Comic-Con News: At the Marvel Studios presentation in Hall H Avengers director Joss Whedon took the stage and introduced a video that included bits of dialogue from The Avengers with a shimmering metallic object in the foreground that was revealed as head of the supervillain Ultron as the camera pulled back.  Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the artificial intelligence known as Ultron first appeared (unbilled) in Avengers #54 with a first full blown appearance in Avengers #55.  Over the years the character’s backstory was gradually filled in--Ulron was created by Henry Pym (Ant-Man) and Ultron’s considerable artificial intelligence is based on Pym’s brain patterns.
 
Ultron, who was ranked #23 on IGN’s 2009 list of comic book villains, recently starred in a major crossover over event (see "'The Age Ultron'") that just concluded this past spring.  The exact relationship of the narrative of the recent Age of Ultron event to the plot of The Avengers sequel remains to be seen (and Whedon appeared to indicate that the only connection was the villain himself), but as the title card that flashed across the screen proclaimed, the title of the upcoming film is Avengers: Age of Ultron.