Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Related: Avengers (2012)

This movie should be avoided because it is filled with profanity (at least 22 instances, including sexual innuendos and double entendres) and blasphemy (God's name is taken in vain at least 7 times, including several profane references to Scripture), and involves and/or promotes defiance against God, disdain for authority, immodesty, sexual immorality, and evolution. This movie repeatedly mocks those who abstain from profanity and celebrates those who abandon such restraints. Satanic sorcery is promoted both by featuring the Scarlet Witch as a superhero for good, and by Thor practicing divination to gain insight into the future. While God is blasphemed, the false gods of the Norse pantheon are revered. Since its heroes practice sin, this movie conditions viewers to substitute evil for good and good for evil (Isa. 5:20) by praising evildoers who ought to be despised (Ps. 15:4; Pro. 28:4).

Violations of God's Law

Defiance against God

This movie violates the First Commandment. God explicitly forbids the entertainment of any other god in his sight (Ex. 20:3) and requires that their names are neither mentioned nor remembered, except with abhorrence and detestation (Ex. 23:13; Ps. 16:4; Zec. 13:2; Deut. 12:3; Hos. 2:17). This movie, however, honors the memory of false gods by glamorizing them into superheroes, to be loved and idolized by children and adults.

• This movie recognizes the Norse pantheon, whose deities are not merely imaginary comic book characters, but demons (1Co. 10:20-21; Deut. 32:17) who have enslaved and been worshiped by untold multitudes among the heathen (and even by many still to this day); and so influential and embedded has their false worship been that even the days of our week bear its imprint.
  • The false god Thor is glamorized as one of the main superheroes in the movie. In once scene he boasts about how he is more than human, saying, "Fortunately, I am mighty."
  • The false god Odin is honored as Thor's father
  • The Norse goddesses of fate, the Norn, are conjured to gain knowledge about the future
  • Asgard is referenced, the dwelling place of the Norse gods
  • Hel is referenced, the underworld in Norse mythology
• This movie ascribes divinity to the Avengers
  • Clint's wife Laura refers to the Avengers as "gods"
  • Thor states his 1,000 year aged liquor is not "meant for mortal men," then offers Steve a drink
• Sorcery:
  • This film presents a sorceress as a superhero, named Scarlet Witch, who uses sorcery to perform telepathy, telekinesis, and alter reality and perception. Initially a villain, she turns and becomes an Avenger
  • Thor deliberately engages in divination in order to gain knowledge about the future, by conjuring the Norse goddesses of fate, the Norn, to whom he refers as the "water spirits." A deleted scene shows him actually offering himself as a medium, whereby he becomes possessed by the Norn (causing his eyes to glow and his voice changes), with whom Erik then communicates to extract information. This is clearly demonic and is explicitly forbidden by God.
• Thor ascribes the "greatest power in the universe" to the Infinity Stones, one of which, called the Mind Stone, is fused to Vision (who also appears to call himself I Am)
• Evolution is referenced and promoted. The extinction of the dinosaurs by an asteroid is referenced as fact.

Blasphemy and Profanity

This movie violates the Third Commandment. God has warned that he will not hold guiltless those who take his name in vain (Ex. 20:7).

• Vision appears to refer to himself as I Am, which, if true, is gross blasphemy (Ex. 3:14)
• A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent takes God's name in vain at least once
• Tony takes God's name in vain at least once with a minced oath
• Ultron repeatedly profanes what is sacred
  • He takes God's name in vain in an instance intended to provoke laughter
  • He profanes the biblical account of Noah's flood. When asked about humanity's fate in the face of Ultron's threat of destruction, he replies, "Ask Noah."
  • He profanes Jesus' words in Matthew 16:18, attributing them to himself and Vibranium as the church he is building.
  • He makes at least 3 other profane references to God
• Tony repeatedly makes sexual references
  • He jokes about erectile dysfunction in a double entendre
  • He jokes about how he would reinstitute prima nocta as the new ruler of Asgard, which refers to a supposed right of a ruler to rape his female subjects on their wedding night
  • He jokes about Bruce and Natasha engaging in fornication in a sexual innuendo
• Thor jokes about how the Hulk's victims are screaming in hell
• Tony, Maria, and Natasha mock Steve regarding his dislike of profanity throughout the film but Steve eventually capitulates and willfully utters profanity himself
• Profane references: hell (5), damn (3), among others

Disdain for Authority

This movie promotes violations of the Fifth Commandment. Those who despise government, to whom God has given the sword, are likened to brute beasts who will be condemned (2Pe. 2:10-12; Jude 1:8-10).

• Vigilantism: This movie centers around a band of superheroes who unite to usurp God's exclusive right to vengeance, as they take it upon themselves to avenge the earth.
  • Sam tells Steve that "Avenging is your world."
  • Clint's wife Laura reassures him, "I totally support your avenging. I couldn't be prouder."
• Feminism: Natasha is shown repeatedly fighting men

Abuse, Violence, and Murder

This movie promotes violations of the Sixth Commandment. The Bible warns that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (1Co. 6:9-10).

• There is a party scene in which Stan Lee, appearing in a cameo as a WWII veteran, demands Thor's liquor after being warned by Thor that it is not meant for "mortal men," and is later shown drunk, slurring, and being escorted out by two men (all of which is meant to provoke laughter)

Immodesty and Sexual Immorality

This movie violates and promotes violations of the Seventh Commandment. The Bible warns that those who do not repent of sexual immorality will not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co. 6:9-10), but will be judged by God (Heb. 13:4). We are commanded to "flee fornication" (1Co. 6:18).

• Clint (Jeremy Renner, divorced) and Laura (Linda Cardellini, unmarried), portrayed as a married couple, are repeatedly shown kissing
• Bruce (Mark Ruffalo, married) and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson, married) are repeatedly shown kissing
  • There is a scene in which Bruce falls on top of Natasha and implants his face in between her breasts (meant to provoke laughter)
  • Tony makes a sexual innuendo about them engaging in fornication
• In a party scene, many women are shown immodestly dressed, in minidresses and showing breast cleavage
• Thor, Quicksilver, and Bruce (in both his human and Hulk forms) are shown shirtless
• When Vision springs to life, the actor is basically naked
• Natasha, Scarlet Witch, and various other women are repeatedly shown immodestly dressed, showing breast cleavage
• Laura lifts up Clint's shirt, exposing his abdomen, and feels his "wound"
• Tony repeatedly makes sexual references
  • He jokes about erectile dysfunction in a double entendre
  • He jokes about how he would reinstitute prima nocta as the new ruler of Asgard, which refers to a supposed right of a ruler to rape his female subjects on their wedding night
  • He jokes about Bruce and Natasha engaging in fornication in a sexual innuendo

Sinful Content in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Warning! The following table contains direct quotations from the film, which include instances of blasphemy, profanity, and other vices.