History YMMV / AvengersAgeOfUltron

** During Thor's hallucination brought upon from Wanda's powers, Heimdall coldly remarks "We are all DEAD!", and that Thor is leading them all to Hel. Come the events of both ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' and Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', and most of the Asgardians, including Heimdall himself, are all dead at both Hela and Thanos's hands.

** Despite the criticism of the film as a whole, it's been pointed out that many of the problems which were targeted -- the snark and comedy, the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, etc. -- are all traits which ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' also suffered from but was not nearly as critiqued for them. Compounding this is said elements being staples of Creator/JossWhedon, and the impression that the film should have improved considerably on the preceding film by addressing the previously-unacknowledged flaws and improving on them, rather than relying on them like a crutch.

** Wanda is often blamed by some fans for Ultron's creation through the vision she gave Tony of what was to come, and letting him leave Strucker's base with the scepter. It is often overlooked that Tony had already written the Ultron program, which obviously contained a lot of Tony's personality (to the point that [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay Klaue recognizes him as one of Tony's creations because he says things similar to things Klaue's heard Tony say]]) and can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it (with Wanda even pointing out to Steve, "Where do you think [Ultron] gets that?"). Furthermore, Tony wanted to use the scepter to upload Ultron as soon as he saw the data in Strucker's laboratory, which was well before Wanda entered the room.

** Ultron unknowingly quotes Tony by saying to Klaue, "It's like I always say. Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which". Now that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers Panama Papers]] have revealed dozens of hidden offshore funds placed by known public figures to avoid taxation, we may get to see this pan out in real life.

** During promotional interviews for ''Age of Ultron'' Whedon would boast of this film as the MCU's version of ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. And then ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' came out, which numerous critics and viewers have also described as the MCU and possibly this entire generation's ''actual'' answer to ''The Empire Strikes Back'', due to its tone, weighty plot, and [[spoiler:massive DownerEnding]]. And in between, the same was also said of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' (which has a lampshaded ''ESB'' homage, to boot), with critics claiming that it felt more like a proper sequel to the original ''Avengers'' film than ''Age of Ultron'' did.

** Tony's "whose girlfriend is better" banter with Thor in ''Age of Ultron'' turns into this when Pepper is revealed to have left him sometime after that movie. Double awkward points since the reveal by Kevin Feige that Thor and Jane broke up between ''The Dark World'' and ''Thor: Ragnarok''.

** Wanda using her telekinesis to stop the runaway train can come off like this after [[Film/AvengersEndgame goes toe to toe and holds her own against Thanos]], and even everything in ''Series/WandaVision''. She's the fabled Scarlet Witch described in the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]], and this is just a fraction of what she's capable of.

** In ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel'', the Maximoff twins were known for having an [[{{Twincest}} incestuous relationship]]. This movie has them portrayed by Creator/AaronTaylorJohnson (Pietro) and Creator/ElizabethOlsen (Wanda), who had previously played married couple Joe and Elle Brody in ''Film/{{Godzilla|2014}}''.
** When seeing Laura for the first time, Tony half-jokingly assumes that she's an agent of some kind. ''Series/Hawkeye2021'' would reveal that [[spoiler:she's indeed a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent, specifically Agent 19/Mockingbird.]]

** Steve was able to slightly nudge Mjolnir before ultimately giving up, slightly scaring Thor for a second. In the ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' event, [[spoiler:Captain America, now an agent of HYDRA, is still worthy to wield Mjolnir... admittedly, only because it was subjected to the same CosmicRetcon as he was by an embodied Cosmic Cube.]]

** In Steve's speech while everyone is gearing up for the climax, he says, "Ultron thinks that we’re monsters, that we’re what’s wrong in the world. This isn’t just about beating him. It’s about whether he’s right.” Ultron may not be able to do that, but [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Baron Zemo might have a few words to say about that]].
** Maria Hill asking where Jane is, followed shortly after by Thor smugly declaring that Jane is better than Pepper became this after ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' mentions Thor and Jane had an OffScreenBreakUp.
** The stuff with Black Widow that many fans found sexist could count as this upon Whedon's ex-wife publicly revealing that Whedon had cheated on her multiple times and didn't practice the feminist ideals he'd preached.
** After the disastrous reception of ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' and notes that some individual jokes and moments in that film resembled ones in ''Age of Ultron'' that had been disliked, Ray Fisher revealed in his description of Whedon's abusive behavior that [[https://www.cbr.com/justice-league-joss-whedon-called-diana-natasha-first-meeting-ray-fisher/ Whedon]] had intentionally repeated failed beats from ''Age of Ultron'' and even accidentally called Wonder Woman "Natasha" on set, suggesting he had become so resentful of the performance of ''Age of Ultron'' that he began angrily copying it into DC.
** Likewise, the reveal that Natasha is sterile and potentially sees herself as less human because of it, which was heavily criticized as a sexist part of the film, became even more controversial after ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:which has Natasha kill herself for Clint's sake because he has children and she doesn't.]]
** Fury and Tony have an exchange about Tony's vision of being "the man who killed the Avengers" and being ForcedToWatch, in which Fury notes that "The worst part is that you didn’t." Come ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''...

*** Before the helicarrier arrives to assist in the evacuations, Natasha remarks to Steve, "There's worse ways to go. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Where else am I gonna get a view like this?]]"

** While people were already not happy with Whedon for Natasha’s sterilization storyline, it becomes even worse to think about in 2021 when Creator/CharismaCarpenter came forward about Whedon’s [[HostilityOnTheSet treatment of her]] during the filming of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' including [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CLHjMmghiA9/?utm_medium=copy_link a story in which she got pregnant and he tried to force her to get an abortion and ultimately fired her because her pregnancy interrupted his plans for Cordelia Chase's storyline in the show. This also caused stress and pregnancy complications.]]

** In general, the fact that this is the last time the original Avengers all fight alongside one another as a unit. [[spoiler:Tony is separated from the rest of the Avengers in ''Infinity War'', as he's on Titan with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange while everyone else is in Wakanda. And in ''Endgame'', the original six Avengers reconvene to do the Time Heist so they can bring everyone back from Thanos's snap, but Natasha dies so that Clint can claim the Soul Stone, so isn't there for the final battle with Thanos's forces. The final battle itself ends with Tony being killed in the course of doing his own snap to disintegrate Thanos and his army.]]

** The romance between Bruce/Hulk and Natasha, which {{squick}}ed out many in the audience due to the relative age gap, and which was seen as a kind of UglyGuyHotWife wish fulfillment, comes off as a lot creepier after Whedon admitted to regularly cheating on his wife with much younger actresses under dubious circumstances.

* ToughActToFollow: ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'', and ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' together set a very high bar for what ''Age of Ultron'' had to live up to, resulting in its reputation being as decisive as it is.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Clint gets tired of Pietro one-upping him, so he mutters to himself how he could easily put that haughty snot out of his misery and blame it on Ultron. We also see Pietro get shot by a police officer and shrug it off. Then Pietro gets shot to death by Ultron himself. Saving Clint's life.
*** In a deleted scene, Wanda and Pietro bicker, during which Wanda warns Pietro that if he isn't careful about who he steals things from, he's bound to get shot.

** Steve was able to slightly nudge Mjolnir before ultimately giving up, slightly scaring Thor for a second. In the ComicBook/SecretEmpire event, [[spoiler:Captain America, now an agent of HYDRA, is still worthy to wield Mjolnir...admittedly, only because it was subjected to the same CosmicRetcon as he was by an embodied Cosmic Cube.]]

* GeniusBonus: The color of the blackbody radiation in the scene where Ultron's shell is being melted down indicates that vibranium [[https://i.imgur.com/FamjRiZ.png actually has a]] [[https://i.stack.imgur.com/uGB7l.jpg very low melting point]], which conveniently and retroactively explains how [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger multiple primitive]] [[Film/BlackPanther2018 civilizations]] were able to manipulate and reshaped for so many different purposes, despite it being nigh-indestructible against physical impacts.
* HarsherInHindsight:

** The Avengers make a point of evacuating citizens from the center of Novi Grad to minimize casualties. [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Too bad it wasn't enough to get Zemo's family out of danger]].

** Throughout the movie, it's rather explicitly hypothesized (and even somewhat confirmed by his fear-dream) that Cap sees fighting a perpetual war as the only way to keep going, believing a normal life with love and family as too late for him. As such, his anger at finding out Tony was building Ultron is significantly built on how wrong it turned out but maybe also seeing Tony's motive (releasing his friends from the burden of Earth's only defense) as Tony taking his one reason to live away from him and making him obsolete. That might also be a way of making ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' less [[GreyAndGrayMorality morally one-sided than the original comic indicated]]. It also throws some of Cap's previous actions into question. In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', just when Cap is thinking about getting out of the military life, he not only declares war on HYDRA, but he destroys S.H.I.E.L.D. in the process and creates a real necessity for the Avengers. All in all, is Steve Rogers a true hero [[ChronicHeroSyndrome whose virtue and goodness compel him to always help those in need]], or is he simply a (borderline) BloodKnight who needs to feel validated by fighting whenever possible and hiding behind a smokescreen of morality (or perhaps some combination of the two)?
** A retroactive one for Cap courtesy of ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. The famous moment of Cap causing Mjolnir to budge (provoking an OhCrap look from Thor)...followed by Cap grunting loudly and giving up--an indication that Cap's only ''sort of'' worthy... or is he just faking not being able to lift it, in the name of "good fun"? [[spoiler:At the 2015 SDCC, Joss Whedon was asked; “How is Steve Rogers not worthy?” Whedon responded teasingly, “Is he not? Are we sure? Did he fail? Or did he ''stop?''” So it's likely that when Steve budged it, he realized he ''could'' lift it if he chose, but chose ''not'' to so as to ruin what was supposed to be a fun party game. ''Endgame'' outright confirms that he's worthy, and later in separate instances, the Russos and Kevin Feige confirmed that he was ''always'' worthy of it; he just didn't pick it up fully here because being the NiceGuy he is, he was being polite to Thor. On the other hand, ''Endgame'' screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen [=McFeely=] disagree and believe that Cap was not yet worthy in this scene, due to him concealing the involvement of HYDRA - and Bucky - in the death of Tony's parents, and it's not until after he comes clean in ''Civil War'' that the worthiness kicked in.]]

* NoYay: Black Widow's relationship with the Hulk has proved to be very controversial, especially on sites like WebSite/{{Tumblr}}. On top of sinking Clintasha a lot of fans are squicked by the seeming age gap as well as the fact that the two seemingly had no chemistry or buildup beforehand.

* {{Misblamed}}: Joss Whedon tends to be vocally blamed for just about every aspect of the film people dislike, including things he couldn't possibly have any control over. These things include Creator/NataliePortman's lack of interest in reprising the role of Jane Foster, the absence of Pepper Potts due to Creator/GwynethPaltrow's contract with Marvel not having being renewed, Creator/ScarlettJohansson's pregnancy impacting the amount and type of scenes Natasha could've been in, or the presence of the Thor cave subplot (which was put in by ExecutiveMeddling).

* NoYay: Black Widow's relationship with the Hulk has proved to be very controversial, especially on sites like WebSite/{{Tumblr}}. On top of sinking [[FanPreferredCouple Clintasha]] a lot of fans are squicked by the seeming age gap as well as the fact that the two seemingly had no chemistry or buildup beforehand.

* WhatAnIdiot: Wanda and Pietro are siblings who blame Tony Stark for indirectly murdering their parents, due to Stark tech destrying their apartment. They are the Hydra base's last weapon, hiding in the shadows. Wanda has both telekinesis and can trap people in their worst nightmares. She says she wants to see Tony Stark destroy himself after she mind-rapes Iron Man. \\
'''You'd Expect''': Wanda would have thought through her revenge so that it doesn't cost innocent lives. She's been a Hydra weapon for years, so it's safe to assume that she has some knowledge of planning things out for the long-term. Maybe take Pietro's suggestion that they just kill him on sight.\\
'''Instead''': Wanda lets Tony loose to watch him hang himself as he walks away with the scepter in tow. Then she does the same after mind-raping every one of the Avengers, including Bruce Banner.\\
'''The Result''': Tony is compelled to use the scepter to create Ultron, who nearly destroys the planet and kills Wanda's brother, and the Hulk goes on a rampage in Johannesburg.

** The stuff with Black Widow that many fans found sexist could count as this upon Whedon's ex-wife publicly revealing that Whedon had cheated on her multiple times and didn't practice the feminist ideals he'd preached. After the disastrous reception of ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'' and notes that some individual jokes and moments in that film resembled ones in ''Age of Ultron'' that had been disliked, Ray Fisher revealed in his description of Whedon's abusive behavior that [[https://www.cbr.com/justice-league-joss-whedon-called-diana-natasha-first-meeting-ray-fisher/ Whedon]] had intentionally repeated failed beats from ''Age of Ultron'' and even accidentally called Wonder Woman "Natasha" on set, suggesting he had become so resentful of the performance of ''Age of Ultron'' that he began angrily copying it into DC.

** The stuff with Black Widow that many fans found sexist could count as this upon Whedon's ex-wife publicly revealing that Whedon had cheated on her multiple times and didn't practice the feminist ideals he'd preached.

* AssPull: The movie goes out of its way to set Hawkeye up to be killed in the climax while giving Quicksilver some CharacterDevelopment, but instead it's Pietro who abruptly bites the dust. This was done deliberately to be a SubvertedTrope, but while some fans appreciated the twist, other viewers just found it to be downright contrived.

** Laura Barton and her children. One part of the fandom loves them for adding more depth to Clint and not dying at the end, another resents them because their existence invalidates FanPreferredCouple Clint/Natasha unless they get KilledOffForReal. Also, prior to the release of ''[[Series/Hawkeye2021 Hawkeye]]'', some comic disliked how they made it difficult for Clint to then pick up his current comic Status Quo of living in Brooklyn and training with Kate Bishop.

** Laura Barton and her children. One part of the fandom loves them for adding more depth to Clint and not dying at the end, another resents them because their existence invalidates FanPreferredCouple Clint/Natasha unless they get KilledOffForReal. To a smaller extent, some comic fans also dislike how this makes it difficult for Clint to then pick up his current comic Status Quo of living in Brooklyn and training with Kate Bishop...which he would get around to by the time of his Disney Plus show.

** When seeing Laura for the first time, Tony assumes that she's an agent. ''Series/Hawkeye2021'' would reveal that [[spoiler:She's a former agent, Agent 19/Mockingbird.]]

-->'''Tony:''' I'm gonna miss [Thor], and you're gonna miss me...
-->'''Steve:''' I ''am'' gonna miss you, Tony.

** There was speculation that, like Coulson, someone would be killed for dramatic effect. The three main contenders were Pietro ([[StuffedIntoTheFridge to provide Wanda with motivation to join the Avengers]]), Hulk ([[StoryBreakerPower because he is overpowered and had to be removed]]), and/or Hawkeye ([[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway because he is underpowered]], [[DeathInTheLimelight Whedon was notably vocal that Hawkeye would have more to do in this film than in the previous entries]], [[TheSmurfettePrinciple and Whedon isn't about to kill either of the two females of the group]]). [[spoiler:Pietro would be killed in the course of subverting Hawkeye's death, while Hulk ended up [[Film/ThorRagnarok going to Sakaar]].]]

** In general, the fact that this is the last time the original Avengers all fight alongside one another as a unit. [[spoiler:Tony is separated from the rest of the Avengers in ''Infinity War'', as he's on Titan with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange while everyone else is in Wakanda. And in ''Endgame'', while everyone is fighting Thanos on one battlefield, Natasha isn't there as she sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone to bring back everyone from Thanos's snap, and that battle ends with Tony's own death.]]

** Vision proclaiming to the Avengers that he is on the side of life when trying to explain who he is to the Avengers becomes significantly more ironic after [[spoiler:a variant of him in episode 5 of ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' is shown luring people into Camp Lehigh with the intention of feeding them to a zombified Wanda Maximoff.]]

** Ultron unknowingly quotes Tony by saying to Klaue, "It's like I always say. Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait around to see which is which". Now that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers Panama Papers]] have revealed dozens of hidden offshore funds placed by known public figures to avoid taxation, we may get to see this pan out in real life.

-->'''Steve:''' [[HypocriticalHumor Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things.]]

** With the release of ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' and TheReveal that vibranium in the MCU isn't just a super-durable metal, but also a mutagen and a power source that makes it integral to all of Wakanda's [[{{Afrofuturism}} hyper-tech]] (like spears that can not only cut through metal like runny butter, but house built-in plasma cannons that can destroy tanks), Ultron's contempt at America using what vibranium they had to make Captain America's shield (which he dubs a glorified Frisbee) is kind of an understatement.

-->'''Wanda:''' [[DoubleEntendre I looked into your head, and saw annihilation.]]
-->'''Vision:''' [[DirtyMindReading Look again.]]

** Wanda and Pietro's description of their parents' deaths takes on a bit of this when ''Series/WandaVision'' implies the possibility that the bomb that failed to detonate in their apartment did so because Wanda unknowingly cast a probability hex on it.

** Cap being able to budge Mjolnir ever so slightly becomes this when he actually uses it in ''Film/AvengersEndgame''. Thor even exclaims "IKnewIt!" when that happens.

** Although in full context Black Widow was commenting on her TykeBomb history and TrainingFromHell as a whole, the scene in which Black Widow connects with Bruce Banner over their shared inability to have children was [[http://www.vox.com/2015/5/11/8582081/avengers-age-of-ultron-joss-whedon criticized]] due to the implications that women who can't have children are monsters.

* OvershadowedByControversy: Five years after the fact, the thing many people remember about this movie is Black Widow's line about being a "monster" while discussing her sterilization, and all the controversy that followed. Even at the time, many interpreted the line as being offensive to women who can't or choose not to have children, and years later many reviews of ''Film/BlackWidow2021'' favorably compared that movie's [[BlackComedy handling]] of the sterilization issue to the "monster" line in this one.