One of the MCU’s Best Big Bads is Building a New Army

One of the most dangerous villains in the entire Marvel Universe is building a new army, and the Avengers have no idea it is happening.

While the heroes of the West Coast Avengers #1 are busy tackling their latest threat, another is toiling away in secret to craft something bigger and badder than Earth's Mightiest Heroes have seen in years. Although Ultron has come around to the idea of being a hero as part of the team, that doesn't mean his more malicious endeavors have been put on hold entirely. In fact, Ultron has been hard at work building a new army of machines almost just like himself, the only difference being it involves the minds of dying humans who choose to become a part of what their mechanized master is creating.

Related

An Underrated Marvel Hero Just Proved How Mind-Bendingly Powerful He Truly Is

One of Marvel's most underrated Avengers is back in action, and this time he is gunning for Tony Stark on behalf of a terrifying villain.

West Coast Avengers #1

• Written by GERRY DUGGAN
• Art by DANNY KIM
• Colors by ARTHUR HESLI
• Letters by VC's JOE CARAMAGNA
• Design by KAT WALKINGTON and JAY BOWEN
• Main cover art by BEN HARVEY
• Variant covers by JOSHUA CASSARA, SEAN "CHEEKS" GALLOWAY, ADAM HUGHES, DANNY KIM & RAÚL ANGULO, DANNY KIM, JEEHYUNG LEE, RON LIM & ISRAEL SILVA, GERARDO SANDOVAL & EDGAR DELGADO, and STANELY "ARTGERM" LAU

First seen in the pages of 1968's Avengers #54 by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, Ultron was the creation of Hank Pym. Originally intended to be the next step in artificial intelligence technology, Ultron quickly found a mind of its own, one obsessed with the idea that humanity was the greatest threat to both the world as a whole and its own existence. As such, Ultron took great pains to strike down the Avengers in the hopes of installing itself as the one true Earthly superpower.

Over the years since its debut, Ultron has taken on a variety of forms. Among the earliest of these was its guise as the Crimson Cowl, through which Ultron claimed total control over the Masters of Evil. Like so many of Ultron's other attempts to lay his claim to the planet, this attempt was dashed by Earth's Mightiest Heroes, though it wouldn't be the last. Throughout dozens of iterations, Ultron has continued to strike out at the Avengers and the rest of Earth's heroes, one of the last of which saw him merged with Pym entirely before both were seemingly destroyed for good.

Related

Venom Just Got a Whole New Look

Marvel's Venom War has just unveiled a whole new look for the original Lethal Protector, and it is exactly what he needed to win everything.

Most recently, both Ultron and Pym returned in the pages of Avengers Inc. by Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk. This came as a result of a plot by Pym, who set out to put an end to the threat of Ultron once and for all. To do so, Pym crafted a series of robotic ants who would cut down and recreate various villains into a new Lethal Legion, yet this itself was complicated by the remnants of Ultron's consciousness secretly working against its creator from the inside. In the end, Pym sequestered himself to Subatomica to try and prevent the lingering Ultron within him from lashing out again, all while the Ultron-12 iteration of the character stepped into a new role as the surprisingly heroic Victor Shade, now better known as Mark Twelve.

West Coast Avengers #1 is now on sale wherever comics are sold.

Source: Marvel Comics

The Avengers

Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Marvel's Avengers first appeared in 1963. While Marvel Comics premier superhero team has boasted a rotating cast of heroes, and even spinoff franchises like the West Coast Avengers, heroes like The Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, The Wasp, and Thor are mainstays of this potent franchise that has helped defined Marvel Comics and the MCU.