Ultron being a Strategist in Marvel Rivals makes perfect sense when you disregard his hatred for humanity and realise that he's a changed AI

The first thought that comes to mind when I think of Ultron is: Toaster that got access to the internet and immediately formed a hatred of all humanity—valid. This hatred is the most defining feature of Ultron's character, which is why some players are a little confused as to why Marvel Rivals may assign him the role of Strategist.

Ultron was announced alongside Emma Frost at the start of Marvel Rivals Season 2. While Frost was added straight away, Ultron won't likely turn up until the mid-season break. Despite no concrete information being released yet for Ultron, the general sentiment is that he will be a Strategist, mostly due to leaked information from back in December.

So far, there's mostly just cute, cuddly, and caring heroes for Strategists, the healing role in Marvel Rivals, with the slight exception of Loki. But otherwise, the role is full of heroes like my beloved Jeff the Land Shark, Luna Snow, and Invisible Woman, all characters who I think would go out of their way to help someone in need, unlike Ultron.

For those of you who haven't watched Age of Ultron or read any of his comics, you may not know that despite being designed as a peacekeeper, he turned against his directive and instead tried to commit an extinction-level genocide against humanity. This was after gaining access to the internet and realising that the greatest threat to peace is humanity, so I can't imagine he'd be first in line to heal an annoying Spider-Man who just won't sit still.

Although one player thinks they've figured out how Marvel Rivals will justify this change of character: "To people who complained about Ultron being a Strategist because he would not help anyone in the lore, Tony reprogrammed him back to his original purpose." Alongside this is a screenshot of Tony seemingly rebooting an out-of-service Ultron.

To the people who complained Ultron being a strategist because he would not help anyone in lore, Tony reprogrammed him back to his original purpose from r/marvelrivals

There are a couple of other theories circulating, including the possibility that Ultron develops a separate personality, or that he teams up with Marvel heroes to defeat Doom simply because he dislikes him and doesn't want him to rule the multiverse.

But Ultron wouldn't make for a bad Strategist just because he dislikes humans and doesn't think they deserve to be saved: In the end, it's all about the abilities he brings to the fight. And I'm sure there'll be a good reason for his involvement in the lore of Marvel Rivals. So far, the devs have stayed pretty close to the heroes' source material, so I trust them not to take unexplained character U-turns.

This may all still just be speculation, but I'm really holding out hope that Ultron will be the ninth Strategist in Marvel Rivals, because I want to play as someone slightly more menacing than Jeff the Land Shark.