“Hank Pym isn’t in Age of Ultron because…” Joss Whedon explains

Comic fans know that Ultron was created by the original Ant-man, Hank Pym, but were surprised to see that, in the Marvel Movie Universe, this isn’t the case anymore.

Now nerdy-god Joss Whedon has come out and explained to Empire Magazine why exactly that is: “Of all the heat I’ve ever taken, not having Hank Pym was one of the bigger things,” he said. 

“But the fact of the matter was, Edgar [Wright] had him first and by virtue of what Edgar was doing, there was no way for me to use him in this. Ultron needs to be the brainchild of the Avengers, and in the world of the Avengers and the MCU, Tony Stark is that guy. Banner has elements of that guy – we don’t really think of him as being as irresponsible as Tony Stark, but the motherf**ker tested gamma radiation on himself, with really terrible, way-worse-than-Tony-Stark results.”

“It didn’t make sense to introduce a third scientist, a third sciencetician, to do that. It was hard for me, because I grew up on the comics, to dump that, but at the end of the day, it’s a more interesting relationship between Tony and Ultron if Tony was once like, ‘You know what would be a really great idea?’ They’re doing what they always do – which is jump in headfirst, and then go, ‘Sorry, world!’ But you have to make it their responsibility without just making it their fault,” he continued.

Regarding the main villain, Whedon said: “With Ultron, we have to make him slightly less omnipotent because he’d win. Bottom line. Also, having weaknesses and needs and foibles and alliances and actually caring what people think of him, all these things, are what make him a character and not just a tidal wave. 

“When Ultron speaks, he has a point. He is really not on top of the fact that the point he’s making has nothing to do with the fact that he’s banoonoos. And that he hates the Avengers for bringing him into this world, and he can’t really articulate that or even understand how much he hates humanity. He thinks he is all that. That guy is very fun to write. He combines all the iconic stuff. The powers he has are slightly different – he can control certain things, he’s not just firing repulsors.”

So, there you have it, Hank Pym would have been one scientist too many in the Avengers team, huh? Not sure we still buy it as we do reckon Ultron will be something that Pym had come up with and abandoned years before and now Stark picks it up and runs with it.

And it sounds like Ultron is going to be a major problem for the team to stop. Cool.

Avengers: Age of Ultron opens May 1.

Source: Comicbook