In the second installment of the Avengers, we get to see the team united from the beginning, we've already seen the team form in the first Avenger's movie so at the very beginning of the movie we get to see the team in action on a mission. Throughout the movie, they are tested and tried, pulled apart and then reunited and eventually come out on top, but at great personal cost.
Since Avengers: Age of Ultron isn't a movie driven by a singular character like Civil War, we don't see much character development. The movie is driven by major events happening around the characters and how they react. Joss Whedon uses this movie to focus on characters like Hawkeye how hadn't appeared in phase 2 as well as Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Vision and Ultron. Out of the Maximoff twins, I did prefer Elizabeth Olsen's portrayal of Scarlet Witch, and when Pietro gets killed it wasn't as much of an impact as it would have been if any other character had got killed. Even though Pietro is the more heroic of the two, for example him always trying to protect his sister, he is more enthusiastic about joining the Avengers, Wanda is a lot more guarded and cynical but is more powerful, making her more of an asset to the team. Aaron Taylor-Jonson's portrayal also made me realize how much I preferred X-Men's Days of Future Past portrayal of Quicksilver, it wasn't necessarily bad on Johnson's part but I think Evan Peter's was just better.
I do enjoy seeing Clint Barton's character development in the movie as we had previously only really seen him as a mindless drone of Loki's. Over the course of the movie we see Barton as the 'heart' of the Avengers and the injury he receives in the beginning of the movie makes him feel that bit more important to the team. Out of everyone on the team he is the most vulnerable, he isn't a god, he doesn't have a super-suit or super powers, it's just him and his bow. We also get an introduction to his family after the team is thrown off with Scarlet Witch's mind power. It's Clint that brings the team back and shows them what they are fighting for.
I also liked that we got more of Bruce Banner and we got to see his relationships with other members of the team. His bromance with Tony is something fun to watch but more than anything his flirtationship with Natasha Romanoff. Not only is it interesting to watch Bruce battle with the difficulties of having a romantic relationship, but we get to see a softer side to Romanoff. We've only seen a more relaxed side of her in The Winter Soldier through her friendship with Steve Rodgers, but her relationship with Banner brings out a new side of her.
In my opinion, Avengers: Age of Ultron is rather mediocre in the MCU, the first Avengers movie was pivotal not just in the MCU but it was a pioneer for all movies as no other film had that big of a a-list cast. The movie is mainly good for setting up the end of phase 2 and starting off phase 3. We see Hulk is awol, Clint is back on the farm, Thor is off to Asgard to figure out who is searching for the infinity stones and Cap and Black Widow have a new team to train. Age of Ultron is by no means a bad movie, I still enjoy watching it, I just think that in comparison to Marvel's stronger movies, it doesn't make the top of the list.
#1 Characters losing arms
Kevin Fiege has said a character in each Phase 2 movie has lost an arm to tribute Star Wars. Fiege did this for phase 2 as he has compared this stage to The Empire Strikes Back. In Iron Man 3 we see Aldrich Killian lose his hand although it regenerates. In Thor: The Dark World it appears as if Thor loses his hand however it is revealed that it was an illusion by Loki. Although we don't see Bucky's arm get cut off, in Captain America: The Winter Soldier we see Arnim Zola installing his mechanic replacement arm. Groot not only loses one arm but Gamora cuts off both, fortunately Groot can grow them back. At the end of the movie Nebula also cuts off her own hand to escape. In Age of Ultron we witness Ulysses Klaue get his arm chopped off by Ultron. The Ant-Man one is a little more hard to notice, during the final battle after Ant-Man leaps into the Yellowjacket armour to destroy it, we see Darren Cross start to shrink, the first thing that goes is his right arm which shrinks into his shoulder about 5 seconds before the rest of his body.
#2 'If she be worthy'
In probably the funniest scene in the movie we see the Avengers attempting to prove they are worthy of picking up Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. When it's Natasha Romanoff's turn she passed claiming "that's not a question I need answered." An alternative timeline in the comics shows that Thor is killed during Ragnarok. After this disaster, Black Widow was found worthy of the hammer and became the new goddess of thunder.
#3 Baby Hawkeye
After Quicksilver sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye, Clint is left emotionally scarred. As a tribute to Pietro Maximoff, it is revealed that the Barton's have named their new-born son Nathaniel Pietro.
#4 Betty & Veronica
After Hulk goes on a rampage, Tony Stark tells Friday that it's time to send in 'Veronica', this is the codeword for the Hulkbuster armour. Joss Whedon made a tribute to Archie Comics as Bruce Banner was in love with a woman called Betty and Veronica is the opposite of that and the Hulkbuster is the only thing relatively capable of stopping him.
#5 Stan Lee cameo
Stan Lee's cameo this time is as a veteran wanting to prove her can drink as much as The Avengers by having a shot of 1,000 year old Asgardian liquor. However it proves too much for him and gets carried home but he does get to shout out his signature catchphrase "Excelsior!"
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