1. Have Ultron be an AI designed by Hank Pym

In the MCU, Ultron is unfortunately made by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, rather than his true father in the comics, Hank Pym. Now it’s somewhat understandable as Hank Pym’s not exactly a large part of the MCU yet and even when he appeared, they made him old and not available to be a hero. But the way they handled it was poor. Instead of rushing to have Stark and Banner make a completely functional AI in such a short time (about 3 days), have an AI already built and designed by Hank Pym, maybe something Iron Man stole or ‘acquired’ (hence Pym’s statement to never trust a Stark), and then enhance that AI with the mind stone.

This also serves to make Tony and Bruce not look like idiots for simply trusting the mind stone as an AI. Trusting it as a power source makes much more sense.

2. Let Ultron Hack EVERYTHING

One of Ultron’s most feared abilities in both comics and the movie, is to hack anything moving with a system. In the comics, it’s well documented, but in the movies it’s…mentioned once but never really capitalized on. And that’s just unacceptable.

Show Ultron hacking Iron Man’s suit, making him useless on the battlefield, and used only for his mind. Have Ultron hack SHIELD so that they can’t interfere, hack nukes, stop power grids, take down government facilities, etc. Make Ultron a true threat. And if they truly want Jarvis to stop him (so he doesn’t kill everyone), then have Jarvis stop him AFTER the nukes are in mid flight and already compromised.

It’s laughable that Apocalypse did this in his movie, but Ultron didn’t.

Ultron hacks Iron Man

3. Give Ultron a Team Busting Moment

The biggest complaint I’ve seen about Ultron is that he was weak and never a real threat to the Avengers. In the comics, he’s actually so powerful, that the Avengers combined often can’t brute force him. This should be mimicked in the movies, to truly show how dominating and awesome Ultron’s power is. What does this mean?

Let Ultron dismiss the other Avengers as bugs, swatting them aside, as he seeks out Thor and Hulk. Have him take Hulk’s hits as if they’re ant bites and overpower the beast (the first time that’s happened). Make Ultron take the best Thor has to offer as well, and beat him handily (similar to the scene actually in the movie, but without the joke/punchline and make Thor actually try. Make it more like Kurse in Thor 2: The Dark World). Have the entire Avengers team up (at a later point) and still lose, only for Ultron to be betrayed by Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch at the right/wrong moment, making their change of heart actually useful and mean something.

On that note…

4. Ultron Should Lose To An Unknown Factor

Ultron being he ultimate AI should have calculated for everything, and be nearly immune to any of the supposedly good plans the Avengers try. They can attempt EMPs, counter hacking, force, etc. but Ultron needs to overcome them all. Ultimately, he should lose to Scarlet Witch and her unpredictable powers (something that usually happens to him in the comics), so his loss is believable. Make it so that he never imagined that they (The Maximoff Twins) could turn on him, and better yet that they could hurt him.

A poetic loss for an Ultimate AI such as Ultron.

5. Make Ultron More Serious

This combines with having him be made by Hank Pym, as his joking nature clearly came from Tony Stark. That joking however makes Ultron far less serious of a threat, at least perception-wise if not in actuality. Ultron needs to be cold, calculating, robotic, factual in his statements. He needs to speak in a less charismatic voice, one that’s rigid and ready to exterminate any being in his way. He’s a killbot, not a stand up comedian at the Apollo. Also the joking nature added TOO much Stark-comedy for one movie.

6. Ultron’s Evolution

Ultron’s main thing is his ever changing form. He’s constantly evolving and improving, and in the comics once got so powerful that all of Marvel Earth couldn’t take him out. He had to lose on purpose to protect the timeline.

In the movie, they touch on it with him improving his body constantly, but never in his programming or how he thinks. Ultron should start out as a protective program, sending out the Iron Legion to stop crimes and thwart smaller villains. Over time he should start taking things too far, blasting petty thieves with repulsor rays, arresting people who do minor legal activities (like torrenting or jay walking), and maybe even start blasting people down.

The Avengers put a stop to him there, but he’s really waiting in the cut, rebuilding to become better. Then he comes back in full fledged villain mode as he views Avengers as standing in his or even humanity or justice’s way. His goal can even reach human extinction (like in the movies) once he’s betrayed by Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, as he determines that humans cannot be trusted.

This way it’s an actual AGE of Ultron, as more then a few days pass. It also shows the logical progression of being programmed to protect humanity, to killing it. In the movie it was a bit too fast and his mindset never changed or grew in any way.

Ultron's Evolution