How Ultron could return to the MCU
By Lone Lez

Short Introduction:

SPOILER ALERT: 

The following theories contain spoilers for Captain America: Civil War and previous MCU films.

1. Loki & Thanos

We first need to look back at the events of Thor: The Dark World. At the end, it is revealed that Loki has been impersonating as Odin at Asgard. After Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron puts a spell on Thor’s mind, Thor gets a glimpse of a possible future that could bestow upon Asgard, causing him to return to his homeland after the events of Age of Ultron.

Now, to tie in Loki to Ultron. It is unclear if Vision killed Ultron, as us the viewer only see a flash of light when he blasts Ultron with the infinity stone. Also, being that Ultron is in essence a supercomputer of immense intelligence, it is quite probable that he saved a backup file of his system somewhere in the universe. Could Loki have accessed the Ultron backup file?

The events of Thor’s dream is definitely a precursor to what could happen in next year’s Thor: Ragnarok, but I don’t think Ultron will have anything to do with it. A theory though, is that after the events of Thor: Ragnarok, after some event that Loki once again fails to defeat Thor, Loki will revive Ultron and both of them would join the titan Thanos. Now, knowing Ultron, why would Ultron form a coalition with the god of mischief?

Loki has something Ultron doesn’t have, yet. Loki is able to travel between different dimensions, giving Ultron other worlds to “bring peace,” although he could do this with Thanos too. As much as I would love to see a Thanos-Loki-Ultron coalition, it is unlikely the formation of such a team, given the circumstances. Thanos gave the scepter to Loki, as well as an army of Chitauri aliens, and Loki eventually failed. Later, the scepter was used to create the powerful Ultron and he was defeated. 

When the mid-credit scene appears at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, we see Thanos who says “fine, I’ll do it myself.” His remark can have several meanings, one being that he knew of Ultron’s existence and was aware of his plans, leaving him more than disinterested to once again use Ultron.

2. Arnim Zola & Zemo

Another theory, and this could be a bit of a stretch, is that the villain Arnim Zola from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, could have accessed the Ultron backup file, if he did make one, and if Zola didn’t actually completely died during the explosion.

Remember that Zola’s mind is inserted into computer servers as computer code, and when Black Widow and Captain America entered the ancient hydra facility, there were several usb slots opened, giving rise the possibility that a part of Zola could still be roaming around somewhere. If Zola is still alive, then maybe he will revive Ultron, and join the titan Thanos in the Infinity War.

 

Now, who could find or have the hidden Arnim Zola thumb drive, we can give that title to Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo from the recent Captain America: Civil War. After Zemo’s imprisonment after the events of the movie, his intentions to destroy the Avengers are still present.

After his meticulous plan to put the Avengers against each other, it is likely he will do some new intricate plan again.

It’s improbable that he would want to bring back Ultron since Ultron is the reason Zemo’s family died; though Zemo blames the Avengers. Nonetheless, knowing how ruthless Zemo has become, we can’t discard that possibility.

I still believe that Ultron is lurking around somewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and hopefully Marvel has intentions in bringing him back, not just through dialogue between Avengers (Captain America: Civil War scene).

3. Wakanda/Black Panther

 

Keeping to the theme of storage, another theory of Ultron’s return could be based around the Guardians of the Galaxy. If Ultron is lurking around somewhere in the universe, he could probably become a brand new item in the Collector’s collection.

Returning to the Loki-Thanos-Ultron theory from before, instead of Loki reviving Ultron and joining Thanos, Loki could potentially trade the Ultron A.I. with the Collector, in return for something powerful from the Collector's multitude of things, like the Aether.

Even if this is not the case, it could possibly be the way we see the Guardians of the Galaxy’s story line connect with the Avengers, through Loki in some way or another.