Last year, Avengers: Age of Ultron nearly tore apart the team that had formed just a few years prior. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark inadvertently brings Ultron, the ill-tempered A.I., to life, and more than a bit of trauma ensues for The Avengers and the rest of the world. Some of this trauma involves the Hulk being driven mad by Scarlet Witch, and Tony being forced to rein him in with the massive "Hulkbuster" suit of armor.
One of the things the film plays on is that Tony's armors are ever changing, and, as a creation of Tony's, Ultron goes through more than a few permutations himself in the film. Because there were so many different ways for the look of the characters (or their suits of armor) to go, naturally there are dozens of conceptual variants to what was seen in the finished film.
Concept artist Josh Nizzi has posted a few of these on his personal website. Ultron and the Hulkbuster armor (along with its "Veronica" dispensing satellite) get the most attention, with some really cool variants that rival the official versions. Also featured are Tony's Iron Legion, the updated Falcon "bird suit," Hawkeye's fancy new quiver, Baron von Strucker sporting a crazy mechanical arm, and some Hydra agents all bundled up for the winter season.
It's easy to forget the sheer amount of creative work that goes into the production of a major motion picture, much of it never even making it to the big screen. With an infinite number of options for how to tell a visual story, it's always interesting to see what might have been.
A lot of the Ultron variants certainly seem a lot more intimidating, sporting a less human, more comic-accurate skull-shaped head, and some hellish expressions. It's possible that the toned-down final version was chosen so young viewers wouldn't go to sleep with the lights on for the foreseeable future. Another possibility is that Joss Whedon didn't want to waste James Spader's talent on a mo-cap character whose mouth didn't move.
If Ultron makes a return in the future of the MCU, should they go back to the drawing board on his design? With his interchangeable avatars, it's certainly a possibility. Let us know your pick in the comments section, and stay tuned to Screen Rant for updates on Marvel's pantheon of heroes as they hit.
Avengers: Age of Ultron is available in digital, DVD, and Blu-ray formats; Captain America: Civil War will be available as VOD on September 2, 2016, and on DVD and Blu-ray on September 13, 2016; Doctor Strange opens in U.S. theaters on November 4, 2016, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.
Source: Josh Nizzi