All 3 Ultron’s Appearances in MCU Movies (& Show) in order: Get Ready for ‘Vision Quest’
Ultron is one of the most well-known villains in Marvel Comics who also found a very important place for himself in the MCU. The rogue AI android has appeared in three separate MCU projects, two being movies and the third being a series within the MCU.
He has also appeared in numerous Marvel animated TV shows, as well as a Marvel Animated Features (MAF) film called ‘Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow’ – but we’ll stick to Ultron’s MCU appearances for this particular article. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Movies & shows featuring Ultron in order by release date
As I’ve mentioned, Ultron has appeared in three separate MCU projects, but only one had the MCU’s main universe Ultron. The second and third were actually multiversal variants. If you want to dive into the movies and shows right away, here’s where Ultron appeared by release date:
- ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)
- ‘What If…?’ (2021)
- ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ (2022)
Throughout the rest of the article, I’ll explain how these movies and shows are, indeed, connected to each other despite depicting different variants of Ultron across the multiverse. I won’t go into too much detail if you haven’t watched these yet, but I have to warn you that there are going to be minor spoilers over the next few subheadings.
Are Ultron’s movies & shows connected? What’s the best way to watch them?
Ultron’s movie and TV show appearances on this list are connected to each other through the grander cinematic universe they all belong to – the MCU. Obviously, they revolve around the same character – Ultron – as well. However, they are actually not connected directly to each other in a plot sense.
All three of these appearances depict different Ultron variants from different universes within the Marvel multiverse. Therefore, if you’re watching this only from the standpoint of Ultron, it’s not important to watch them in any particular order.
However, if you watch all of these movies and shows within the grander scheme of the MCU, then I suggest you watch them chronologically, as they were released. It’ll follow the storyline of the MCU, so you’ll understand all the references and character motivations more thoroughly.
Even in the ‘What If…?’ series that is clearly happening outside of the main MCU universe, you’ll still get references to the events we’ve already seen. For instance, you’ll get episodes such as ‘What If… Thor Were an Only Child?’ or, more important for this particular article – ‘What If… Ultron Won?’.
Therefore, the best way to watch all Ultron movies and show appearances in the MCU is to watch them by release date.
Ultron’s movie & show appearances in chronological order
A great thing about Ultron’s movie & show appearances in the MCU is that the chronological order of these appearances is the same as their release order. Seeing that only ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ depicts the main MCU universe version of Ultron, there’s not that much continuity here in terms of Ultron’s role itself.
However, there is continuity in terms of what happened in the grander scheme of the MCU. For instance, an alternative version of Ultron avatars, or Ultron Sentries, appears in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ when Strange ends up on Earth-838, where a group called the Illuminati uses those avatars as protection.
Those Ultron avatars have nothing to do with the Ultron from ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ as they exist in a completely different universe. However, the continuity comes from Doctor Strange’s journey throughout the MCU that led him to visit Earth-838 and us meeting these alternative versions of Ultron. That’s why I still recommend watching these movies and shows by release date.
On the other hand, the only character continuity you’ll get from Ultron within the MCU – is the version of Ultron from ‘What If…?’. You see, Ultron appeared in three different episodes of the show, and you should watch those episodes as they were ordered in the show. They go as follows:
- ‘What If… Thor Were an Only Child?’
- ‘What If… Ultron Won?’
- ‘What If… the Watcher Broke His Oath?’
Throughout these episodes, we get a somewhat chronological story of this version of Ultron that had successfully transferred his mind and consciousness into the body of the Vision. He then killed most of the Avengers and started a nuclear holocaust.
It wasn’t enough, though – he proceeded to kill Thanos and collect all the Infinity Stones. He destroys all life in his universe but then discovers the Watcher and the existence of the multiverse. After defeating the Watcher, this version of Ultron then destroys life in realities other than his own that he had already destroyed.
So, to recap, there’s no particular chronological continuity for Ultron in the MCU alone, as all three of his appearances depict alternative versions of the android. However, there is continuity for one of those versions – the Ultron from ‘What If…?’ who appeared in three series episodes.
