Avengers: Age of Ultron

Why It Matters in the MCU

Ultron had the unenviable task of following the original Avengers film, and it shows — the production was troubled, the villain underwritten relative to the concept, and the mid-film vision sequences were clearly reassembled in post. What survives is the Scarlet Witch and Vision introduction, Hawkeye's quiet domestic subplot that humanises the ensemble's most overlooked member, and the Sokovia sequence as an action set-piece with consequences the franchise kept returning to. It remains the textbook case of what happens when a sequel prioritises setup for future films over its own internal story.