Where Marvel's Avengers: Age Of Ultron Sequel Fits Into The MCU Timeline

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Ultron in the Avengers Age of Ultron poster

Published Oct 11, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero.

With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention.

Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

More than a decade after 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel Studios is ready to release the perfect sequel series with VisionQuest, starring Paul Bettany as Vision and James Spader's return as Ultron, 11 years after they first brought their characters to life in the MCU.

In VisionQuest, Bettany's Vision will be attempting to regain his memories and humanity years after his original death fighting Thanos and the events of Wanda Maximoff's Hex. Trailers have revealed that Ultron will be among the advanced AI programs in Vision's digital mindscape and matrix, confirming his long-theorized survival after Age of Ultron and the Battle of Sokovia.

All in all, Marvel's new VisionQuest series isn't just picking up where Age of Ultron left off, as it's also following the events of more than one MCU show as well and bringing together storylines that have developed across several years of Marvel storytelling. With VisionQuest premiering on October 14, here's where the series fits in the MCU timeline, how long it's been since Vision and Ultron were created in-universe, and more.

VisionQuest Is Set To Pay Off Major Threads From Age Of Ultron (And More)

Robot Ultron inside of Vision's Mindscape

In the MCU timeline, Avengers: Age of Ultron takes place in 2015 (the same year it was released). In the MCU's second major crossover film, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner experiment with the Mind Stone and inadvertently create the genocidal rogue AI known as Ultron.

Later on in the movie, Stark and Banner also create Vision after Earth's Mightiest Heroes recover the synthezoid body Ultron intended to use for himself, utilizing JARVIS' programming, the Mind Stone, and some help from Thor. Joining the Avengers in their fight against Ultron, Vision faces Ultron's final drone alone, its demise being shown off-screen, explaining the theories that Vision secretly spared Ultron, especially combined with his earlier sentiments about "being on the side of life."

From “I Am Iron Man” to “I Am Inevitable” · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know the MCU? “Whatever it takes.”

🤖Phase OneRDJ & the founders, 2008

🛡The AvengersWhedon’s team, 2012

💎Infinity SagaThanos & the stones

⚡EndgameWhatever it takes, 2019

🌏MultiversePhase 4–6, 2021–

ASSEMBLE →

Iron Man (2008) is, in retrospect, the most consequential casting decision in modern blockbuster history — but at the time Marvel Studios and parent company Paramount were openly hostile to director Jon Favreau’s push for the lead actor he eventually got. Favreau later said he had to fight “tooth and nail” and the actor had to do a paid screen test, a screen-test deal almost unheard of for an A-lister. What was the executive objection to him?

AHe was considered too old for a 15-year contract BHis history of drug arrests made him uninsurable CHe was already under contract to DC/Warner Bros. DHe’d publicly refused to do any superhero work

✓ Correct! Robert Downey Jr. had been arrested multiple times between 1996 and 2001 on drug and weapons charges, served roughly a year in California state prison (1999–2000), and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 after relapsing. By 2007 he’d been clean for several years, but Marvel/Paramount considered him essentially uninsurable for a $140 million tent-pole. Favreau pushed for him over studio favourites Tom Cruise (who’d had Iron Man development at Fox years earlier) and Sam Rockwell (who’d later play Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 as a consolation). RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than Terrence Howard, whose role he then permanently overshadowed.

✗ Wrong. The answer is his arrest history. RDJ had drug-related arrests from 1996–2001, served prison time in 1999–2000, and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 — which made him uninsurable in studio terms even though he’d been sober for several years by 2007. Favreau fought for him over Tom Cruise and Sam Rockwell, and RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than co-star Terrence Howard.

The Avengers (2012) — the film that proved the shared-universe model could work, grossed $1.52 billion, and ended Phase One with Loki, Thanos’s mid-credits reveal, and the “swarm shot” of the team rotating in Manhattan — was written and directed by a TV showrunner best known at the time for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Name him.

AJon Favreau BKenneth Branagh CJoss Whedon DJoe Johnston

✓ Correct! Joss Whedon. Marvel hired him in mid-2010 partly on the basis of his uncredited script rewrites and his comfort writing ensemble team dynamics from Buffy/Angel/Firefly. He directed The Avengers (2012) and the follow-up Age of Ultron (2015), then exited the MCU and Marvel handed the next two Avengers films to the Russo brothers. The three other directors named all really did make Phase One films: Favreau directed Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), Branagh directed Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston directed Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) — which is why this question separates Phase One trivia from Avengers-specific trivia.

✗ Wrong. The answer is Joss Whedon — hired largely on the strength of Buffy, Firefly, and uncredited Hollywood script work. The three wrong options are deliberately all real Phase One MCU directors: Favreau did Iron Man 1 & 2, Branagh did Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston did The First Avenger (2011). Whedon directed Avengers (2012) and Age of Ultron (2015) before exiting the MCU.

Marvel co-architect Stan Lee (1922–2018) appeared in every theatrical MCU film from Iron Man (2008) onward, even shooting cameos in advance to outlast him. He died on November 12, 2018. In which film does his final filmed MCU cameo appear — as the long-haired young driver of a 1970 car bearing the bumper sticker “NUFF SAID”?

AAvengers: Endgame (2019) BAvengers: Infinity War (2018) CCaptain Marvel (2019) DSpider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

✓ Correct! Avengers: Endgame (April 2019). Lee appears digitally de-aged behind the wheel of a 1970 Chevy at the New Jersey army base where Tony Stark and Steve Rogers travel back to retrieve the Tesseract; he shouts “hey man, make love, not war!” The cameo was filmed before Lee’s death and confirmed by the Russos as his final filmed MCU appearance, although the next-released film, Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019), became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all. Captain Marvel (March 2019) has him reading the script for Mallrats on the L.A. train and was the first posthumously-released cameo, but Endgame was the last one he actually shot.

✗ Wrong. The answer is Avengers: Endgame — the de-aged hippie-era driver in the 1970 New Jersey time-heist scene. Captain Marvel (March 2019) was the first cameo to release posthumously, but Endgame (April 2019) was the last one Lee actually filmed. Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019) became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all.

Across Phase One through Three, each Infinity Stone is hidden inside a distinctive container before being claimed for Thanos’s Gauntlet. The blue Space Stone is housed inside a glowing cube that originates with the Asgardians, is recovered by Howard Stark from the wreckage of the Red Skull’s plane, is taken to Asgard by Loki in 2012, and is finally retrieved by Hulk on Sakaar before falling to Thanos. What is that container called?

AThe Tesseract BThe Aether CThe Orb DThe Eye of Agamotto

✓ Correct! The Tesseract — the blue cube that houses the Space Stone — first appears in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), powers the portal Loki opens over Manhattan in The Avengers (2012), and is destroyed by Thanos in Infinity War (2018) when he crushes it to claim the stone inside. The wrong options are all real Infinity Stone containers from the MCU: the Aether (red liquid form) houses the Reality Stone in Thor: The Dark World, the Orb houses the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Eye of Agamotto houses the Time Stone in Doctor Strange. So all four answers refer to genuine stone containers — only the Tesseract holds Space.

✗ Wrong. The answer is the Tesseract. The trap is that all four options are real Infinity Stone containers: the Aether holds Reality (Thor: The Dark World), the Orb holds Power (Guardians of the Galaxy), and the Eye of Agamotto holds Time (Doctor Strange). Space — the blue stone shown in Cap’s 1942 plane wreckage and Loki’s 2012 invasion — is the Tesseract.

In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir and guarded by a Stonekeeper — revealed to be a cursed Red Skull. To claim it, the seeker must sacrifice the person they love most by throwing them from a cliff. Thanos arrives on Vormir with one adopted daughter, weeps, and pushes her over the edge. Which character does Thanos sacrifice to obtain the Soul Stone?

ANebula BGamora CMantis DProxima Midnight

✓ Correct! Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). Thanos forces her to lead him to Vormir because Nebula has earlier revealed under torture that Gamora knew the Soul Stone’s location all along. The scene is the emotional pivot of Infinity War: it confirms that Thanos really does love Gamora, which means the sacrifice qualifies. In Endgame (2019), a 2014 version of Gamora returns through time travel with her father — meaning Gamora-of-Infinity-War remains dead at the end of the saga, while a different Gamora wanders the cosmos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War; Mantis survives Vormir entirely; Proxima Midnight is one of Thanos’s Black Order children, killed in the Battle of Wakanda.

✗ Wrong. The answer is Gamora. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War (she’s the one whose torture reveals Gamora knew where the stone was hidden). Mantis isn’t on Vormir. Proxima Midnight is Thanos’s adopted daughter via the Black Order, not via Zen-Whoberi, and is killed during the Battle of Wakanda by Scarlet Witch. Thanos sacrifices Gamora — the only adopted daughter he genuinely loves.

In Avengers: Endgame (2019), Steve Rogers travels back in time to return the Infinity Stones, then chooses to remain in the past and live out a life with Peggy Carter. He returns to the present as an old man, sits on a bench by the lake at the Avengers compound, and hands his vibranium shield to a younger Avenger as the symbolic transfer of the Captain America identity. To whom does Steve give the shield?

ABucky Barnes BSam Wilson CT’Challa DPeter Parker

✓ Correct! Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) — the Falcon. The choice deliberately bypasses Bucky, the original comics successor, because the Russos and screenwriters Markus & McFeely wanted the moment to read as a deliberate, racially-charged passing of an American icon rather than the obvious comics-canon handoff. The thread is then picked up directly in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+, 2021), in which Sam initially gives the shield to the Smithsonian, sees the government install John Walker as a replacement Cap, and ultimately takes the mantle himself — setting up Captain America: Brave New World (2025) with Mackie as the franchise’s new lead.

✗ Wrong. The answer is Sam Wilson, the Falcon. In the comics Bucky is the classic Cap successor, but the Russos and screenwriters Markus and McFeely deliberately picked Sam instead — a choice the entire Falcon and the Winter Soldier series (Disney+, 2021) then unpacks before Mackie carries it into Captain America: Brave New World (2025).

After Endgame, Marvel Studios’ Phase Four launched the MCU on Disney+ with a sitcom-pastiche limited series in which Wanda Maximoff and a resurrected Vision live inside a reality-warping suburban hex. Each episode parodied a different era of US TV sitcom — The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Family Ties, Modern Family. The show premiered January 15, 2021 and ran nine episodes. Which series was it — the first MCU project on Disney+?

AWandaVision BLoki CThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier DHawkeye

✓ Correct! WandaVision (January 15 – March 5, 2021), created by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman. It launched Phase Four, earned 23 Emmy nominations, and effectively rebooted Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlet Witch ahead of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier followed it in March 2021 — not first — and Loki landed in June 2021. Hawkeye is the 2021 Christmas series with Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld. The original launch order was WandaVision → FATWS → Loki → What If...? → Hawkeye, and WandaVision’s sitcom format remains the boldest swing of the Disney+ era.

✗ Wrong. The answer is WandaVision (January 15, 2021), the first MCU show on Disney+ and the launchpad for Phase Four. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came in March 2021, Loki in June 2021, and Hawkeye in late 2021. The sitcom-pastiche structure — Dick Van Dyke through Modern Family — is unique to WandaVision.

At the closing panel of San Diego Comic-Con on July 27, 2024, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige brought the Russo brothers back on stage to announce a new title for the next Avengers film — previously labelled “The Kang Dynasty” before Jonathan Majors’s December 2023 conviction forced a pivot — and then unmasked a cast of actors wearing green hoods. The final hood came off Robert Downey Jr. RDJ is returning to the MCU, but not as Tony Stark. As whom?

AMister Sinister BDoctor Doom CNorman Osborn DMephisto

✓ Correct! Doctor Doom — Victor von Doom, the Latverian dictator and Reed Richards’s lifelong nemesis, generally considered Marvel’s greatest comics villain. The next Avengers film, originally announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, was retitled Avengers: Doomsday after Jonathan Majors was dropped as Kang following his December 2023 assault conviction. Doomsday is scheduled for May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars to follow in May 2027 — both directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, returning to the MCU after Endgame. The in-universe explanation for RDJ playing Doom rather than Stark hinges on the multiverse: Doom is being positioned as a variant of Stark from another timeline.

✗ Wrong. The answer is Doctor Doom. The film was retitled from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday (May 2026) after Jonathan Majors was dropped, and the Russos returned to direct. RDJ’s casting as Doom — rather than as Tony Stark — is being explained in-universe via the multiverse: Doom as a Stark variant from another timeline.

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The Stones Are Cast · Final Scorecard Your Avengers Standing

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A worthy Avenger — or dusted in the snap?

⤴ ROUND TWO

More than a decade later, VisionQuest is set to take place in 2028, the MCU's present-day approximately 13 years after Age of Ultron. Showrunner Terry Matalas has confirmed that several years have passed since WandaVision, placing the series around the same time as the MCU's most recent release, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

In terms of Vision's personal timeline, quite a bit has happened since Age of Ultron. After joining the Avengers and falling in love with Wanda Maximoff, Vision died in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War. Wanda's subsequent grief became the foundation of WandaVision, as she created her own living Vision within "The Hex" she cast over the town of Westview. At the same time, it was revealed that SWORD reactivated Vision's corpse, making the synthezoid their personal living weapon as "White Vision".

After being deployed by SWORD and facing Wanda's newly created Vision inside The Hex, White Vision's memories were restored, motivating him to leave the battle to regain his identity and the emotions behind them. Meanwhile, Ultron has presumably been held within Vision's matrix this entire time, with VisionQuest bringing him back where he could potentially escape his digital prison after 13 years.

VisionQuest Ends A Peak MCU Trilogy That Began With WandaVision

Although VisionQuest is a sequel to Age of Ultron in several important ways, it also has the crucial responsibility of concluding the trilogy that first began with 2021's WandaVision and continued with 2024's Agatha All Along.

WandaVision explored Wanda's grief over losing Vision, with her magic inadvertently creating her own TV-perfect reality in the town of Westview where Vision was still alive, and they had two twin boys, Billy and Tommy. After Wanda brought down the Hex, Vision and the boys were seemingly lost, only for Agatha All Along to reveal that Billy used his own magical powers as Wiccan to transfer his and Tommy's souls into the bodies of two recently deceased teens, Billy Kaplan and Thomas Shepard.

With Agatha All Along ending with Billy (now played by Joe Locke) searching for his reincarnated brother, it's been confirmed that VisionQuest will indeed include Tommy aka Speed, now played by Ruaridh Mollica. With Vision set to reunite with his son, excitement is high that Billy might be featured as well, with some hoping for even more than that with the return of Wanda herself. However, it all shakes out by the final episode, VisionQuest has indeed been marketed as a key MCU trilogy-ender, so here's hoping for some major connections and exciting reveals for the Maximoff Family.

VisionQuest premieres October 14th on Disney+ from Marvel Studios.