Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Actions

Let's face it: superheroes are men and women of action. It's kind of what they do. A superhero who sat on the couch and ate cheese curds all day would definitely speak to us (mmm, cheesy), but they probably wouldn't lure many folks to a movie theater.

In the case of our big bad, Ultron's philosophy is neatly expressed by his final evil plan: drop a meteorite on Earth to wipe out humanity. By the same token, the Avengers' actions are all about saving us regular folk, the innocent civilians who just want to get to their day jobs without being exploded.

This action is really underscored in the film's climactic battle on the floating island of Sokovia. Our heroes have two main goals: protect all the people down on Earth and protect all the people stuck up in the air. Can they pull of both? That's the tension that drives the movie's climax and guides the heroes' actions. Even as they risk their own lives, they don't rest till every Sokovian and Earthling are safe, which is what makes them truly heroic.

Family Life

There are a couple of families worth mentioning in Age of Ultron. First up, we have Hawkeye's wife and children. Some of the Avengers, like Tony Stark, are shocked that these people even exist. Superhero'ing, after all, is most commonly a single person's game. But Hawkeye's family and country home help the Avengers to recover their mojo, take a deep breath, and regroup after being zapped by Wanda Maximoff and going nuclear on Johannesburg.

It also offers some members of the team (we're looking at you, Black Widow and Bruce Banner) a glimpse of what they can never have—Banner because of that pesky gamma radiation, and Black Widow because of the awful childhood "procedure" she underwent during her assassin training. This is a true bummer for both of them, as they see in the smiling Hawkeye a kind of joy they'll never have.

The concept of family, then, underscores just how isolated some of our heroes truly are. At the same time, it also shows how important the concept of team is to them. At the end of the day, the one family they can all rely on is each other. Though they have their squabbles, this fact is emphasized right at the movie's climax:

Ultron: How can you possibly hope to stop me?
[…]
Iron Man: Together.

Names

A name can tell you a lot about a superhero. Thor's speaks to his Asgardian lineage. Hulk's describes his form. Hawkeye's name tells us his ability, while Iron Man is a…man dressed up in iron (or the equivalent). We have Captain America, who lives up to his title as the person in charge of this group. And then there's Black Widow, who, much like the spider of the same name, is small but deadly.

In terms of characterization, Ultron's name is perhaps most interesting. After all, he's all about evolving into the next best thing, wanting to go beyond his own current form, and beyond the current, sorry state of humanity. His name speaks to this motivation, a kind of cyber version of the word "ultra," which is Latin for "beyond." So his name checks out, too, describing a guy who's totally into pushing boundaries.