Avengers: Age Of Ultron - 11 Ways It Was Almost Completely Different

11. Thanos Was Almost The Villain

Initially Joss Whedon wanted Thanos to be the villain for his Avengers sequel, which might explain why the alien super-villain was teased at the end of the predecessor, a full 6 years before he'll actually get top billing in Infinity War.

That plan changed when Whedon had the revelation that Ultron was the perfect villain for the Avengers:

"He's got a bee in his bonnet, he's always trying to destroy the Avengers! He's not a happy guy, which means he's an interesting guy. He's got pain."

Would It Have Worked?

Well, it will eventually, but the slow-play of setting up Thanos and giving the Infinity Stones stories more time to weave through the rest of the MCU makes a lot of sense.

Clearly Ultron is a more fractured villain and reflects the PTSD state of most of the Avengers and SHIELD after the events of The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It fits that the villain would reflect that, rather than just being a supreme threat when the Avengers themselves weren't capable of dealing with that.