Quicksilver’s death inAvengers: Age of Ultronstill disappoints me, and Sony just made it a lot worse with its latestMarvelmovie,Kraven the Hunter. At this point, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a Marvel movie veteran after portraying three different Marvel characters across the last 14 years. His debut as the eponymous vigilante inKick-Assremains the role with the most staying power, asKraven the Hunterhas heralded the demise of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and his role within it, while his debut as the MCU’s Quicksilver was cut brutally short by his death in the same movie.
While I’m a huge fan ofAvengers: Age of Ultron, I’ll admit that it is probablythe worst of the four Avengers moviesso far. What I can say with confidence, however, is that I much prefer it toKraven the Hunter.Kraven’s live-action origin storycertainly had some positives, but it suffered from a litany of inexplicable moments that were hard to overlook. I’m well aware that Kraven and Quicksilver are wildly different characters (a testament to Taylor-Johnson’s acting talent), but I couldn’t help being reminded of Pietro’s MCU death when trying to wrap myhead around Kraven’s superpowers.
Quicksilver’s Death In Avengers: Age Of Ultron Was Never Properly Explained
Fans Lament How A Speedster Was Killed By Bullets
I am one of many who were miffed byPietro Maximoff’s death inAvengers: Age of Ultron. MCU head Kevin Feige and director Joss Whedon justified the move to kill off Pietro at the time as an intentional subversion of expectations. More importantly,it delivered the message that Marvel’s gods could bleed, establishing real stakes in Avengers movies by showing how easy it can be to kill one of them off despite their incredible power. That’s exactly where many saw the problem - Pietro’s death was easy. Far too easy.
Hawkeye goes on to name his son after Pietro following his sacrifice.
Quicksilver is a speedster who, in the space of the same movie, dodged a close-range shot from Klaue and emptied the gun of bullets in a flash. While Quicksilver’s death was a moment of self-sacrifice to save Hawkeye and a child,it’s impossible to ignore how many other options Quicksilver could have pursued at that moment, including simply moving Clint and the child out of the firing line. It also unceremoniously removed one ofthe most exciting new characters in the MCU, wasting his potential and forcing us all to wonder how he might have helped in future events.
Kraven The Hunter Makes The MCU’s Quicksilver Death Look Even Worse
Kraven Can Dodge Bullets
I’m glad I could see Aaron Taylor-Johnson portray another iconic comic book character in live-action, but his debut as Kraven the Hunter only intensified the sting of his previous role. After inadvertently mixing the blood of a legendary lion with his own and ingesting a mystical potion, Kraven receives a litany of superpowers that include superhuman strength, durability, and speed, among others. Importantly, this neither makes him impervious to gunfire nor quick enough to catch up to a speeding car - yethe repeatedly dodges bullets throughout the movie.
Kraven The Hunter Review: I’m Frustrated By How Much Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Marvel Superhero Movie Squanders Its Potential
After nine years, Aaron Taylor-Johnson returns to Marvel superhero fare, but while Kraven the Hunter has potential, it’s a middling origin story.
Again, I’m not suggesting that Quicksilver’s death was a skill issue 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. Nevertheless,to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s subsequent Marvel character dodge bullets with less effort than he required to pursue a speeding vehicle feels like Sony is rubbing salt in the wound. It makes little sense withinKraven the Hunter,but for opposing reasons as to why the same could be said for Quicksilver.
How Marvel Can Fix Quicksilver’s Death Before MCU Phase 5 Ends
A Multiversal Variant Of Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver Could Arise
I think the worst part of Quicksilver’s death is that we never got to fully explore the MCU’s rendition of the character.Now that Marvel Studios has reacquired mutants, his death feels even more like squandered potential, as both he and his sister, Wanda, were originally mutants in Marvel Comics - although this was later retconned in an unpopular move by Marvel Comics. I will concede that his death helped prop upWanda’s character arc in the MCU, being one of many tragedies to beset the Scarlet Witch before her turn to villainy.
Should this happen, I fully expect Marvel to address the controversy surrounding his death inAvengers: Age of Ultronas a nod to the audience.
Now that that arc has been completed, however, there is one clear way that Marvel can reintroduce Pietro to the MCU:as a multiversal variant. This could occur alongside his sister, as many fans anticipate her return in some capacity following her apparent death inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The most likely place this could happen, of course, is inAvengers: DoomsdayorAvengers: Secret Wars. Should this happen, I fully expect Marvel to address the controversy surrounding his death inAvengers: Age of Ultronas a nod to the audience.
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Cast
Avengers: Age of Ultron, released in 2015, follows Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man and Captain America, as they contend with Ultron, a rogue AI with plans for global annihilation. This Marvel sequel sees The Avengers form uneasy alliances and embark on a perilous global adventure to thwart Ultron’s schemes.
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.
