The morning wire is abuzz with news that James Spader is going to play Ultron in Avengers 2. But is that going to be the voice or be an incarnation of this robotic master villain or something more? Is the production going to be similar like in how Darth Vader was crafted, with a man in a motion-capture suit and the actor overlaying his voice on top?
No detail has been mentioned in this press release, and whatever the plans are for writer/director Joss Whedon, for this mechanical terror, the casting decision and story direction is going to be well in hand.
Spader is a excellent choice. When considering his past roles include Alan Shore of Boston Legal and Daniel Jackson from the movie Stargate, he has the chops to play a suave and even awkward artificial intelligence that can menace the world. Part of the film will no doubt be an origin of this terror. And Spader is no stranger to voice over work. He’s provided his voice for Discovery Channel as the narrator for the series Discovery Atlas for the first episode.
Despite past reports, Whedon has indicated that the story will not follow the recent Marvel comic book series of the same name, the Age of Ultron.
According to TheWrap, to make the story work, Whedon said, “a lot of stuff has to fall by the wayside … we sort of are crafting our own version of it, where his origin comes from the Avengers we already know about.”
The two-year wait for the next film is going to be exciting as more casting news and plot hints come forth. All hail Ultron!