Age of Ultron after Kraven the Hunter

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Age of Ultron after Kraven the Hunter

Mercury's death in Avengers: Age of Ultron still disappoints me, and Sony made things a lot worse with their latest Marvel movie, Kraven the Hunter. At this point, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a Marvel movie veteran after playing three different Marvel characters over the last 14 years. His debut as the eponymous vigilante in Smash continues to be the paper with the greatest staying power, as Kraven the Hunter announced the end of Sony's Spider-Man Universe and his role in it, while his debut as the MCU's Quicksilver was brutally cut short by his death in the same film.

Although I'm a big fan of Avengers: Age of UltronI admit it's probably the worst of the four Avengers films so far. What I can say with confidence, however, is that I much prefer it to Kraven the Hunter. Kraven's live-action origin story certainly had some bright spots, but it suffered from a litany of inexplicable moments that were hard to ignore. I'm well aware that Kraven and Quicksilver are entirely different characters (a testament to Taylor-Johnson's acting talent), but I couldn't help but be reminded of Pietro's death in the MCU when trying to understand Kraven's superpowers.

Quicksilver's death in Avengers: Age of Ultron was never properly explained

Fans mourn how a sprinter was killed by bullets

I am one of the many who were offended by the death of Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron. MCU boss Kevin Feige and director Joss Whedon justified the decision to kill off Pietro at the time as an intentional subversion of expectations. Most importantly, delivered the message that Marvel's gods could bleedsetting up real stakes in the Avengers films, showing how easy it can be to kill one of them despite their incredible power. That's exactly where many saw the problem – Pietro's death was easy. Very easy.

Quicksilver is a speedster who, in the space of the same film, dodged a point-blank shot from Klaue and emptied the bullets from his gun in the blink of an eye. Although Quicksilver's death was a moment of self-sacrifice to save Hawkeye and a child, It's impossible to ignore how many other options Mercury could have pursued at that momentincluding simply getting Clint and the child out of the line of fire. It also unceremoniously removed one of the MCU's most exciting new characters, wasting his potential and forcing us all to wonder how he could have helped in future events.

Kraven the Hunter Makes MCU Quicksilver's Death Look Even Worse

Kraven can dodge bullets

I'm happy to be able to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson play another iconic comic book character in live-action, but his debut as Kraven the Hunter only intensified the pain of his previous role. After inadvertently mixing the blood of a legendary lion with his own and ingesting a mystical potion, Kraven is granted a litany of superpowers that include superhuman strength, durability, and speed, among others. Importantly, this doesn't make you immune to gunfire nor fast enough to catch up to a speeding car – still he repeatedly dodges bullets throughout the film.

Again, I'm not suggesting that Mercury's death was a matter of skill on his part. He used himself as a human shield after recognizing that his super speed was the only thing that could save Hawkeye and the Sokovian child. However, Seeing Aaron Taylor-Johnson's next Marvel character dodge bullets with less effort than it takes to chase a speeding vehicle feels like Sony is rubbing salt in the wound. It makes little sense inside Kraven the Hunter but for opposite reasons as to why the same could be said of Mercury.

How Marvel Can Fix Quicksilver's Death Before MCU Phase 5 Ends

A Multiversal Variant of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver Could Emerge

I think the worst part about Quicksilver's death is that we never got to fully explore the MCU version of the character. Now that Marvel Studios has reacquired the mutants, their death feels even more like wasted potentialas he and his sister, Wanda, were originally mutants in Marvel Comics – although this was later retconned into an unpopular Marvel Comics move. I admit that her death helped support Wanda's character arc in the MCU, being one of the many tragedies that plagued the Scarlet Witch before she turned to villainy.

If that happens, I hope Marvel addresses the controversy surrounding his death in Avengers: Age of Ultron as a nod to the audience.

Now that that arc has concluded, however, there is a clear way for Marvel to reintroduce Pietro into the MCU: as a multiversal variant. This could occur alongside her sister, as many fans anticipate her return in some form following her apparent death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The most likely place this could happen, of course, is in Avengers: Judgment Day or Avengers: Secret Wars. If that happens, I hope Marvel addresses the controversy surrounding his death in Avengers: Age of Ultron as a nod to the audience.

  • Release date

    February 14, 2025

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    July 25, 2025

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    July 24, 2026

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