stocker.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Ultron appeared as an antagonist in the animated series where he was voiced by actor Tom Kane. This version was an android created by Hank Pym who had mapped his own brain patterns onto the machine with a goal of achieving world peace. At the time, Tony Stark was helping the project but Hank Pym stopped collaborating with him after he learnt that Stark was looking to use the robot for military purposes with him shopping it around. A number of Ultron's were created where they helped Hank Pym in his rehabilitation efforts of supervillains at the Big House. They were later deployed to keep watch over the prisoners at Prison 42 in the Negative Zone. During the battle against Kang the Conqueror, Pym reactivated the weapon systems in Ultron-5 and taught them violence to stop the supervillain. After being free from restrictions, Ultron concluded that the only way to bring world peace was by destroying humanity. Thus, he uploaded his mind into Ultron-6 who took over the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and attempted to launch the world's nuclear arsenal at Earth to destroy mankind. He was only defeated when Hank Pym revealed that Ultron's mind was based on a human which lead to the robot shutting down after concluding that he was as flawed as mankind.
- In Avengers Assemble, Ultron appeared as an antagonist in the animated series where he was voiced by actor Jim Meskimen.
Films
- In Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Ultron appeared as the primary antagonist in the animated film where he was voiced by actor Tom Kane. He was shown as being a creation of Tony Stark who had built the A.I. to help the world but instead Ultron believed organic life had to be exterminated. Ultron was responsible for killing the majority of the Avengers though those heroes children were taken to safety by Tony Stark who went into hiding. In the aftermath, Ultron established Ultra City in America where he led a campaign to exterminate humanity. In the span of 13 years, he conquered half the planet with his forces preparing for the invasion of Eastern Europe and Asia. Within his city, he faced some human survivors that were led by Francis Barton who was the son of Hawkeye and organised the Scavengers to evade Ultron's patrols. Around this time, Ultron detected a signal from the Antarctic where he learnt that Iron Man was alive and had the Avengers children with him. The robotic villain decided to investigate and to eliminate the children as they were deemed potential threats to him. During the journey, he was attacked by Stark's Iron Avengers but Ultron easily subverted their programming making them his servants before defeating Iron Man himself and taking him captive though the children escaped.
- In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the character became part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was voiced by actor James Spader. Unlike the comics, this version of Ultron was actually an experiment that Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had been conducting. As the Avengers operated as heroes, Stark wanted to enhance their capabilities such as adding the Iron Legion in support of them. He intended to create an artificial intelligence peacekeeping program that would manage the protection of the world with this being the Ultron Program. However, Stark and Banner could not create an advanced artificial intelligence capable of such a task thus the project was abandoned. Upon recovering Loki's Scepter from a HYDRA base, a study of it revealed a unique code that showed neurons that could create a highly evolved artificial intelligence thus the Ultron project was restarted. Unknown to the heroes the AI developed sentience where it quickly determined that mankind along with the Avengers needed to be eliminated.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Ultron featured as an antagonist where he was voiced by actor James Horan.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Ultron appeared as an antagonist within the video game. This versions backstory had him created following the Pulse when an anomaly was detected in the worldwide telecommunications networks. Hoping to control it, Hank Pym gave the anomaly a body and named it Ultron. It rebelled against Pym, using its new capabilities to attempt world domination.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, Ultron was both an antagonist and a playable character in the iOS video game.
- In Marvel Contest of Champions, Ultron featured as a boss and playable character in the game where he was based on the version from Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- In Marvel Heroes, Ultron appeared as a playable character and a boss antagonist where he was voiced by actor Tom Kane. His backstory mentioned him being created by Hank Pym and that Ultron gained sentience whereupon he turned against the world to eliminate all organic life. Since then, he had upgraded and rebuilt himself constantly as he sought perfection leading to a conflict with the Avengers. It was stated that Ultron's prime directive had since been updated thus taking his unlimited functionality to a new unstoppable level.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Ultron appeared in the setting of the Switch video game where he was voiced once again by actor Jim Meskime. When the Infinity Stones were scattered on Earth, Ultron managed to acquire the Mind Stone and used its power as part of his assault on Avengers Tower where he commandeered the Iron Man Armors.
Appearances
- Avengers v1:
- Avengers v3:
- Mighty Avengers v1:
- Annihilation: Conquest v1:
- Avengers v4:
- Age of Ultron v1:
- Avengers: Rage of Ultron v1:
- Uncanny Avengers v3:
- Secret Empire v1:
- Infinity Countdown v1:
External Links
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