9 Simple Fixes That Would Have Saved Avengers: Age Of Ultron

7. Cut The Setup

Part of the reason that The Avengers worked so well is that all of Marvel's Phase One movies were building up to it, yet it was done in a very clever way that felt organic. Most of the setup was saved for the post-credits stings, with Easter eggs throughout the films for the more eagle eyed (and eared) fans. Things only got iffy when the setup was overegged - the weakest of Phase One was undoubtedly Iron Man 2, essentially one big advertisement for the big superhero team-up. Phase Two then, in theory, should have been following a similar model of building towards Age of Ultron. But whatever it is they were working towards, it wasn't this. Instead, this merely feels like it's just another setup film itself, that the company is so focused on its Wars - both Civil and Infinity - that it forget this film needs to be able to stand alone, and that it should be a massive culmination of Phase Two in its own right. From the trip to Wakanda to the growing tensions within the team, especially what Tony Stark has done, via a whole lot of chatter about Infinity Gems, this movie feels more like it exists as a major advert for Phase Three, rather than the majestic centrepiece of Phase Two. Cutting some of this needless setup, and having a more self-contained story, would've resulted in a much stronger film. After all, everyone is still going to be excited for Civil War and everything else anyway.