(SPOILERS)
(duh)
Avengers: Age of Ultron was generally a good movie, but I found myself disappointed with the end of the film. This in part is due to me wrongfully coming in with too many expectations, however it still could've ended in a way that could push forward the MCU rather than bring it to a screeching halt. You probably are asking why I think this, well there a couple specific reasons, but the overarching problem is that it ended on such a high note. As if Ultron had no affect on the world after. It was stated that this would be the Empire Strikes Back to Avengers' New Hope. I walked out of this film thinking "This wasn't Empire. They just did two New Hope's". Killing off one character that we had no emotional attachment to doesn't "raise the stakes". Especially when only one character (his twin sister and only family he had left on this planet) has a reaction to the death.
"I think of these movies as much as anything like war movies. If there's no cost to us for all the damage we've done, if we say 'Oh we can just get through this' and walk away arm in arm and say it's all good, I feel like that's disingenuous." - Joss Whedon
The above quote is from an interview Whedon did with Yahoo Movies. The irony of this statement is that in this film the Avengers don't have much of a cost, say they can get through this, walk away arm in arm, and say it's all good. After Ultron's death by Vision, they have a great new Avengers Training Facility, Hulk disappears as he wished and no one cares other than his rushed girlfriend Black Widow, Hawkeye goes back to his family, Thor goes off to find his answers, Tony just leaves, and Cap finds his true home. Plus we get a new team, two black people at the same time! Yeah! It bothered me that it seems like the Avengers came out of the battle with no repercussions. The same thing happened with the first Avengers, and what really bothered me is that afterwards they tried to act like the heroes felt the repercussions of the "Battle in New York" when none of those repercussions were even hinted at the end of the film. Tony's PTSD in particular.
In Captain America: Winter Soldier, they dealt with the aftermath perfectly. They showed the world's reaction to HYDRA's attempted attacks, how the heroes dealt with it, and the members of SHIELD moving forward. Hopefully that means that the Infinity War movies will address the repercussions of saving the Universe from destruction.
So now that I've ranted, how would I have done the ending? Well I won't go in to a plot summary on how the film would play out, but tell you what I would change.
V I S I O N W O U L D D O M O R E I N T H E F I N A L B A T T L E
The Vision was my favorite part of Age of Ultron. Paul Bettany did a great job and I'm so glad we'll get to see him again in Civil War. As someone who not only can lift Mjolnir, but also has an Infinity Gem lodged in his forehead, they didn't portray him as the super mega OG badass he could've been. Though they did see him, as @NovaCorpsFan said, "reverse bear hug" the shit out of Ultron bots, and fire the dopest energy beam I've ever seen at Ultron, he could've done more. In the INCREDIBLE shot where we circle around the Avengers who are surrounded by Ultron bots, we see Vision fight like the rest of the team. Vision should be above that. Yes he was just born the day before, but I'd love for him to use his powers to a larger extent. I that shot where the Avengers are surrounded it would've been great to see Vision fly in above them and take out all of Ultron's minions in one blast. Hopefully we see some more ass kicking in next year's Captain America threequel.
H A W K E Y E W O U L D K I C K T H E B U C K E T
This entire movie set up that Hawkeye was going to die. As it should have. Having Quicksilver die was a total waste of a character. Maybe my love of Aaron Taylor Johnson (no homo) is blinding me, but I still stand firm in my opinion. Jeremy Renner gave my favorite performance of his in this film, and I love Hawkeye. That's why he should've died! I had such an emotional connection to him throughout this film. Quicksilver's death didn't affect me, it just made me say "There goes a wasted character". We've been invested in Hawkeye since 2011, and killing him would've raised the stakes more and given the movie a more dangerous feel. It would've been great to see Quicksilver have a relationship with the Inhuman princess Crystal like he does in the comics. He could've fit in to the Inhuman movies great and would've loved to see him fight in Cap's new team in Civil War and beyond.
Now how would Hawkeye die?
Well remember when those bullets almost hit Barton, but Maximoff came in and sacrificed himself? Let's have that scene, but Quicksilver doesn't reach Hawkeye in time. On top of that Hawkeye saves the kid, but not himself. This ending does so much for the characters involved. Hawkeye dies a hero, saving the little boy. Quicksilver goes through his character arc, fully coming around to the side of the Avengers. The team loses someone important to them, truly making this movie an empire style sequel. Those are all the immediate effects on the film, so what are the longer lasting ones. Quicksilver feels guilty and blames himself for Hawkeye's death. He "wasn't fast enough" and this puts him in a state where he's in a constant race with himself. This could be revisited in Civil War and maybe even Marvel films after that. Hawkeye's death could also be another driving force for Tony's support in the SHRA. We'll get back to that later.
U L T R O N W O U L D L I K E . . . . A C T U A L L Y D O S H I T
Now, don't misinterpret what I'm saying. Ultron did so A LOT of damage in this film, but not enough so that I really cared. This movie again felt like it didn't have a global scale. Yeah they traveled around, but that didn't mean anything to me. Yes if his plan succeeded the human race and many other species would go extinct, but I didn't feel that. I felt like the only people that would die would be the people of Sokovia and that's it. We should've seen the people that Ultron would be destroying. Just simple shots of people around the world watching footage of the fight on the edge of their seats would've made it feel more global, but that still wouldn't be enough.
How could it have been better?
Ultron sends his drones to various places around the world, causing the Avengers to divide and conquer before congregating in a central area to help Vision (who's locked in a battle of epic proportions with Ultron) defeat Ultron. Not only would a battle with Vision make Ultron look more powerful, but would help build on my first point of making Vision look badass. It would also give more meaning to him upgrading bodies, showing how much improvement he's had since Mark I (BTW, he would go through a slower change than he did in the film. He want from 0 to 100 real quick). Ultron's drone's would specifically be sent to some of the most populated cities in the world; Shanghai, Delhi, Lagos, etc.
T O N Y F E E L S S U P E R G U I L T Y
We finally can get the Iron Man storyline we've wanted since 2008. Demon in a Bottle. Well not in it's true form with Bethany Cabe, Justin Hammer, and Namor the Submariner (unfortunately), but the major themes of the story arc would be introduced in AoU and be built upon in Ant-Man and Civil War. It would've been great to see Tony indulge in some alcohol after the fight in Sokovia. Despite his arrogance, Tony would still feel guilty for Ultron and almost indirectly caused the extinction of the human race. These themes of alcoholism could still be used in future MCU films, but it'd be even more believable in this version of the film. In this version of AoU Tony would be responsible for the deaths of Hawkeye, Helen Cho, and countless other people that died in Ultron's attack on densely populated areas. That's enough for a man to turn to alcohol, something he's used frequently in all his cinematic appearances.
How would we show this alcoholism?
Well obviously we'd see him drinking...a lot. In Ant-Man we can just see some footage where paparazzi are asking him about the SHRA (which is introduced through newspapers and other media in the background of Ant-Man) as he walks out of some building. He may even show up to a press conference with some booze in his hand. This will be further explored in Civil War, Pepper even leaving Tony because of his rising problem. It'd be great to see Tony even go in to battle drunk, showing the weight the events of AoU had on him.
T H E R E - C A P M E E T I N G
I N S T E A D O F T H E H A P P Y E N D I N G
This last one is basically the re cap of everything talked about in this article and more. Nick Fury calls all the (remaining) Avengers back to the Avengers Facility (yes they still have one afterwards). The scene starts off with everyone their (including Maria Hill, War Machine, Falcon, and Vision) except Banner, Barton, and Stark. They all know why Barton's and Banner aren't their (Hulk goes away in the same fashion he does in the real film), but no one know's where Tony is. Tony walks in, seemingly drunk. Nick Fury addresses the team on Hawkeye's death and tells them of how his family is doing. He explains where they theorize Hulk is, but they don't know for sure, this causing Natasha to tear up a little bit. Throughout this Tony has been making snarky, rude, and inappropriate remarks and the team finally has enough of him. Tony and Steve get in to an argument before Tony shouts over Steve and has a powerful monologue, showing the guilt he has built up inside of him. Tony storms out. Thor tells the team that he has to find the answers to the visions Scarlet Witch gave him and he flies off. This only leaves Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Vision. "Well then," Nick Fury says, "I guess we have our new Avengers."
MID-CREDITS SCENE
We're in the same room that the meeting detailed above takes place in. It's darker now, no natural light pouring in anymore and only a single overhead light illuminating the room. Tony walks in, now sober.
STARK
Ya think they bought it?
FURY
Yup.
STARK
Good.
Fury stands up out of his seat.
FURY
Couldn't have them hating you even more, now could we.
STARK
Doesn't really make a difference anymore...
There's a moment of quietness.
STARK
It was hard...looking at Nat while we lied right to her face.
FURY
She's the last one you want on the other man's side.
STARK
Still....she think's he's in Fiji.
FURY
We sent him to a peaceful place. He won't hurt anyone ever again. Not out there.
Another moment of quietness.
STARK
Kind of jealous. Of course Banner's the one who gets to see all the extra-terrestrial stuff i've been dreaming of since I was 10.
FURY
You couldn't survive on a different planet all by yourself for the rest of your life.
STARK
Yeah you're right. I'd kill myself.
There's another moment of quietness before Tony begins to leave. Fury interrupts him.
FURY
Oh...The drunk act was a nice touch Stark.
STARK
What can I say, I'm method.
Tony exits the room. His countenance becomes one that looks...ashamed. We soon realize, he wasn't acting.
So incase you didn't get it, Tony and Fury sent the Quinjet in to space after Banner climbed aboard for his escape. This is because of the damage he'd caused in the African city during the fight with Iron Man, and some civilian casualties while fighting Ultron bot's in one of the large cities. He was a threat, so they removed him from the equation.
This will definitely come back up in Civil War, maybe even causing some side switching from a certain super heroine.
POST-CREDITS SCENE
Tony is sitting at the bar in Avengers Tower.
TONY
Friday! Reload.
FRIDAY
Yes sir, Mr. Stark.
Two robotic arms, similar to the ones Tony uses to assemble and disassemble his suits, come out from behind the bar. They fill his shot glass and begin to retract.
TONY
No, no, no. Just stay out here. I'm gonna be a while.
FRIDAY
Your guest has arrived Mr. Stark.
TONY
Bring 'em in.
Tony takes another swig before turning towards the door. General Ross walks in.
ROSS
Ya know last time one of us had a preposition for the other, I was at the bar and you were the one walking in with a boatload of confidence.
TONY
Whaddya want Ross.
ROSS
What if I told you we were putting together an act?
TONY
I assume you're not referring to on of the three parts of a play.
ROSS
No.
TONY
What for?
Tony takes another swig.
ROSS
Superhuman registration.
This scene sets Civil War in motion. and reintroduces us to General "Thunderbolt" Ross. The mid-credits scene in Age of Ultron didn't do much of anything for the MCU. Yay Thanos, who we cant use as a tease anymore since he got so much screen time in GotG, has a meaningless glove. He gained no power from that glove, but rather now has a cool accessory that has some holes for powerful items. Both of the above scenes push the MCU further, unlike the one we got.
Thanks for checking out my article. Make sure to comment your thoughts down below. How would you have ended Age of Ultron? Did you like the ending or hate it? Do you agree or disagree? Tell me in the comments. Thanks again! I'm Kong, and this has been a Skull Island Editorial. See ya next time, and don't forget to put on your...