Ultron Unveils a Sleek New Design, Blowing His MCU Look Out of the Water
As one of Avengers' greatest villains, Ultron's design has been overhauled dozens of times. However, as he takes on the West Coast Avengers with his new cyborg cult, the genocidal AI is getting a jaw-dropping new look that fans never saw coming. But as stunning as this new look is, it doesn't answer a key question - why are there now two versions of Ultron running around the Marvel Universe?
Ultron Has Wings Now? - How West Coast Avengers Just Reinvented the Villain
Ultron Becomes an Angel As He Founds His Own Religion
In the conclusion of West Coast Avengers #2 - from Gerry Duggan, Danny Kim, Arthur Hesli and Joe Caramagna - Ultron shows up, debuting a wild new look. Flanked by his cyborg followers, Ultron now boasts huge metallic wings and a priest's stole, ready to spread what he calls "the Gospel of Ultron."Ben Harvey's stunning art for West Coast Avengers #3 (above) showcases the iconic villain's new design - a major departure from the look fans saw in the MCU, where Ultron was voiced by James Spader.
No-one is more shocked at the appearance of this new, angelic Ultron than... Ultron. The new West Coast Avengers are all about rehabilitating villains, announcing this to the public by recruiting a repentant Ultron to the team. West Coast Avengers #2 reveals there are now two versions of the villain - the version working with the Avengers and this new winged version who is leading a cyborg cult. The original Ultron has no clue what's going on with his doppelgänger, responding to the new arrival with, "I don't know that guy."
Ultron Is Now the Leader of a Robotic Resurrection Cult
Ultron's Unpredictability Is What Makes Him a Great Villain
In West Coast Avengers #1, Marvel showed a woman suffering from cancer visiting Ultron, only to be killed by the android. She was then 'reborn' in a new cyborg body, followed by the reveal that Ultron has dozens - if not hundreds - of followers in hibernation, apparently having suffered the same fate. Whether these people have truly been given a second life is still up for debate, as are Ultron's motives. However, his cult does seem to be at least partly sincere, as the robot was shown craving "redemption" when no-one else was around to hear him.
Fans don't yet know why the original Ultron is on the team, let alone the origin of this second angelic version, however there isn't necessarily a huge mystery to be solved here. Ultron is constantly upgrading and redesigning his software and hardware, and there's no reason multiple copies of the robot's AI can't exist at once. While he may hate humanity and see AI life as the future, Ultron has always been wildly unpredictable, and so neither joining the Avengers nor starting his own resurrection cult are exactly out of character.
As unpredictable as Ultron is, he usually works alone, making it a surprise that he'd want to start a religion. Until recently, Ultron was bonded to his creator and Avengers founder Hank Pym, and it seems the experience has given him some level of appreciation for android/human merging, perhaps leading to his cyborg experimentation. At the same time, Ultron's defining trait is his hatred of all other life forms, so even if he truly wants redemption, sooner or later his disdain for humanity is going to come boiling to the surface - angelic new look or not. Hopefully, the West Coast Avengers are up to defeating whatever scheme the android has planned, especially with their own Ultron ready and willing to help.
West Coast Avengers #2 is available now from Marvel Comics, with #3 coming January 29.
