Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Avengers: Age of Ultron is a 2012 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the twentieth film in the universe. It is also a sequel to The Avengers. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Charlie Hunnam, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ryan Reynolds, James Marsden, Michelle Williams, Karl Urban, Will Forte, Rosamund Pike, Mahershala Ali, Abbie Cornish, Hayley Atwell, William Jackson Harper, Emily Blunt, Ralph Fiennes, and Samuel L. Jackson and was released worldwide on May 4, 2012. The film ran 165 minutes and grossed $1.085 billion on a $300 million budget.

Plot
In 2012, Tony Stark finally finishes the AI program Ultron. He leaves it to rest while he goes out as Iron Man with the superhero team, the Avengers, consisting of himself, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Thor, T'Challa/Black Panther, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Janet van Dyne/Wasp. The team manages to rescue Captain Marvel, a befriended S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and hero. However, the eight are surprised to find Ultron waiting for them, in a full robotic form. They battle the AI, though he overpowers them and destroys Stark Industries. In 2022, the world is in chaos. Spider-Man has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. However, Hawkeye arrives and rescues him. However, Spider-Man dies from injuries. Hawkeye returns to the Resistance, an underground facility of superheroes trying to take a stand against Ultron. The Resistance includes Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Wasp, Wolverine, Invisible Woman, Captain Marvel, and Falcon. Maria Hill also is an ally to the team.

In San Francisco, Black Widow meets with War Machine and they get into an old Nick Fury safehouse, where they meet Fury and the Hulk. Back in the Resistance, the heroes wonder why Ultron took over the world just to make deals with criminals to kidnap Spider-Man. Captain America comes up with a plan. One of the members of the Resistance can be given to Ultron, where they can do damage within his fortress to stop Ultron. Captain Marvel and Black Panther volunteer. While inside, Black Panther discovers Ultron is using the robotic Vision as a conduit while Ultron attacks from the future. Captain Marvel realizes the Ultron Sentinels are about to execute them and tries to escape with Black Panther. However, she is killed trying. Black Panther makes it out of the building just as an explosion engulfs the city. The Resistance escapes the city and Black Panther tells them what he learned just before dying of radiation poisoning.

The Resistance escapes to the Savage Land, a tropical prehistoric refuge area. The Resistance is met by Black Widow, War Machine, Nick Fury, and the Hulk. Fury reveals his idea of going into the future and stopping Ultron before he can take over the world. However, Iron Man says Ultron will be ready for them. Wolverine suggests going back in time and killing Hank Pym, the creator of Ultron, before he can create it. However, Wasp refuses to let them kill her father, even if she would be born first. Invisible Woman suggests telling Pym not to build Ultron, but Captain America says it would just dare him to do it. Iron Man, Captain America, Nick Fury, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Falcon go into the future, while Wasp, Maria Hill, and War Machine stay in the past. Wolverine secretly travels back in time to 1982, to learn that Invisible Woman has followed him.

In the future, the seven heroes appear just as Sentinels attack them. In the past, Wolverine and Invisible Woman find Hank Pym. Invisible Woman tries to get Wolverine not to go through with his plan. However, Wolverine reminds her that he creates Ultron, who kills 90% of the population, including her brother. Wolverine proceeds to kill Pym. Returning to 2022, Wolverine and Invisible Woman find the Savage Land littered with alien spaceships, which Sue identifies as Kree, an alien race. She theorizes that in this new timeline, the Kree came to Earth and attacked. They return to New York City, where they are attacked by the Defenders (Captain America, Black Widow, Wasp in Captain Marvel's costume, Thor, Hawkeye, and Wolverine). Hawkeye is surprised to see Sue is "back" while the Defenders Wolverine believe they are Skrulls. A fight breaks out and finally they realize they are not Skrulls. A cyborg Tony Stark flies down.

Tony believes the two time-travelling heroes are spies planted by Morgan le Fey. Wolverine talks to Tony and discovers that after he killed Pym, S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded and the Avengers were formed by Hydra, with villains instead. A war between Asgard and Latveria happened, which is where Tony got his injuries. Magic overcame technology and Morgan le Fey took over half the world. Tony believes Wolverine could've found a better way just as le Fey shows up. Tony accuses her of planting the spies, but she points out Helicarriers crashing into the heart of the city. The blast kills most of the heroes there, though the time-travelling Wolverine and Tony survive. However, Tony dies just after telling Wolverine he cannot simply go back and try again. Time will break if it is ripped too much.

However, Wolverine goes back anyway and convinces the past Wolverine of who he is. Pym says he can build a better AI and install a fail-safe. Sue arrives and tells Pym he must find a way to forget the three coming there in the first place, as well. The Wolverines go away alone and the future Wolverine tells the past Wolverine he does not want to live with the memories of everything that happened, leading the past Wolverine to kill his future self. Pym builds Ultron. In 2012, Wolverine and a much older looking Sue, having stayed in the past since 1982, reveal to Tony and the Avengers how to stop Ultron. The Avengers rescue Captain Marvel and return to Stark Industries where Ultron reveals himself. However, Tony uploads the virus, which defeats the AI. Sue and Logan return to 2022, where they see it is a normal future and go off together, knowing the future is safe.

In a mid-credits scene, 2012 Logan, Tony, and Sue realize that Wolverine's multiple time travelling journeys may have caused friction to the universe, and anything could be in store. In a post-credits scene, Janet is working at S.H.I.E.L.D., fully functioning and active, never having been taken down by Hydra.

Cast

 * Bradley Cooper as Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Karl Urban as Logan/Wolverine
 * Hayley Atwell as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
 * Ryan Reynolds as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
 * James Marsden as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
 * Michelle Williams as Janet van Dyne/The Wasp
 * Will Forte as Vision
 * Charlie Hunnam as Thor
 * Rosamund Pike as Maria Hill
 * Abbie Cornish as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel
 * Chiwetel Ejiofor as T'Challa/Black Panther
 * Emily Blunt as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Mahershala Ali as James Rhodes/War Machine
 * William Jackson Harper as Sam Wilson/Falcon
 * Ralph Fiennes as Ultron
 * Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

Production
A sequel to The Avengers  was announced in May 2009, along with a sequel to Iron Man: Rise of the Patriots, a sequel to Spider-Man 2, and a sequel to Thor. Cooper, Evans, Hunnam, Ejiofor, and Reynolds had all signed contracts to appear in this film along with it's sequel, which was announced in June 2009. Marsden had signed a six-film contract and later announced that Avengers 2 was one of the films. Williams signed a five-film contract and announced her role in the film alongside Marsden. Jackson had four films left on his ten film contract and announced with Pike that the two would be reprising their roles in the film. In August, the film's release date of May 4, 2012 was announced along with the plot and subtitle of "Age of Ultron". By November, Karl Urban and Hayley Atwell were announced to co-star in the film, reprising their roles as Wolverine and Invisible Woman from X-Men and Fantastic Four, respectively. In March 2010, Mahershala Ali was confirmed to appear as War Machine, while Abbie Cornish, William Jackson Harper, Emily Blunt, Will Forte, and Ralph Fiennes were announced to have been cast as Captain Marvel, Falcon, Black Widow, Vision, and Ultron, respectively. Joss Whedon was announced in May to be returning as director and writing a screenplay. Filming began on April 13, 2011 and concluded on July 23.

Box office
Avengers: Age of Ultron earned $448 million in North America, and $636 million in other countries, summing up to a worldwide total of $1 billion ($1084 million).

Critical reception
Avengers: Age of Ultron received positive reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave Avengers: Age of Ultron an approval rating of 87% based on 345 reviews, and a rating average of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Avengers: Age of Ultron is an ambitious, thoughtful, and potent action film that continues the franchise down an interesting path." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.