The Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a 2016 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was directed by Shane Black and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Evangelline Lilly, Chadwick Boseman, Jeremy Renner, James Spader, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Cobie Smulders, Aaron Himelstein, Anthony Mackie, Jessica Chastain, Paul Rudd, and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on March 4, 2016. It is the longest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at 172 minutes.

Plot
In 2019, Thor, T'Challa, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and Sam Wilson narrowly escape an attack by several androids modeled after Ultron. However, Barton is shot and killed. The four heroes make it back to their underground base where they realize they have lost the battle. Ultron bots break in and kill the heroes. In 2016, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Thor, Janet van Dyne/Wasp, T'Challa/Black Panther, Barton/Hawkeye, and Hank Pym/Ant-Man are on a Quinjet flying toward a HYDRA base. They enter and attack the HYDRA agents there. Banner and Rogers find a prison where they find Jennifer Walters. They rescue her and join up with the rest of the Avengers. However, soon a giant robot named Ultron appears. Pym recognizes it as the AI he created. Ultron reveals to them that he plans to "cleanse" the world and kills Walters. Banner mourns her and attacks Ultron. However, Hulk is blasted miles away. The Avengers escape.

A few months later, Ultron has invaded and conquered every country except for Latveria, Australia, and Madagascar. In Madagascar, Stark, Rogers, Banner, Thor, van Dyne, T'Challa, Barton, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Cameron Klein, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodes, and an defense android that Stark built named Vision, are hiding out. They come up with a plan to travel back in time to 2012 when Ultron was only an idea and kill Pym. Most are against it but Stark, Banner, Romanoff, and Vision view it as the only way. Van Dyne decides that she and T'Challa can pretend to be turning themselves in and take down Ultron from inside. Stark and Romanoff secretly travel back in time to 2012 to find Pym.

Van Dyne and T'Challa turn themselves in and discover Ultron is not actually present in 2016 but is using another version of Vision to communicate from 2019, where he has actually invaded. Ultron shows van Dyne footage of the deaths of Romanoff, Wilson, T'Challa, and Thor. Van Dyne is horrified by this and guards kill T'Challa but van Dyne escapes. In Madagascar, the rest of the team learn that their ally, Sam Wilson, has been captured. Banner, Barton, and Rogers set out too rescue him. In 2012, Stark and Romanoff arrive at Pym Particles and get into the Lab where they find Pym. Pym at first defends himself, due to the two being fugitives at the time. However, Stark convinces him that they are from 2016. Romanoff prepares to kill him but Pym realizes what is happening and she quickly shoots him in the head.

In 2016, Banner, Barton, and Rogers save Wilson, but Barton sacrifices himself to save them. In Madagascar, Ultron robots kill the rest of the team. Stark and Romanoff travel back to 2016, only to discover Masters of Evil signs everywhere. They make it to New York City, where they are attacked by the Defenders (Stark, Rogers, Walters, Wilson, Rhodes, and T'Challa). It is revealed that in this new timeline, the Masters of Evil succeeded in their invasion and took over Earth. Pym's death drew van Dyne into insanity and she used Pym's work to obliterate half of America. Amora attacks the two groups and causes S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers to crash into New York. The explosion kills almost the heroes but the time-travelling Stark and Rogers, who is dying. Rogers tells Stark he cannot go back in time again or else time will break.

In 2012, just as Pym is about to die, Stark busts in and stops the other Stark and Romanoff. The newer Stark warns them that killing Pym will only create a worse timeline. Pym says he can simply not build Ultron but the newer Stark tells him he must in order for history to continue. Pym decides he will build Ultron but install a fail-safe for when the time comes. The two Starks and Romanoff leave. The newer Stark tells his past self that he does not want to live with his memories. The older Stark kills his future self, stunning Romanoff.

In 2016, the Avengers fly to a HYDRA base and rescue Jennifer Walters. However, Ultron attacks but Pym suddenly remembers what happened four years before, that he forgot somehow, and supplies the fail-safe code and defeats Ultron. Ultron is stunned but promptly explodes. Months later, Stark and Romanoff return to 2016 and reunite with the Avengers. However, due to time being changed over and over again, the time-space continuum shatters and then puts itself back together. However, things are noticeably different. The Avengers now consists of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, Black Widow, Vision, War Machine, Falcon, and She-Hulk. Van Dyne retired from superheroism after the Masters of Evil attack, Thor and Jane Foster rule over Asgard, and T'Challa's father is still alive while T'Challa is a simple Wakandan.

In a mid-credits scene, Nick Fury locates Bucky Barnes and asks him to join a group of supervillains he is putting together. In a post-credits scene, another change in the universe is revealed. An ancient race known as the Skrulls were pulled into the Avenger's universe and discover their rivals, the Kree, are there, too.

Cast

 * Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man; billionaire former CEO of Stark Industries.
 * Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America; a soldier from 1944.
 * Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk; a scientist.
 * Chris Hemsworth as Thor; an Asgardian "god".
 * Evangelline Lilly as Janet van Dyne/Wasp; Hank Pym's wife.
 * Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther; the leader of Wakanda.
 * Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye; a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the CIA and archer.
 * James Spader as Ultron; an evil AI created Hank Pym.
 * Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow; a CIA agent in the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch.
 * Paul Bettany as Vision; an android body that Stark created.
 * Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine; Stark's friend and fellow superhero.
 * Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill; the Deputy Director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch of the CIA.
 * Aaron Himelstein as Cameron Klein; a CIA agent in the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch.
 * Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon; a war veteran and superhero.
 * Jessica Chastain as Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk; Hulk's cousin who is gamma affected.
 * Paul Rudd as Hank Pym/Ant-Man; the founder of Pym Particles.
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury; the Director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch of the CIA.

Box office
The Avengers: Age of Ultron grossed $341.3 million (33%) in the United States and Canada and $682.5 million (67%) in other territories for a total of $1.024 billion. The fourth highest-grossing 2012 film, the fifth highest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, out of fifteen. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $293.3 million.

Critical reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 247 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Avengers: Age of Ultron is the smart, humorous, action-filled, almost flawless adaption of the 2013 comic that perfectly balances being a sequel."