I’m surprised thatAvengers: Age of Ultrondidn’t manage to break a box office record that the otherMCUcrossover movies easily achieved. Marvel Studios set a new standard for live-action superhero franchises with the premiere of 2012’sThe Avengers, the movie that brought together the original heroes of the MCU’s Phase 1: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Since then, theAvengersfranchise has included four epic adventures, while we’ve also seen the team in a number of other projects, but one movie is a clear outlier.
I have loved each of theAvengers' battles in the MCU, whether they be fighting against Loki, Ultron, Zemo, Thanos or, indeed, each other.I’ve been feeling the Avengers' absence throughout the Multiverse Saga, and can’t wait to see them reform soon, perhaps even as early as 2025’sCaptain America: Brave New World.Marvel’s upcomingAvengers: DoomsdayandSecret Warsare expected to break records for the MCU, following in the footsteps ofmostof their predecessors, though one didn’t fare so well.
MCU’s Avengers Movies Have Almost Always Been The Highest Grossing Movie Of The Year They Released
Marvel Has Released Four (& A Half) Avengers Movies
According toThe Numbers,most of theAvengersmovies in the MCU have been the highest-grossing movies at the box office of the years they were released.The Avengers, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgameall dominated the global box office in their respective release years, which doesn’t come as a shock to me at all. What does shock me, however, is thatAvengers: Age of Ultrondid not achieve the same, clocking in as the third-highest-grossing movie of 2015, behindJurassic WorldandStar Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
$1.521 billion
$1.405 billion
$1.155 billion
$2.052 billion
$2.799 billion
Only Avengers: Age Of Ultron Didn’t Break This MCU Box Office Record
Avengers: Age Of Ultron Clocked In At #3 In 2015
Despite racking up a huge $1.405 billion at the global box office,the Avengers' sophomore adventure in the MCU was not the most successful movie of 2015. This honor goes, instead, toStar Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which grossed $2.071 billion, becoming the third-highest-grossing movie ever at the time of its release (it has since dropped to the fifth-highest-grossing). 2015’sJurassic World, one of my favorite movies of 2015, also beatAge of Ultron, grossing a total of $1.671 billion.
Rewatching The Lowest Grossing Avengers Movie Made Me Realize How Important It Actually Is
After rewatching the MCU, I realized that the lowest grossing Avengers movie is actually really great, and one of the most important MCU films.
$1.405 billion is certainly not a disappointing box office total for any movie, though it is the lowest anyAvengersproject (discountingCaptain America:Civil War)has totaled. This proves the cut-throat nature of the MCU, particularly sinceAge of Ultronhas long been regarded as the weaker link in theAvengersfranchise, even though it racked up a huge box office gross.Avengers: DoomsdayandSecret Warsare expected to match or surpass thesuccess ofInfinity WarandEndgame, leavingAge of Ultrontruly in the dust.
Why Avengers: Age Of Ultron Didn’t Break The Avengers Box Office Movie Record
Avengers: Age Of Ultron Was A Bridge Between More-Exciting MCU Movies
In retrospect, I think it’s clear that Marvel Studios usedAvengers: Age of Ultronto plant seeds and provide set-up for more-exciting subsequent adventures.Age of Ultronset the stage forCaptain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: RagnarokandAvengers: Infinity War, among others, so perhaps didn’t spend enough time exploring its own story.The “age” of Ultron was more like a “moment” of Ultron, as the tyrannical robot supervillain was dealt with fairly easily, potentially contributing to the movie’s lower box office total.
While I understand that some may considerAvengers: Age of Ultronto be the weakest installment of theMCU’s ever-growingAvengersfranchise, I’ve never thought it was an inherently bad movie. Ilove the Avengers' dynamic in the sequel, James Spader excelled as the voice of Ultron, and the set-up for future MCU stories provided some essential information and planted some interesting seeds. I consider it a shame thatAvengers: Age of Ultronisn’t viewed as highly as its peers, but this shows how easy it is for bigger movies to come along and blow the MCU out the water.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Cast
Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in 2015, follows Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man and Captain America, as they contend with Ultron, a rogue AI with plans for global annihilation. This Marvel sequel sees The Avengers form uneasy alliances and embark on a perilous global adventure to thwart Ultron’s schemes.
